Preparing for a Family Vacation to Yosemite National Park

Prepare for Fun or Face Frustration

The family vacation can often turn into the family headache if you do not plan correctly. Too much planning and then everyone can feel rushed. Too little planning and you can end up sleeping in your vehicle for a night or two worrying about grizzly bears. This guide will help you prepare for a good family vacation in Yosemite by giving you basic guidelines, tips and hints. This guide is for people who plan on driving to Yosemite National Park.

Step One: Pack what you don't want to buy later. Although Yosemite National Park is a beautiful area where God spared no time designing magnificent wonders, our capitalist society has taken advantage of the fact that many people will visit and inevitably forget things. The Yosemite General Store in Yosemite Valley tends to overprice a few of the essentials. Deodorant that's normally $3 was $6. If you forget your S'mores supplies, they have a pre-packed set with 2 candy bars, 1 small pack of graham crackers and about 10 marshmallows for 8 dollars. Juice boxes were marked up at least $3. My goodness! And the store even ran out of regular boxes of graham crackers! How does a National Park run out of graham crackers in the off-season?

Because of this, invest in a cooler and a large backpack to bring the essentials. For your cooler, grab a bag of ice and throw in some hot dogs, sandwich meat, burger patties, juice boxes, soda in small plastic bottles. I'd even consider charcoal and lighter fluid just in case you decide to snack at a viewpoint that has a grill. In your backpack bring extra film, extra batteries and put them in a plastic bag. Put them in an easily reachable part of your backpack. Yosemite National Park has so many landmarks and photo moments that your batteries could easily die from all the pictures. Trust me; you DO NOT want to buy batteries anywhere else in the Valley. Sunscreen and bug spray could also be essential depending on what season you travel in.