Destinations in the path of the upcoming total solar eclipse are bracing for a surge of spring travelers, and national parks are taking steps to help manage the crowds.
20.03.2024 - 13:47 / lonelyplanet.com / El Capitan / National Park
Yosemite National Park is one of those dazzling, large-than-life destinations with a beauty that must be seen firsthand to truly appreciate it.
Renowned landscape photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams introduced much of the public to this iconic park in the 1930s, when he began documenting its magic in black and white. Close to 100 years later, Yosemite remains an iconic photographic locale attracting close to five million visitors each year.
In California’s Sierra Mountains, Yosemite is the third-oldest national park in the US, established in 1890 and home to more than 700 miles of hiking trails, numerous waterfalls and captivating granite cliffs and buttresses with names like Half Dome and El Capitan. You’ll also find towering sequoia trees, diverse wildlife, sparkling turquoise and aquamarine lakes, scenic byways and a historic lodge that takes you back about a century in time.
Here are our top picks for the best things to do in Yosemite National Park.
If you’ve seen photos or videos of Yosemite, you’ve seen the iconic granite rock that is Half Dome. Towering nearly 5000ft above the Yosemite Valley, it can be spotted from several locations around the park, including Tunnel View, Glacier Point and Mirror Lake, but none is more exhilarating than the view from the summit.
This is not a hike to undertake if you are not active or prepared. A 14- to 16-mile round trip with a 4800ft elevation gain, the trek to the summit is no walk in the park. It takes most hikers between 10 to 12 hours to hike up Half Dome and return.
All that said, if you're looking for a challenge, this is a stupendous hike that offers stunning views of Vernal and Nevada Falls and Liberty Cap. From the shoulder and the summit of Half Dome, you’ll also have panoramic views across the Yosemite Valley and the High Sierra Mountains.
You’ll want to start this hike before sunrise and, although the trail is marked, carry a good topographic map and compass. Unless you are a rock climber with equipment, you’ll also have to use a two-cable system to climb the last 400ft to the summit.
If the cables are too much (or you can’t get a permit) you can still climb as far as Sub Dome, which is where the cable section starts. The views from here are still really impressive, and the hike is intense.
Planning tip: You can only summit Half Dome between Memorial Day and Indigenous Peoples Day, and you'll need a permit to hike past the Sub Dome area. Apply online in March for one of the 225 hiking permits offered each day of the season. The NPS issues them via a lottery system, and competition is stiff.
Yosemite’s other legendary slab of rock is El Capitan, which garnered a lot of attention after Alex Hannold’s free solo climb in June 2017. The
Destinations in the path of the upcoming total solar eclipse are bracing for a surge of spring travelers, and national parks are taking steps to help manage the crowds.
As part of the effort to combat overcrowding at U.S. national parks, Mount Rainier National Park in Washington will require advance reservations to visit starting this summer.
The roads around Yosemite National Park are a driving utopia – these routes carve through expansive backcountry, sublime valleys and pretty meadows, and loop by deep gorges dotted with emerald-green forests, shimmering lakes and ancient sequoias.
At every majestic red, brown and pink turn, Grand Canyon National Park wows, with nature’s utmost beauty on full display.
For many visitors, Ireland lives large in the imagination.
There is never a bad time to explore the deep and rippled beauty of Grand Canyon National Park. But depending on the nature of your trip, be it a rugged multi-day hike through jagged switchbacks and river ravines; a spot of family camping; or a quick budget-friendly adventure, when you visit will make all the difference.
Bigger than the US state of Rhode Island and large enough to influence the weather, Grand Canyon National Park can be overwhelming for first-time visitors.
From the moment you arrive, Yosemite dazzles with its natural good looks. One of America’s most iconic national parks and its third oldest, it captivates with myriad waterfalls, sky-grazing sequoias, gemstone-hued lakes, subalpine wilderness areas and granite cliffs and buttresses, like El Capitan and Half Dome.
Yosemite, established in 1864, is a superstar of the National Park System for good reason. A visit, whether you stay in well-connected Yosemite Valley or head out into the vast wilderness, is a humbling experience.
Equipped with vast swathes of tangled rainforest and both a Pacific and Caribbean coast, the Central American nation of Panama is rife with spectacular natural beauty all across its borders—and the province of Veraguas is no exception. Spanning from the western reaches of the Azuero Peninsula up to the nation’s northern shore, this sprawling region offers a wide array of dazzling attractions for visitors to enjoy. As you plan your next trip to Panama City, be sure to save some room on the itinerary for a trip to Veraguas, a gorgeous region that’s rife with top-tier attractions for nature lovers.
Around an hour's drive from Miami on Florida's southern tip, Everglades National Park offers 1.5 million acres of natural wonder. Covering an area the size of Rhode Island, this complex and vital ecosystem of wetlands, swamps, mangroves and forests is North America's biggest protected sub-tropical wilderness reserve.
In Everglades National Park, you’ll find 1.5 million acres of canals, miles of marshes and tons of sub-tropical critters – but not so many hiking routes.