Yosemite Tent Cabins (and a few other ???s)

[TiggerTrigger]

DD15 is playing softball in California in July. While we don't plan on going into the Disney Parks, we are staying right near there for the softball part of the trip to get some of the vibe. We plan on driving up to Yosemite when the tournament ends. I know we're VERY LATE to the planning process, but we don't have the luxury of doing much in advance these days. I booked a 3-day entry pass on Recreation.gov as soon as we landed on this idea. I've been doing some stalking and have been able to get a tent cabin in Curry Village for one night and another tent cabin in Tuolumne Meadows for the next night. While it's our first time to Yosemite, we're big National Parks fans. So, we know that everything is a bit rustic, but we've never been in a tent cabin before.

• Does anyone have any firsthand experiences/opinions with these tents that they'd like to share? If bad, should I cancel and go back to one of the hotels I was considering in Mariposa?
• I will continue to stalk the website for openings, but is there anyplace you just wouldn't stay? For example, Housekeeping Camp is a hard no from what I've seen.
• I'm debating about adding an extra night (in or outside of the park), but I'm on the fence about it. I know Yosemite is a major national park that deserves more time, but we tend to favor the parks that are big for wildlife and Yosemite seems more like big scenic views and waterfalls. We got skunked on wildlife when we went to Glacier and by day 3, everyone was sort of done with big scenic views. I'd like some thoughts on the matter for those that have been.
• Random, but can someone explain to me how a room with a double bed and a single bed accommodate a party of 4? The Wawona Hotel came up at one point in my stalking, and while I had it set for 4 guests, the room description seemed to only hold 3 people. Anyone know how this would work? I didn't book it because it didn't seem right.

Any other tips or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Webheine]

Curry village tents are very rustic, we did one night and I was glad we did decide against staying 2. Next time I will spend more but be comfortable…camping is absolutely not for me.

Cons
- only one power outlet. One ceiling light.
- no storage at all, floor, tent walls & beds, that’s it
- campground bathrooms far away (think midnight need for a bathroom means stepping outside with all the wildlife )
- hassle of having to store food and toiletries on the bear lockers outside
- beds very uncomfortable, metal frames with thin mattresses
- parking likely to be far away as well
- gets fresh at night, and noisy in the mornings once your neighbors get up

Pros
- location location location
- common lodge areas to sit in the evenings is nice and rustic
- pizza place for an affordable and decent dinner, but no more choice so good for one day only

 

[Psymonds]

DD15 is playing softball in California in July. While we don't plan on going into the Disney Parks, we are staying right near there for the softball part of the trip to get some of the vibe. We plan on driving up to Yosemite when the tournament ends. I know we're VERY LATE to the planning process, but we don't have the luxury of doing much in advance these days. I booked a 3-day entry pass on Recreation.gov as soon as we landed on this idea. I've been doing some stalking and have been able to get a tent cabin in Curry Village for one night and another tent cabin in Tuolumne Meadows for the next night. While it's our first time to Yosemite, we're big National Parks fans. So, we know that everything is a bit rustic, but we've never been in a tent cabin before.

• Does anyone have any firsthand experiences/opinions with these tents that they'd like to share? If bad, should I cancel and go back to one of the hotels I was considering in Mariposa?
• I will continue to stalk the website for openings, but is there anyplace you just wouldn't stay? For example, Housekeeping Camp is a hard no from what I've seen.
• I'm debating about adding an extra night (in or outside of the park), but I'm on the fence about it. I know Yosemite is a major national park that deserves more time, but we tend to favor the parks that are big for wildlife and Yosemite seems more like big scenic views and waterfalls. We got skunked on wildlife when we went to Glacier and by day 3, everyone was sort of done with big scenic views. I'd like some thoughts on the matter for those that have been.
• Random, but can someone explain to me how a room with a double bed and a single bed accommodate a party of 4? The Wawona Hotel came up at one point in my stalking, and while I had it set for 4 guests, the room description seemed to only hold 3 people. Anyone know how this would work? I didn't book it because it didn't seem right.

Any other tips or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

We have stayed in the Tent Cabins in curry village, and it's not a hotel and it's not camping. We have stayed in tent cabins in 3 other places (Lair of the Golden Bear, Mendocino County and at a Scout camp) and these are decidedly in the middle, as accommodations, but they're mattresses, not sleeping on the ground.
They have a cafeteria which is ok, and a pizza place there (At least when we were there last) curry village is walking distance to most of the central stuff in the valley floor. Of note, Tuolumne meadows is a substantial drive from Yosemite valley, but is a really unique high alpine area, completely different from the valley.

if you had one more day, you might consider going over the Sierra divide and coming back down 395 through Manzanar, Lone Pine, etc. and See Mount Whitney.

