South Lake Tahoe / Yosemite Travel Guide

This trip changed me as a traveler but more on that later. I flew Southwest Airlines into Sacramento and made the 2-hour drive to South Lake Tahoe. For you wine lovers, on the way to Tahoe down I-50 east through Placeville is a wine region known as Gold Country (named after the Gold Rush), which is not as pricey and touristy as Napa / Sonoma. Placerville has Boeger and Lava Cap, which I’ve heard are good, off the beaten path wineries. In Plymouth, you can find the Turley Wine Cellars-Amador Tasting Room, which has a $25 tasting that is waived with a 2-bottle purchase.

It started snowing on the drive up and would snow off and on until we left. The snow was a pleasant surprise and led to some amazing views but it did limit what we could do. We couldn’t kayak and some of the trails were closed. Unless you’re in Tahoe to ski, I wouldn’t visit until at least June. Lesson #1 of this trip: Your trip will never go according to plan. You have to learn to accept what life throws at you, pivot, and make the best of it.

After a couple of days in Tahoe we continued our journey to Yosemite. While driving and losing cell service it occurred to me that I had no way of knowing how to get through Yosemite and to our hotel in Fresno. Of all the planning I did for this trip, I forgot to download offline Google maps. While we couldn’t use GPS we were able to make a phone call in the park and called a friend to look up directions. Lesson #2: You can plan as much as you want for a trip and you will always forget something.

I was completely in awe of Yosemite. One of the most beautiful places I have ever visited and the views almost look fake, they’re so perfect. Although I think we saw most of the major Yosemite attractions (Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, and Half Dome), my one regret was not hiking more. We were ambitious and had planned to do multiple hikes on Sunday but underestimated the difficulty of the Mist Trail. After hiking 6 miles, ascending over 2000 feet, and climbing steps for what felt like a mile up to the top of Vernal Falls, I was completely gassed. If you’re planning on visiting Yosemite for multiple days, do one hike each day. And if I could change one thing about my trip, I wish I would have stayed closer to Yosemite than Fresno and booked a hotel in Oakhurst or Mariposa. It would have allowed us to do some more things in the park because it’s a 1.5 hour drive just to the entrance of Yosemite and then another hour to the Yosemite Valley.

On our last day we drove to Yosemite Trails to go horse back riding. I was a little nervous having never ridden a horse before but the guides at Yosemite Trails were very helpful. They’re excellent teachers and your safety is their primary concern.  After the hour-long trail ride on the outskirts of Yosemite, we then departed for Napa but after stopping in Modesto to eat lunch, we realized that the Napa wineries close between 5-6pm. Barely giving us enough time to visit one winery, we became spontaneous for the first time on the trip and cancelled our Napa reservations and drove to Sacramento where we were flying out of the next morning. This was one of the best decisions of the trip. I didn’t know anything about Sacramento. Did zero research. And yet this may have been one of the best days of the vacation. On the drive there we booked a hotel on Hotels Tonight. After we checked in we went to FieldWork Brewery (Try the Hellabaloo and Pillow World). Then we spontaneously rode scooters down the street and saw the state capitol. Followed by a night cap at the Golden Road Brewery. I had zero expectations for Sacramento and the Midtown area blew me away. Lesson #3: Be spontaneous. It’s good to plan and have an idea of where to go and what to eat. But don’t let that dictate the trip. Be spontaneous for a day. Spending the night in Sacramento opened my eyes to how much more fun it is to not stick to a plan. And some things you have to discover on your own and not through research. For those that need some kind of structure when traveling, check out my South Lake Tahoe & Yosemite travel guide below.

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Where to Stay in South Lake Tahoe & Yosemite:

South Lake Tahoe: Airbnb

Fresno: Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Fresno Yosemite International Airport

Sacramento: Wyndham Garden Sacramento Airport Natomas

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Transportation in South Lake Tahoe & Yosemite:

Booked a rental car with Alamo through Expedia. Because it was the summer of road trips, rental cars were freaking expensive. I booked a car 2 months before my trip and prices doubled the week of my vacation.

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What to Do in South Lake Tahoe & Yosemite:

• Gamble at the casinos on the Cali/Nevada state line
• Baldwin Beach, which stretches for approximately one-half mile with panoramic views of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains. The beach is also a popular launching point for kayakers heading to Emerald Bay. $10 gets you access to Baldwin Beach, Pope Beach, Nevada Beach, and Meeks Bay.
• Nevada Beach
• Hike to Eagle Lake and Eagle Falls. Off Highway 89, the Eagle Lake Trail is a moderate two-mile hike roundtrip. Be careful, the trail was confusing at times and I suggest using an offline GPS. Also fell MULTIPLE times. But the Lake was breathtaking, especially while it was snowing. After the hike, walk across from the parking lot and look out onto Emerald Bay & Fannette Island.
• Rent a bike at Anderson’s Bike Rentals in Tahoe and ride the bike trails
• Hike to Vikingsholm Estate, an old 38-room mansion which is now on the National Register of Historic Places
• Hike the Merced Grove Trail in Yosemite to see the redwoods. Very easy 3-mile hike.
• Drive around Yosemite and see the main sights: Tunnel View, Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, El Capitan, Glacier Point (best place to view Half Dome), and Washburn Point. The views from Washburn Point and Glacier Point are breathtaking. Glacier Point, at an elevation of more than 7,200 feet, gives you the grand view over the entire valley. This is one of the most incredible views in Yosemite National Park and is an absolute must-see sight. Not far from Glacier Point, Washburn Point is an equally spectacular lookout with incredible views over Vernal Fall.
• Hike the Mist Trail, the signature hike at Yosemite. If you can find parking, park at Curry Village. After you reach the top of Vernal Falls, you’ll want to take the John Muir Trail back. Your knees will thank you and you’ll get incredible views of Nevada Falls and the back of Half Dome.

