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Photo by Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Best time to visit Yosemite
United States · North America
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Yosemite
Tap a month for its page
- JanJYosemite in January: ok
- FebFYosemite in February: ok
- MarMYosemite in March: ok
- AprAYosemite in April: good
- MayMYosemite in May: good, busy
- JunJYosemite in June: sweet spot, busy
- JulJYosemite in July: sweet spot, busy
- AugAYosemite in August: good, busy
- SepSYosemite in September: sweet spot
- OctOYosemite in October: sweet spot
- NovNYosemite in November: good
- DecDYosemite in December: ok
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Plan this trip
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Book with the airline
Where to stay
Book direct
Luxury
Things to do
Car hire
Rent direct
Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
Mobile data (eSIM)
Your own plan's EU roaming may already cover this.
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi is the other common way to stay connected.
These are sites people in book with. Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.
Month by month
No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 11° | 8d | 73% | 7.6h | ok | 11C max, 8 rainy days |
| Feb | 10° | 9d | 73% | 8.2h | ok | 10C max, 9 rainy days |
| Mar | 11° | 10d | 75% | 9.2h | ok | 11C max, 10 rainy days |
| Apr | 15° | 7d | 71% | 11.1h | good | 15C max, 7 rainy days |
| May | 20° | 6d | 63% | 12.8h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Jun | 26° | 2d | 49% | 13.7h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Jul | 31° | 0d | 39% | 13.9h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Aug | 30° | 1d | 41% | 13.0h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Sep | 26° | 2d | 47% | 11.7h | sweet spot | 26C max, 2 rainy days |
| Oct | 21° | 2d | 49% | 10.4h | sweet spot | 21C max, 2 rainy days |
| Nov | 15° | 6d | 60% | 8.4h | good | 15C max, 6 rainy days |
| Dec | 12° | 7d | 70% | 7.3h | ok | 12C max, 7 rainy days |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
No month in Yosemite is clearly warmer than in 1981–1990: the differences are inside the ordinary spread between one year and the next.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 10.0° | 10.1° | 11.1° | 15.3° | 19.9° | 26.2° | 30.0° | 29.7° | 25.2° | 20.1° | 12.9° | 9.5° |
| 2017–26 | 10.7° | 9.8° | 10.8° | 14.8° | 19.8° | 26.5° | 31.0° | 30.1° | 26.1° | 21.2° | 15.1° | 11.8° |
| Change | +0.7° | -0.3° | -0.3° | -0.5° | -0.0° | +0.3° | +1.0° | +0.5° | +0.9° | +1.1° | +2.1° | +2.3° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
Fly into Fresno (FAT), then drive. The flights under Where to book are to Fresno.
The drive from each airport is the road's, from openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT: typical, not a schedule.
How far Yosemite is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Los Angeles
- from Seattle
- from Vancouver
- from Chicago
- from Mexico City
- from Toronto
- from New York
- from Miami
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Yosemite, flying or not.
Before you go
Type A and B plugs at 120 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the United states dollar. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise normal security precautions. Everything for United States: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay work almost everywhere, though a few small places take cash only. Keep some $1 and $5 notes for tips; Venmo and PayPal are for locals.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Expected: 15–20% in sit-down restaurants (18–20% is standard in New York) and 10–20% for taxi, Uber and Lyft drivers. Large groups may find it already on the bill.
Getting around Yosemite
- Apps — Rides: Lyft, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: Text messages (SMS), WhatsApp. In San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and some other cities you can also book a driverless Waymo in its own app.
Yosemite has grown from a little visited, yet historically significant, park to one of the "crown jewels" of the US National Park System. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Yosemite National Park, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — 911 (any emergency).
