Yosemite for the Young
Want to expose your little ones to the great outdoors? Yosemite is one of the most popular national parks, and for good reason. The dramatic views surround you with picture perfect scenery without having to hike a mountain to see it. If you are looking for a hike, there are plenty of places to go that are accessible even with a stroller. Visitor centers and nature centers can be found throughout the park, offering plenty of see-and-touch opportunities. There are also ranger-led programs available to the wee camper. Having recently visited Yosemite with a 3 and 5 year old, I have compiled my favorite parts of Yosemite. If you have school-aged children, here are some other recommendations that may be more age-appropriate.
Happy Isles Nature Center: In the popular Yosemite Valley is a fantastic nature center at Happy Isles. At the heart of this center is a display of life-like animals that make up Yosemite’s residents. Further, a display of bats is sure to 
capture any kid’s attention. In another corner you can play name-that-scat, identifying animals via their poop. Aside from animals, the nature center also does a great job of displaying earth sciences at work in the park. One can trace how boulders become smaller rocks, eventually becoming gravel in the streams. You can watch how the earth’s movment is recorded by standing on a short treadmill and watching how your movements are displayed on a seismograph. When your little one gets tired of displays, you can venture outside and take any of several walking paths that follow and cross a nearby stream.
Miwok Village: Great care is taken to acknowledge the people and history that helped make Yosemite what it is today. Throughout the park homage is given to those people who pioneered trails here, created lodging for visitors, contributed to making Yosemite a protected wilderness, and to the natives of Yosemite who shaped the landscape. In Yosemite Valley there is a replication of a Miwok village including teepees, a meeting house, and an acorn granary. It is a fascinating place to walk through (or run through if you are a toddler) with plenty of things to explore. The Yosemite Valley Visitor’s Center (nearby) adds further information on the Miwok culture, but is indoors and is not as touchable.
Pioneer Yosemite History Center: In Wawona, which is often less crowded than Yosemite Valley, there is a group of buildings that have been preserved from the early days of Yosemite’s national park history. Kids can run around the buildings or ride on a horse-drawn carriage. The carriage ride is only about fifteen minutes long, but is narrated by a seasoned park ranger. Meeting him is in and of itself a hoot and a holler.
Mariposa Grove: Also located near Wawona are two well-shaded trails that lead through a grove of Sequoias. Both trails begin at the parking lot, one is a two-mile loop and the other a six-mile round trip hike. Interpretive brochures are available for each route at the beginning of the hike. Though two miles may sound far for a little one, there are interesting things along the way which make the hike fun. For example, a well-placed fallen tree lies beside the trail, giving one a better look at its size and root structure. Further on you can get a glimpse of the Grizzly Giant, believed to be about 2,700 years old. This is a great hike for those without a lot of stamina. A store is conveniently located at the bottom of the trail, near the bus stop, to offer a well-earned treat.
Mirror Lake: A popular hike for tykes is to Mirror Lake. The path there from the bus stop is in fact a well-paved road, making this an ideal destination for those in strollers or those who want to bike ride. In the spring there is a decent-sized lake prior to reaching Mirror Lake. Here you can find some soft sand from which to dip your toes.
When you are traveling with toddlers, self-guided walks and tours are the way to go. To assist in learning more without the confines of a tour group, the Park Service offers brochures for downloading before your trip. These make great references to read at your own pace. Also worth mentioning is a GPS tour of lower Yosemite Falls. The GPS makes available to you at least 50 stories, some video clips, and an interactive game, teaching about the location and history along the path. Devices can be rented at the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center Bookstore for $9.95 for adults, $7.95 for kids. Headphone rental is an extra $1 or you can use your own.
Getting the outdoor experience can seem overwhelming with the boundless energy of little ones to contend with. I find trips to be easier if you have particular destinations already in mind. Yosemite offers a lot of adventures to choose from, for adults and kids alike. Have no hesitation to bring the little ones and, as they say in Yosemite, “Go Take a Hike!”