The Wawona hotel is an old building with a lot of quirks. DW has stayed there for a conference, I've never stayed there. you'd have to call to get them to explain if someone's sleeping in the bathtub or something.

I'm probably not the bet read on where not to stay.

 

[Lumpy1106]

How about a family camp? This is in Sequoia, not Yosemite, I've visited both. Sequoia is the less crowded, more spread-out version of Yosemite. It's easier to get to and this is definitely not camping. We've stayed here 3 different times;
https://www.mslodge.com/

Lots of activities for both you and DD. DD would be in the oldest kids group. They tend to do their own thing at that age. She could do activities with you instead if she's not feeling the vibe of the group (that age - been there with my two oldest, about to with my youngest so I get it). They feed you and have arranged hikes, rock climbing, mountain biking, yoga, etc, etc, or NOTA if you just want to sit by the lake.

 

[Rex1993]

Been to Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite numerous times. Have done multiple nights in the Curry tents but it’s been decades. If this is a once in long time trip to CA, don’t do Sequoia instead of Yosemite. I absolutely love Sequoia but there’s absolutely no comparison. You go to Yosemite.

I personally wouldn’t bother with Wawona, it’s just too quirky. It’s also far enough away that I would just go to the another, more comfortable place. If you’re ok driving, the Tenaya Lodge is awesome!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Curry village tents are very rustic, we did one night and I was glad we did decide against staying 2. Next time I will spend more but be comfortable…camping is absolutely not for me.

Cons
- only one power outlet. One ceiling light.
- no storage at all, floor, tent walls & beds, that’s it
- campground bathrooms far away (think midnight need for a bathroom means stepping outside with all the wildlife )
- hassle of having to store food and toiletries on the bear lockers outside
- beds very uncomfortable, metal frames with thin mattresses
- parking likely to be far away as well
- gets fresh at night, and noisy in the mornings once your neighbors get up

Pros
- location location location
- common lodge areas to sit in the evenings is nice and rustic
- pizza place for an affordable and decent dinner, but no more choice so good for one day only

This is very helpful. The tents are not my ideal for lodging, but I'm just wondering if I can make it work with our travel tolerances. Location and that rustic vibe of being in the parks is something we appreciate with in-park lodging. I think I could even make a single outlet work. We'll be in nomadic mode, so shoving bags under the metal beds also shouldn't be a big deal.

The bear lockers do concern me along with the bed comfort. I could see one of the girls forgetting something and next thing you know, we have bear issues. I even read one person' story about marmot issues with their vehicles. We'll also already be 12 days into travel at this point and we're going to be pretty weary from an intense summer schedule of travel ball. I'm not sure how everyone is going to feel about this. I know I could buy inflatable mattress pads to help with the bed comfort, but that's one more thing to lug around and have to pack up those two mornings. I sleep with earbuds in when traveling, so I likely wouldn't hear much, but everyone else in my group would. The parking, if far, would also wear on us when it's only one night in each spot.

Definitely food for thought as the tent part would be night 12 of this specific trip and patience may be running too thin at that point for us to be up for the adventure. I appreciate your thoughts!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We have stayed in the Tent Cabins in curry village, and it's not a hotel and it's not camping. We have stayed in tent cabins in 3 other places (Lair of the Golden Bear, Mendocino County and at a Scout camp) and these are decidedly in the middle, as accommodations, but they're mattresses, not sleeping on the ground.
They have a cafeteria which is ok, and a pizza place there (At least when we were there last) curry village is walking distance to most of the central stuff in the valley floor. Of note, Tuolumne meadows is a substantial drive from Yosemite valley, but is a really unique high alpine area, completely different from the valley.

if you had one more day, you might consider going over the Sierra divide and coming back down 395 through Manzanar, Lone Pine, etc. and See Mount Whitney.

The Wawona hotel is an old building with a lot of quirks. DW has stayed there for a conference, I've never stayed there. you'd have to call to get them to explain if someone's sleeping in the bathtub or something.

I'm probably not the bet read on where not to stay.

It sounds a lot like the platform tents we had at the Girl Scout camp I attended a couple of times as a kid. I did notice the location of Tuolumne Meadows, but I'm not opposed to it. It looks like it would be a better position for us to begin our drive back east to get home.

I think that may be the same route we took several years ago. We started out in Anaheim, but then drove up to Mammoth to ski. I know we drove by Manzanar and I recall Lone Pine as well.

