Yosemite News

Do your part to help alleviate congestion on the roads near Yosemite by using Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS). The YARTS buses provide an affordable, dependable alternative to driving between Yosemite Valley and gateway communities—and they can help you reduce your carbon footprint! YARTS buses run through Mariposa County, California from Merced to Yosemite National Park and connect with Amtrak and Greyhound service in Merced. The smaller buses in the fleet run on clean diesel, and the company hopes to upgrade the remaining buses by the end of next year.

In an effort to further provide park customers with a complete, hands-on experience, Yosemite National Park concessionaire Delaware North Companies has partnered with MMG Worldwide to develop an integrated campaign focused on thoroughly exploring the outdoors. Through the “Take It All In” campaign, visitors are urged to step outside of their cars and use GPS technology to actively engage in biking, hiking and sightseeing.

After exploration by millions of visitors over the past 100 years, it's hard to imagine anything left to discover amid the majesty of Yosemite's glacier-cut granite cliffs and giant Sequoia groves. But, by thinking small, scientists have discovered new species of lichen clinging like microscopic starfish to Yosemite icons such as El Capitan, Half Dome and Vernal Falls, and countless slabs of less famous rock. And they are trying to determine whether the species exist anywhere else.

After exploration by millions of visitors over the past 100 years, it's hard to imagine anything left to discover amid the majesty of Yosemite's glacier-cut granite cliffs and giant Sequoia groves. But, by thinking small, scientists have discovered new species of lichen clinging like microscopic starfish to Yosemite icons such as El Capitan, Half Dome and Vernal Falls, and countless slabs of less famous rock. And they are trying to determine whether the species exist anywhere else.

After exploration by millions of visitors over the past 100 years, it's hard to imagine anything left to discover amid the majesty of Yosemite's glacier-cut granite cliffs and giant Sequoia groves. But, by thinking small, scientists have discovered new species of lichen clinging like microscopic starfish to Yosemite icons such as El Capitan, Half Dome and Vernal Falls, and countless slabs of less famous rock. And they are trying to determine whether the species exist anywhere else.

Yosemite National Park’s historic and grand hotel operated by Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, has been named the best national park lodge by ShermansTravel.com, a travel Web site that routinely posts top-10 lists.

Trailmix.Net is proud to introduce its first product, the Yosemite National Park Scavenger Hunt. As of Wednesday, August 27th, families with children that are planning to visit Yosemite National Park can get a copy of The Yosemite National Park Scavenger Hunt in the Trailmix.Net store.

After six years guiding major restoration efforts on trails, bridges and even restrooms at Yosemite National Park, Superintendent Michael Tollefson said Friday that he will step down at the end of the year. The 61-year-old Tollefson will replace Bob Hansen as president of the San Francisco based nonprofit Yosemite Fund. The donor-supported fund has contributed heavily to many Yosemite National Park improvement projects.

Los Angeles, the second-largest metropolitan area in the U.S., may well hold a key to the future of America's national parks. The national park idea was enshrined in 1872 when Yellowstone was designated as the first national park. In the following years, great wilderness parks like Yosemite here in California, Mount Rainier in Washington, Crater Lake in Oregon, Grand Canyon in Arizona, and Glacier in Montana were established.

Yosemite National Park Superintendent Michael Tollefson will step down in January to become president of the Yosemite Fund, a nonprofit agency that raises money for the park. The announcement will be made today by the National Park Service and the Yosemite Fund. Tollefson will replace Bob Hansen, the fund's president, who announced his retirement this year.

Swing by the Yosemite Village Post Office at 10:30 a.m. Thursday and you will be able to get first-day cancellations of a new stamp featuring Yosemite National Park. The 42-cent first-class stamp features Albert Bierstadt’s painting “Valley of the Yosemite.” Yosemite’s Postmaster Bill Carroll as well as park Superintendent Mike Tollefson will be on hand for the ceremony.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Vendors along one of the main roads leading to Yosemite National Park this summer were finally seeing business turn around following a rock slide that kept tour buses away for the previous two years. That was before a massive wildfire closed the highway and sent towering plumes of smoke and ash over one of the nation's most celebrated wilderness areas.

You want to travel with your dog. You want to see Yosemite National Park, but you’ve heard of the restrictions on pets. Do you do it? Visions of Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, Sentinel Rocks and El Capitan tug at you. You load the pooches in the car and become one of the nearly 30 million adults in the United States who have traveled more than 50 miles away from home with their pets in the past three years (78 percent of which are dogs). You hope your dog will enjoy it as much as you.

A 26,000-acre wildfire burning about 12 miles west of Yosemite Valley has destroyed 12 homes and forced closure of the main road to Yosemite National Park on Monday, but has had little effect on the park beyond obscuring the stunning views and forcing visitors to take cold showers. The blaze, dubbed the Telegraph Fire, cut power to Yosemite Valley, but backup generators have kept much of the park services open, including the Village Store and the Yosemite Lodge.

(07-28) 04:00 PDT Mariposa -- A 26,000-acre wildfire raged out of control Sunday night in steep and rugged canyons 12 miles west of Yosemite, destroying 12 homes and threatening the tiny town of Midpines as firefighters braced for volatile weather conditions during the coming days. The fire, burning just northwest of Midpines and 2 miles northeast of the town of Mariposa, forced hundreds of residents to flee their homes, threatened thousands more homes, caused a power outage in the Yosemite Valley, and was threatening the water supply for the Mariposa Utility District, authorities said.