Riding in Yosemite National Park

Photos courtesy of Carol and Steve Ford

There are three locations in the park where horses can be rented or you can stable your own mounts. You can rent horses with an accompanying guide for a 2 hour ride, half day, full day, or by the day for pack trips. You can trailer your mounts into the park and stay in the low lands or head for the high country. Call the park for specific information on campsites, horse boarding, and where to park rigs for extended pack trips.

The three main locations in the park with lodging and horse rentals are Wawona, Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows. Yosemite Valley is the most well known with such nearby sites as the Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, Half Dome and Glacier Point. The photo above is the south end of the valley with Bridalveil Falls on the right and Half Dome in the distance. The valley is 7 miles long at 4,000 feet above sea level and the Half Dome rises to about 8,500 feet.

Tuolumne Meadows is one the most picturesque in the park located at an altitude of 8,500 feet. Consideration should be given to acclimating to the altitude both for oneself and one’s mount before galloping off into the sunset.

Wawona is at the south end of the park near the largest grove of Giant Sequoia trees at Mariposa. Wawona is 4,000 feet above sea level and the Sequoias are located at an altitude of 5,000 to 6,000 feet. A bus and motorized tram will take hikers to the top of the Mariposa grove. It is also within riding distance of Wawona.

Since our stay was short, we choose to rent horses at the Wawona stables (photographs top left to bottom right). Wawona doesn’t attract the crowds that the Valley does, so groups are normally 4-6 riders instead of as many as 30 riders in the Valley. The Mariposa Grove (photo top center and right) is within riding distance of Wawona.

Miles and miles of hiking and riding trails exist within the park. The Yosemite Valley has spectacular vistas and open spaces as well as streams and rivers (photograph left center and bottom left). Of course, when the summer crowds in the Valley and Wawona get to be too much, you can head for the high country.

During our short three day trip to Yosemite, we spent one day at Wawona and the Mariposa Grove, one day in the Yosemite Valley, and on the third day drove from Yosemite Valley up Route 120 to Tuolumne Meadows and beyond to the Tioga Pass coming down out of the mountains into Bishop. The Tioga Pass road was opened this year the Friday before Memorial Day as 4-8 inches of snow had fallen the previous Monday. Road conditions should be checked early and late in the season for access to the Tioga Pass road.