The Wawona looked like it could be a neat stay, but I'm not sure quirky works when I need to have a comfortable place to sleep. I will probably be traveling with an air mattress, but rooms from the era when that hotel was built might not be large enough for that to work. I once tried to sleep in a bathtub...I would not recommend it

 

[TiggerTrigger]

How about a family camp? This is in Sequoia, not Yosemite, I've visited both. Sequoia is the less crowded, more spread-out version of Yosemite. It's easier to get to and this is definitely not camping. We've stayed here 3 different times;
https://www.mslodge.com/

Lots of activities for both you and DD. DD would be in the oldest kids group. They tend to do their own thing at that age. She could do activities with you instead if she's not feeling the vibe of the group (that age - been there with my two oldest, about to with my youngest so I get it). They feed you and have arranged hikes, rock climbing, mountain biking, yoga, etc, etc, or NOTA if you just want to sit by the lake.

We had planned on "popping in" to Sequoia on the way north. I know it's not the ideal amount of time to spend in a park, but Yosemite was really the goal. I appreciate the suggestion and it looks like a great place. It's definitely something I need to bookmark if we're able to get back that way in the future. The feeding us part would definitely be a hit. I just can't see my girls joining in on the activities. It's got me thinking about a cruise we went on a couple of years ago and how they refused all of the teen activities. They just did their own thing. Either way, I'm going to save it to my "for the future" because it would be good when we have more time. Thank you!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Been to Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite numerous times. Have done multiple nights in the Curry tents but it’s been decades. If this is a once in long time trip to CA, don’t do Sequoia instead of Yosemite. I absolutely love Sequoia but there’s absolutely no comparison. You go to Yosemite.

I personally wouldn’t bother with Wawona, it’s just too quirky. It’s also far enough away that I would just go to the another, more comfortable place. If you’re ok driving, the Tenaya Lodge is awesome!

We do plan to pop in to Sequoia. I know it's a park where we really should invest more time, but this trip...it's just something to punctuate the path a little on the way to Yosemite. I'm doing the same with the drive to CA and back. Is it ideal? No, but seeing a little bit of Sequoia is better than seeing none. While totally different parks, the best comparison I've got in mind from previous trips is us popping into Theodore Roosevelt NP for a day before making the push to Glacier NP for several days. I wish we had more time/resources, but DD15s travel ball schedule has taken over our summers. This CA tournament that we're building on with this Yosemite visit will be our seventh and final of the summer and our last bit of travel before DD17 heads off to college. I don't know if everyone will be up for these tents after so much sport travel, but it's only 2 nights and we'll have lots of traditional hotel time before and after if we keep with this plan.

I was a little put off by the location of the Wawona, so it helps to hear that. The Tenaya Lodge did come up in my searches. It had availability and looks comfortable. I may have to explore this further. At this stage of the trip...this may be better for everyone's sanity. Thanks!

 

[bcla]

This is very helpful. The tents are not my ideal for lodging, but I'm just wondering if I can make it work with our travel tolerances. Location and that rustic vibe of being in the parks is something we appreciate with in-park lodging. I think I could even make a single outlet work. We'll be in nomadic mode, so shoving bags under the metal beds also shouldn't be a big deal.

The bear lockers do concern me along with the bed comfort. I could see one of the girls forgetting something and next thing you know, we have bear issues. I even read one person' story about marmot issues with their vehicles. We'll also already be 12 days into travel at this point and we're going to be pretty weary from an intense summer schedule of travel ball. I'm not sure how everyone is going to feel about this. I know I could buy inflatable mattress pads to help with the bed comfort, but that's one more thing to lug around and have to pack up those two mornings. I sleep with earbuds in when traveling, so I likely wouldn't hear much, but everyone else in my group would. The parking, if far, would also wear on us when it's only one night in each spot.

Definitely food for thought as the tent part would be night 12 of this specific trip and patience may be running too thin at that point for us to be up for the adventure. I appreciate your thoughts!

I don’t recall ever staying at one, but I’ve definitely passed through and saw how everything works. These days each tent cabin has its own bear box, which means lugging everything there but also having things nearby. However, some preferred when each one was assigned a bear box in the parking lot, which typically meant a shorter distance from the car to the box.

Also, parking isn’t guaranteed. Most parking in Curry Village is open to anyone. I’ve parked there to go to the NPS campground office. If you can find parking, don’t leave unless you have to. Most locations in Yosemite Valley are serviced by the free shuttle bus. It might be better now that reservations are required for Yosemite Valley.

I guess some call it rustic or primitive. I think of it more as basic. It’s a platform with a roof and canvas sides. They periodically modernize the materials. Heck, the last time I visited Yosemite I camped and had a fairly nice tent (not something sold at a discount store). But it was still a basic experience. We also paid maybe $6 at the time just to use the showers at Curry Village. That’s included if you’re staying there. And they will check to see if someone is a guest or pays the public use fee.