This post is part of Photo Friday, hosted by Debbie at Delicious Baby. Check out her site to see more travel photos.
thanks for this information and perspective. I’m thinking several of these trails would work for elders in our family with limited stamina and mobility, too.
Great article! I love how you gave each stop at Yosemite it’s due air time. Would love to follow you on Twitter, but I don’t see a button . . .
[...] at Tripping With Kids has a great post on things to do with your kids in Yosemite. This post is geared towards the little ones, but she also links to another post of hers that [...]
We’ve never made it to Yosemite. It does look like the perfect place for young little adventurers (or anyone, for that matter)! Great pics – I love how busy they look.
Great blog post. I am inundated with memories of going to Yosemite when I was a young child. Of course one of the things that I used to like was the firefall where they made a bonfire on the top of El Capitan and then pushed it off. Over the years they decided that was a bad idea.
@ Kerry: Definately! The trams are well-equipped to handle wheelchairs. I noticed quite a few families with elders and toddlers alike. I love places that can be shared by the whole family.
@ Myscha: You are right, my bad. I will change that. My handle on twitter is “trippingwithkid” (no room for the last ‘s’)
@ Margo: Yes, keeping them busy during the day made for smooth evenings. Mostly.
@ Chris: I forgot all about that until you mentioned it. At one point they also used to leave garbage in a huge pile to watch the bears come and fight over it. Glad they thought better of that too.
I have no kids, but I’d love to do most of these things!
Fantastic post, Lora! My kids adore the stagecoach ride & beg to do it every year!
This year we’re going to try something we haven’t done since having kids — riding bikes around the Valley. I’ll be curious to see what the little guy (2 yo) thinks of the bike trailer!
Check out “The National Parks” documentary of you haven’t. Great info on Yosemite and the other national parks.
I love to wade myself, and Mirror Lake looks tempting to me!
@ Barbara: I, too, enjoyed the pace of these activities. Was really nice.
@ Debi: I love the idea of getting around with bikes instead of trams. Especially during the high season when trams can get full. But they do come every 10 min so not so bad.
@KAwKids: What a great site: Here’s the link for others – http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/ Thanks for pointing me to it!
@Dominique: I was tempted to use the photo of my kids running out of Mirror Lake at full speed because it was so friggin cold! Didn’t seem to stop them, though.
Sorry but the original indigenous Native Americans of Yosemite were Yosemite-Mono Lake Paiutes. Miwoks were afraid to enter Yosemite Valley and were the scouts for the Mariposa Battalion, the militia that helped clear out Chief Tenaya, the founder of the Paiute colony of Ahwahnee and his people, who were made up of Paiutes and Monos.
Yosemite National Park is teaching the incorrect Indian history of Yosemite. There were no Yosemite Miwoks, but sadly the Paiutes were cleared out because they tried to stop gold miners from encroaching into Yosemite and attacked trading posts and miners. So they had to be cleared out.
If you notice there is no story of Chief Tenaya in the “Miwok Indian Village”. Yet the National Park Service sells a book in their bookstore called “The Discovery of Yosemite” by Dr. Lafayette H. Bunnell who confirmed that the Tenaya was the founder of the Paiute colony of Ahwahnee and that he spoke Paiute…not Miwok.
Wow. Thank you for setting the record straight. You are right, I don’t remember hearing about any of this at Yosemite, despite the fair amount of emphasis they put on history and culture. How sad that they did not get their due.
Hello, I do some digital work for the US Mint, and for those planning on visiting Yosemite this week, the Yosemite National Park Quarter event is Thursday, July 29th at Yosemite National Park at 11:00 am PT. The general public is invited to gather at the Yosemite Valley Visitor’s Center where the launch will take place.
Children under the age of 18 will receive a free Yosemite National Park quarter to commemorate this special day. The entire family can enjoy live music, special guest speakers, and a specially designed cake featuring the Yosemite National Park Quarter.
If you can’t make it to the event, you can check out the live webcast at http://bit.ly/b2Oxmd The webcast starts at 10:55 am (PT).