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What to Eat & Drink in South Lake Tahoe & Yosemite:

• In-N-Out! In-N-Out! In-N-Out! Y’all should know my love for the chain by now (Looking to be an influencer if you’re reading this In-N-Out).
• Lake Tahoe has a pretty impressive brewery scene, 9 total. The picture below lists them all.

• Start your hikes off right with coffee at Cuppa Tahoe. Delicious caramel lattes and white mochas.
• Bourbon at State Line Brewery. They have almost every bottle imaginable.
• Base Camp Pizza in Tahoe
• Sonney’s BBQ Shack. Holy shit, the pig wings. I discovered this restaurant checking the sign-in book at the Airbnb. Half the book said to eat here.
• Lazy Dog in Fresno for a bison burger
• Night cap at Goldstein’s Mortuary & Delicatessen in Fresno (Neither a mortuary or a delicatessen lmao)
• Fieldwork Brewery and Golden Road Brewery in Midtown Sacramento

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Tips for Visiting South Lake Tahoe & Yosemite:

• Download Google maps offline before entering Yosemite because service is spotty at best and you’ll need a way to get out of the park unless you want to be a Boomer and read a physical map.
• Get a hiking GPS app like All Trails and download hikes offline. Use it in airplane mode to save battery.
• Buy a compass and a Life Straw. 99% chance you won’t need them but you’ll be thankful if you do.
• Sign up for a Yosemite reservation because there’s a limit on the number of people they’re allowing in the park due to Covid. A reservation will be required May 21 through September 30, 2021. Display your permit on your dashboard at all times inside of Yosemite. A $35 pass gets you 3 days in the park.
• Reservations are available each day at 8 am Pacific time. Be sure to have an account and be logged in and ready to get a reservation promptly at 8 am Pacific time.
• Bring a flashlight or head lamp in case you get stuck hiking after dark.
• Get to Yosemite before 8am or you’ll wait at least 30 mins to get into the park. It was ridiculously crowded this summer and that’s even with the daily park limit.
• Bring AT LEAST 2 bottles of water for each hike. Or if you’re in the Yosemite Valley you can fill your water from spigots without treating it. If you are refilling from a stream or spring, you must filter your water
• Make a beer stop at Raley’s. Hiking is so much better with a beer at your destination.
• I recommend picking one area of Yosemite per day. Do your longest hike first and then add some shorter hikes after that if you still have the energy or you can do roadside attractions.
• You only need a permit to hike the last section of Half Dome; otherwise you don’t need a permit for any day hike.
• Pay attention to the total ascent of a hike (total amount of climbing). 1050 feet is about the same as climbing all the stairs to the observation deck on the Empire State Building (86th floor).
• Yosemite consists of three main areas: Wawona in the south, Yosemite Valley in the center, and Tioga Road to the north.
• You can read about road closures on the Yosemite Alerts webpage.
• Fill up for gas outside of the park. Don’t rely on getting gas inside the park as there are only 2 gas stations, one in Wawona and one in Crane Flat.
• If a parking lot has bear boxes, use these to store your food.
• There are no grizzly bears in the park, only black bears. Usually they avoid humans and are only after food and trash. Don’t feed the bears if you see one because they will be put down if they are fed. Bear spray is not allowed in the park.
• Keep the Yosemite Park phone number in your notes app: 209-372-0200
• Check out the Hiking Guy’s website for in depth reviews of hikes from all over the world.

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Bucket List for Visiting South Lake Tahoe & Yosemite Again:

• Rubicon Point Lighthouse Trail – a 2.4-mile moderate hike to the highest elevation lighthouse in the United States.
• Summiting Mt. Tallac, the tallest mountain on the lakes’ shoreline (9,738’). It’s a 10-mile round-trip hike that ascends 3500 feet to the top over the course of only 5.2 miles each way.
• Kayak to Fannette Island in Emerald Bay
• South of North Brewing Co.
• Hike to the top of Yosemite Falls. It is a demanding 5.8-mile-long roundtrip hike with endless stair climbing. But once you get to the top, you will be standing above the tallest waterfall in North America.
• Tioga Road. Disappointed this was closed when I was in Yosemite. The Tioga Road (Highway 120) climbs above the Valley and has some seriously breathtaking views and pristine lakes.
• Mirror Lake hike & dip. An easier, more family friendly hike to a lake that’s not actually a lake, but rather a wider part of Tenaya Creek. Artists and photographers come to Mirror Lake to capture the reflections of Half Dome on the water.
• Four Mile Trail
• Taft Point Hike

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South Lake Tahoe & Yosemite Maps: