Yosemite’s Public Transport

It is quite possible to make a trip to and within remote Yosemite NP without relying on a car.  Heck, John Muir didn’t use a car on most of his trips here. 

You can travel on Amtrak to Merced, and you’ll find that the train schedule syncs with that of the YARTS buses (yarts.com) that run to/from Yosemite Valley several times a day.  In the summer YARTS even has one bus a day that makes the trip through the middle of the park and over to Mammoth Lakes – a great connector for backpackers to reach trailheads.  Hikers also use the daily Glacier Point Tour bus to get dropped off on the Valley’s rim for the hike back down to the Valley.  In winter there are free shuttles from the Valley and Wawona up to Badger Pass Ski Area for snowy fun without having to worry about tire chains.

The best public transport in the park (in California?) is Yosemite Valley’s free shuttle bus system.   If you’re staying in Valley lodgings or a campground, you don’t need to use your car at all to get around; look for the shuttle stop signs right in front of your place.  If you’re a day-user, leave your rig at the huge Curry Village or Yosemite Village Day Use Parking lots and hop the shuttle from there.   Shuttles cover a loop of the main destinations in the east Valley: campgrounds and lodges, stores and restaurants, the Visitor Center and several trailheads.  Some folks use the free bus as an orientation tour: just get on and ride for the loop for about 45 minutes back to where they came from.  The park newsletter, the Yosemite Guide, has a very useful route map on the back page to help you really figure out where to go.   As an example, if you’re tenting at Camp Four and interested in hiking up to Vernal Fall, it’s a piece of cake to stroll to the shuttle stop just across from the campground entrance, ride for 15 minutes to the Happy Isles stop and there you are at the trailhead.  Oops - you need picnic supplies before the hike!  No problem: you can hop off at the Village Store shuttle stop on the way and grab the next bus in no time at all. 

As for ticket prices, Uncle Sam and Delaware North have taken care of that: all rides are free, so save your money for s’mores or a John Muir book at the Visitor Center.  Be sure to greet and/or thank the driver; theirs is not always an easy job. 

Usually, the shuttles are comfortably loaded, but sometimes they are rolling sardine cans where you’ll be squashed in with lots of other travelers for your 5-15 minute ride. 

Do: -Be careful with your daypack knocking into people

        -Watch out for others with big backpacks or a heavy rack of metallic climbing gear. 

        -Treat little kids cautiously as they can get lost in the squeeze sometimes.

Don’t: -Try to flag down a bus between shuttle stops; it won’ t work.

            -Trip or stab people with your trekking poles.

            -Ask your driver too many questions if it’s busy.

Do: Learn a lot by chatting with fellow passengers – they’ll be from all over the world, but they’ll include some excited, happy people who’ve been to the park a lot and who know about the places you want to go.