Staying Yosemite Valley?

1) Best way to sleep in car while it is parked in a regular parking lot and not pay campsite fees?

2) What is the best way to stay for a month or two?

Zimmy wrote:1) Best way to sleep in car while it is parked in a regular parking lot and not pay campsite fees?

Don't.

^^^ Ha!

Zimmy wrote:1) Best way to sleep in car while it is parked in a regular parking lot and not pay campsite fees? 2) What is the best way to stay for a month or two?

1 & 2: somewhere outside of the park boundary.

If you sleep in your car in a parking lot, you *will* be busted and ticketed by the rangers. If they're suspicious, they will watch your car until you emerge. They'll also listen for snoring. Yosemite takes a very dim view of this activity.

Watch "Valley Uprising" until you get to the part where Alex Honnold explains what he does every time he visits Yosemite. Rewind the whole movie and watch again until you realize there is a stay limit and camping rules and that violators of either are treated rather harshly.

best way to stay in yosemite is to stay outside yosemite

Zimmy wrote:1) Best way to sleep in car while it is parked in a regular parking lot and not pay campsite fees? 2) What is the best way to stay for a month or two?

1) Don't

2) Usually requires being smarter than to post about it on MountainProject

Don't be an idiot and stay in your vehicle.

Brent Butcher wrote:Don't be an idiot and stay in your vehicle.

Text book example of ambiguity.

When I went to Yosemite years ago, we camped in Tuolumne Meadowa in a great spot and "commuted" into NP.

Camping was free back then (20 yrs ago)and we avoided the craziness in the valley

Jim Fox wrote:When I went to Yosemite years ago, we camped in Tuolumne Meadowa in a great spot and "commuted" into NP. Camping was free back then (20 yrs ago)and we avoided the craziness in the valley

Tuolumne Meadows is part of the national park (so the same, or similar, camping rules would apply as in the Valley). The roads are probably closed into Tuolumne now, anyway.

FrankPS wrote: Tuolumne Meadows is part of the national park (so the same, or similar, camping rules would apply as in the Valley).

Yosemite camping regulations:

"There is a 30-night camping limit within Yosemite National Park in a calendar year; however, May 1 - September 15, the camping limit in Yosemite is 14 nights, and only seven of those nights can be in Yosemite Valley or Wawona."

Yosemite Winter Road Conditions & Closures

Campground regs.

FrankPS wrote: Tuolumne Meadows is part of the national park (so the same, or similar, camping rules would apply as in the Valley). The roads are probably closed into Tuolumne now, anyway.

Thought it was in the national forest when we were there but that was a long time ago & I was probably mistaken. Guess it's part of the NP now either way.

Tioga road might be closed now for winter. Not sure when Zimmy plans to visit.

Jim Fox wrote: Thought it was in the national forest when we were there but that was a long time ago & I was probably mistaken. Guess it's part of the NP now either way. Tioga road might be closed now for winter. Not sure when Zimmy plans to visit.

Tuolumne was always a part of and within the national park.

Historically Tioga Road closes early to mid November and reopens late May/June. This season it closed November 13. The closure is from Crane Flat to the gate 5 miles west of Lee Vining on the east side of the Sierra.

Marc801 wrote: Tuolumne was always a part of and within the national park. Historically Tioga Road closes early to mid November and reopens late May/June. This season it closed November 13. The closure is from Crane Flat to the gate 5 miles west of Lee Vining on the east side of the Sierra.

Guess I just thought it was seperate when I stayed there because it was so much nicer camping there vs. the mess in the valley...

I suppose that's a fairly common misconception. The valley is actually a very small sliver of Yosemite NP. It's only 1x7 miles in a national park that is just shy of 1200 square miles.

Build a time machine, set the controls to twenty years or more ago. And then learn how to sleep in your trunk, without moving, without making noise, without being seen getting into or out of your car and with a snorkel porting your breath outside the vehicle to keep the windows from steaming.

If you do attempt to sleep in the village lots, lock your food up in the bear boxes in the back country overnight permit lot.

Unfortunately the camping situation in the Valley is really jacked, and if you want to stay in the park for a month plus, it's pretty difficult to do without breaking the law. There is no way around car/ woods camping unless you have a friend that works for DNC and has a house there. The nearest legal place to sleep in your car is El Portal, which is maybe 20 minutes away. There is a dirt parking lot right before you enter the town, less than 1000' from the first building in the town. You probably wouldent get bothered there. Also, you can sleep in your car along the side of the road once you leave the Valley. I am not sure where the Valley technically ends, but I would say the entry booth where you pay to get in is probably the official line. Anything after that I suspect would be fair game (assuming you can find a place to pull over, which is not easy).

That said, I cant tell you how many climbers I have seen sleeping in their car in the Valley. Some get busted, many do not. It depends on how stealthy you are. A big van with a curtain upfront doesent exactly yell stealth. A car on the other hand may be a bit less obvious.

Regardless of what you choose to do, keep your food out of your car. There are public bear boxes in Curry Village and a number of other locations. If you want to play it safe, El Portal.

Here is some info: speedclimb.com/yosemite/lod…

20 kN wrote:Unfortunately the camping situation in the Valley is really jacked,

and yet people still wonder why that is the case

Get a job for Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR). Then you can just live at Camp 4

Cliffhanger wrote:Get a job for Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR). Then you can just live at Camp 4

Here's what someone would need to know about applying and working for YOSAR