Yosemite in April

jackieblack

Thinking of going to Yosemite as part of a fly-drive in and out of San Francisco next April. We would be there around the beginnng of the second week in April.
I have read that there will still be the chance of snow then, does anyone have any idea how much? and how great the chance is? Is April too early in the season? (Don't really want to end up snowed in or having to buy snow chains!)
We went to the Grand Canyon this April and it was fine.
Has anyone been to Yosemite in early April? Any advice please?

trets77

we went April Last year . sunny weather for the most part .

simple case of Height . the higher up you are the more chance of snow . we saw a small amount of Snow on the ground ,at Fish Camp but next to none in the actual park .

be warned the roads over the Sierra Nevada and Mountain passes will almost certainly still be closed , so you won't be able to take a short cut to Death Valley ect.

jackieblack

trets77 wrote: »

we went April Last year . sunny weather for the most part .

simple case of Height . the higher up you are the more chance of snow . we saw a small amount of Snow on the ground ,at Fish Camp but next to none in the actual park .

be warned the roads over the Sierra Nevada and Mountain passes will almost certainly still be closed , so you won't be able to take a short cut to Death Valley ect.

Thank you, that's reassuring.

We wouldn't be going on to Death Valley from Yosemite, possibly south to Kings Canyon/Sequoia NP, then back via Monterrey to SF.

That fits with what I'd thought initially, but I was having a bit of a panic in case I'd been over optimistic in my interpretation of what I'd read!

WolfSong2000

I went a few years ago...must have been May time, and from what I can remember there was still the odd pass still shut off, possibly due to snow...was absolutely gorgeous though, and I really recommend visiting it! Plus, you'll most likely avoid the mozzies, which were just starting to make an appearance when I was there .

arealhighlander

We were there last May, as said, the road over the top to Tioga Pass will almost certainly be closed, it was only just opening at the end of May. We went down to Carmel and Santa Cruz. Carmel is quite nice, wasn't that impressed with Clints restuarant! Santa Cruz is their cheap version of Blackpool, not wirth the visit.

Funnily enough this year (in 2 weeks time!) we are flying to Las Vegas and then taking an RV to Grand Canyon, death Valley and Kings/Sequoia Canyon.

trets77

arealhighlander wrote: »

We were there last May, as said, the road over the top to Tioga Pass will almost certainly be closed, it was only just opening at the end of May. We went down to Carmel and Santa Cruz. Carmel is quite nice, wasn't that impressed with Clints restuarant! Santa Cruz is their cheap version of Blackpool, not wirth the visit.

Funnily enough this year (in 2 weeks time!) we are flying to Las Vegas and then taking an RV to Grand Canyon, death Valley and Kings/Sequoia Canyon.

Disagree about Santa Cruz . if you are near make sure you visit this

http://www.mysteryspot.com/

ez056368

There is almost no chance of lying snow in Yosemite Valley. There is almost certainly snow lying up in the higher reaches of the park as the Sierra Nevada mountains are the highest in the continental USA. As a previous poster mentioned, the Tioga pass may be closed - which isn't a big deal for many travellers who are primarily interested in Yosemite Valley itself. April/May are the best months to visit California... it's warm and sunny, but the hills are still green.

jonesMUFCforever

Watch the BBC series shown recently - truly awsemome.

torbrex

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Watch the BBC series shown recently - truly awsemome.

Yes it was but that was about Yellowstone not Yosemite.

jackieblack

arealhighlander wrote: »

We were there last May, as said, the road over the top to Tioga Pass will almost certainly be closed, it was only just opening at the end of May. We went down to Carmel and Santa Cruz. Carmel is quite nice, wasn't that impressed with Clints restuarant! Santa Cruz is their cheap version of Blackpool, not wirth the visit.

Funnily enough this year (in 2 weeks time!) we are flying to Las Vegas and then taking an RV to Grand Canyon, death Valley and Kings/Sequoia Canyon.

Have a great time!

jackieblack

ez056368 wrote: »

There is almost no chance of lying snow in Yosemite Valley. There is almost certainly snow lying up in the higher reaches of the park as the Sierra Nevada mountains are the highest in the continental USA. As a previous poster mentioned, the Tioga pass may be closed - which isn't a big deal for many travellers who are primarily interested in Yosemite Valley itself. April/May are the best months to visit California... it's warm and sunny, but the hills are still green.

Thanks, that's great to hear. We would probably only be interested in Yosemite Valley and not wanting to cross the high altitude passes.

In a slight change to our plans, we have now decided to fly into San Fran, across to Yosemite, drive back to Monterey for a couple of days, then spend a few days driving south down the coast, flying home from LAX.

We booked the fly-drive this morning!
Very excited (haven't actually finished unpacking from this year's hol yet, got back two weeks ago from doing Las Vegas/Grand Canyon/Laje Havasu/LA/San Diego - fantastic!)