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 5 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (34)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/getting-help
- omny.info
- omny.info/fares
- clippercard.com/contactless-payments
- clippercard.com/pay-with-phone
- mtc.ca.gov/news/starting-wednesday-bart-riders-can-tap-bank-cards
- sfcta.org/blogs/next-generation-clipper-tap-pay-here
- metro.net/fares/how-to-pay
- transitchicago.com/howto/pay-for-your-fare
- info.myorca.com/contactless
- miamidade.gov/global/service.page?Mduid_service=ser1565197498854306
- mbta.com/fares/charlie/tap-ride
- holocard.net/for-visitors
- holocard.net/help
- sdmts.com/fares/pronto-ways-pay
- ridepronto.com
- norta.com/ride-with-us/how-to-pay
- norta.com/ride-with-us/how-to-pay/fares
- norta.com/ride-with-us/how-to-pay/lepass
- capmetro.org/fares
- wmata.com/fares
- wmata.com/pay/tap-ride-go.html
- muni.org/Departments/transit/PeopleMover/Pages/FaresandPasses.aspx
- uber.com/global/en/cities/new-york
- lyft.com/rider/cities/new-york-ny
- waymo.com/faq
- visittheusa.com/travel-trade/faq
- nyctourism.com/tipping-sales-tax
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/United_States
- infobip.com/blog/most-popular-messaging-apps-by-country
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/AnnualReport/PDFs/09PAYMENT290526C6588B796E664822A2BD0DEB6452CAD4.PDF
Yosemite in pictures
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King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Tuxyso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The year in Yosemite
Yosemite experiences snow in winter and may have road closures. The summer months attract large crowds, so planning ahead is advisable.
| Busiest |
mid Jun to mid Sep — Summer months when the weather is warmest and most conducive for outdoor activities.
|
|---|---|
| Quieter, still good |
early Apr to mid Jun — Spring period offers pleasant weather and blooming nature, though fewer tourists.
mid Sep to late Oct — Early fall with mild temperatures and changing foliage; crowd sizes taper off.
|
Written by a language model from the climate figures above. The month-by-month table is measured — ten years of ERA5 readings and published holiday calendars — and where the two disagree, the table is the one to believe.
What Yosemite is like
Yosemite National Park is a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Sierra Nevada mountains in east-central California. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- If you only have a single day to visit the park, a drive around Yosemite Valley is probably the best option. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Yosemite is one of the world's most spectacular hiking destinations, and all visitors should consider at least a short hike. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- There are no gas/petrol stations in the Yosemite Valley. However, electric vehicle charging stations are available. More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- For any emergency in Yosemite National Park, dial 911 from most phones (hotel and retail phones may require 9+911). Yosemite NPS runs its own dedicated emergency dispatch. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Yosemite National Park, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Yosemite
Also in United States
- Anchorage best May, Jun, Jul
- Asheville best Apr, Jun, Sep
- Austin best Jun, Sep, Oct
- Boston best Jun, Jul, Sep
- Charleston best Mar, Apr, Oct
- Chicago best May, Jun, Jul
- Key West best Apr, May, Jul
- Los Angeles best May, Jun, Sep
- Maui best Jul, Sep, Oct
- Miami best Feb, Apr, May
- New Orleans best Apr, May, Sep
- New York best Jun, Jul, Sep
- Oahu best May, Jun, Sep
- San Diego best May, Jun, Sep
- San Francisco best May, Jun, Sep
- Scottsdale best Apr, Oct, Dec
- Seattle best Jun, Jul, Aug
- The Grand Canyon best Jun, Jul, Sep
- Washington DC best Apr, Jun, Sep
- Yellowstone best Jul, Aug, Sep
- Zion best Apr, Jun, Oct
Compare with
- Anchorage
- Asheville
- Austin
- Boston
- Charleston
- Chicago
- Key West
- Los Angeles
- Maui
- Mexico City
- Miami
- New Orleans
- New York
- Oahu
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Scottsdale
- Seattle
- The Grand Canyon
- Toronto
- Vancouver
- Washington DC
- Yellowstone
- Zion
Nearby
- Vancouver Canada · 1,306 km
- Mexico City Mexico · 2,842 km
- Toronto Canada · 3,417 km
- Bogota Colombia · 5,882 km
Kind of place
Yosemite is in United States, North America. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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