 

[mel2014]

Have you looked to see if any house/condo rentals in Yosemite West have availability? It's an enclave of private homes and condos within the park. In my opinion, that's the optimal place to stay in Yosemite. It's about 30 minutes from the Valley floor, but you get a kitchen and typically better bed layout, often for the same or less than the price of the "official" Yosemite accommodations.

https://www.scenicwonders.com/
https://www.airbnb.com/s/Yosemite-W...h_input_header&search_type=autocomplete_click
https://www.vrbo.com/search?destina...3&theme=&userIntent=&semdtl=&sort=RECOMMENDED

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I don’t recall ever staying at one, but I’ve definitely passed through and saw how everything works. These days each tent cabin has its own bear box, which means lugging everything there but also having things nearby. However, some preferred when each one was assigned a bear box in the parking lot, which typically meant a shorter distance from the car to the box.

Also, parking isn’t guaranteed. Most parking in Curry Village is open to anyone. I’ve parked there to go to the NPS campground office. If you can find parking, don’t leave unless you have to. Most locations in Yosemite Valley are serviced by the free shuttle bus. It might be better now that reservations are required for Yosemite Valley.

I guess some call it rustic or primitive. I think of it more as basic. It’s a platform with a roof and canvas sides. They periodically modernize the materials. Heck, the last time I visited Yosemite I camped and had a fairly nice tent (not something sold at a discount store). But it was still a basic experience. We also paid maybe $6 at the time just to use the showers at Curry Village. That’s included if you’re staying there. And they will check to see if someone is a guest or pays the public use fee.

Thank you! The parking aspect was one of my concerns, especially since we're traveling with a lot of gear unrelated to the vacation part of the trip. We do some camping closer to home and have a large Coleman cabin tent, but there's no way to bring it along for this. Ultimately, after a few days of thinking on it and everyone getting honest with me, it was determined that nobody was in love with the platform tent idea. So, back to the drawing board.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Have you looked to see if any house/condo rentals in Yosemite West have availability? It's an enclave of private homes and condos within the park. In my opinion, that's the optimal place to stay in Yosemite. It's about 30 minutes from the Valley floor, but you get a kitchen and typically better bed layout, often for the same or less than the price of the "official" Yosemite accommodations.

https://www.scenicwonders.com/
https://www.airbnb.com/s/Yosemite-West--California--United-States/homes?tab_id=home_tab&refinement_paths[]=/homes&flexible_trip_lengths[]=one_week&monthly_start_date=2024-06-01&monthly_length=3&monthly_end_date=2024-09-01&price_filter_input_type=0&channel=EXPLORE&query=Yosemite West, CA&place_id=ChIJ5UQwu0frloARzlhenukj9zQ&date_picker_type=calendar&checkin=2024-06-17&checkout=2024-06-20&adults=4&source=structured_search_input_header&search_type=autocomplete_click
https://www.vrbo.com/search?destination=Yosemite West, Yosemite National Park, California, United States of America&regionId=3000007792&latLong=37.647499,-119.717499&flexibility=0_DAY&d1=2024-07-15&startDate=2024-07-15&d2=2024-07-18&endDate=2024-07-18&adults=2&children=1_15,1_13&theme=&userIntent=&semdtl=&sort=RECOMMENDED

I had looked at "The Redwoods in Yosemite," but didn't find anything that looked right for us. Most of it's silly, but I know DH and the girls usually prefer a hotel. I don't mind a cabin, but sometimes I feel like they're better suited for people who are settling in for a week+. Either way, I'll keep a bookmark of those links just in case. Thanks!

 

[bcla]

I had looked at "The Redwoods in Yosemite," but didn't find anything that looked right for us. Most of it's silly, but I know DH and the girls usually prefer a hotel. I don't mind a cabin, but sometimes I feel like they're better suited for people who are settling in for a week+. Either way, I'll keep a bookmark of those links just in case. Thanks!

Yosemite West isn't exactly an enclave, but I guess an "exclave". The only roads there have to go through the park. Any residents living there have full access to the park. I don't think staying there would include bypassing Yosemite Valley daily reservations though. I think only a reservation within Yosemite Valley includes that.

There are a couple of enclaves in Yosemite that legally aren't part of the park, including the community of Wawona and Foresta. Some people actually live in those places, but they also have vacation rentals.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

The last time we went to Yosemite we stayed at Rush Creek Lodge and Spa. It's technically outside of Yosemite Park, so it's still a bit of a drive to get to the hiking trails, but I thought it was managable. The property itself was nice, it has a pool, a little indoor game room (it had that hockey game that I loved as a kid, lol) and such. There's a restaurant on property as well, though I don't think it was anything to write home about it was fine. They had a firepit with smores, things like that, at least when we were there a couple years ago. We definitely enjoyed it there.