3 Day Yosemite National Park Itinerary With Kids

Yosemite National Park is the perfect family adventure. Whether you have toddlers or older kids, there are various options to appease each travelers desires including easy but stunningly beautiful hiking trails with giant sequoias and waterfalls, an unforgettable steam train ride, and much needed relaxation with the serene nature as your back drop. This 3 day family itinerary provides a great mix of time in nature with down time by the pool.

Important Things to Know for Your 3 Day Yosemite Trip

Reservations are required at certain times throughout the year. Be sure to visit the Yosemite National Park Service website, check the calendar, and buy your entrance tickets in advance (if needed at the time of your visit.) There is no cell service to buy your tickets when you get in the park and there are long, long lines just to enter through the gate depending what time you arrive. Which leads me to my second bit of advice….
Go early!!! You could save yourself an hour and a half by getting to the park entrance at 7 AM. It is so worth it and you can really maximize your time on the hiking the trails and taking in nature’s stunning views.
The roads in Yosemite National Park are narrow and endlessly winding. Whoever doesn’t mind this sort of driving for an entire hour there and back should be the designated Yosemite driver!

The Ultimate Family Friendly Hotel (Perfect for kids)

Tenaya at Yosemite is the ultimate family friendly hotel! The pool area has one main large pool, a kid pool with water features, a small adults only pool, and two hot tubs. There is a restaurant/bar in the pool area so, you don’t have to go far for meals or drinks for your family. There are plenty of chairs and towels available. We are big swimmers in this family, so we took full advantage of the pool during our hot summer Yosemite trip!

The hotel rooms are newly renovated as of 2024. The beds, bedding and room itself felt cozy and comfortable. We booked a bottom floor room with a patio. In the summer the sun sets very late, around 9 pm, so we enjoyed time soaking up the quiet and serene atmosphere outdoors.

Tenaya has a kids room with several games (this was a huge hit with my 4 year old) and all the ingredients you need for s’mores, so you can enjoy a fireside activity with the whole family. There are options to sign up for archery, the rock climbing wall, guided hikes, or mountain bike rentals. There is also a spa if you have time to slip away for a quiet moment.

The best part about Tenaya Resort: it’s location is perfect!! The drive is only 15-20 minutes to the South Gate Entrance of Yosemite National Park (with no traffic) and 15 minutes from Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad. Knowing that there could be traffic getting into the park if you don’t arrive early, the hotel location will minimize your commute to the park. This is huge!

3 Day Family Itinerary for Yosemite National Park

Day 1 (Half Day)

Arrival + Hotel Check In

Depending on the length of your drive to Yosemite National Park, you will have a portion of the day to enjoy with your family. We drove in from LA which takes 5 hours. After a long drive it was really nice to just relax by the pool and enjoy a chill summer day with nature as our backdrop. If you are looking to get adventurous, but don’t want to get back in the car, make sure to sign up in advance for one of the hotel activities like rock wall climbing, mountain biking, or archery! Enjoy dinner at one of the 3 hotel dining options.

Day 2

All Aboard!!

Book your family’s tickets in advance for the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad. This was a big highlight of our trip! My son is obsessed with steam trains, so this was a must for us. After taking the one-hour, narrated steam train ride, I was truly impressed. We learned about the history of the railroad and loved the idyllic scenic time we spent immersed in nature. It was truly a unique experience! There is a store onsite, a place to grab lunch (we brought our own) and a fun gold mining game for kids. We ended up buying our son a Brio toy train. IYKYK.

In summer there were options for the 11 AM or 1PM train. It appears in certain months they also have a 9:30 AM train. We opted for the 11 AM ride and by the time we finished and got back to the hotel it was 1pm. We were going to drive into Yosemite and do the Mariposa trail, since it is a only few minutes from the entrance, but once we saw the traffic backed up for miles, we decided it would be more enjoyable to relax by the pool. If you don’t mind the traffic and really want to at least get a little bit of Yosemite in, I would recommend just doing the Mariposa trail.

Day 3

Yosemite National Park Day!

Mariposa Grove is home to 500 giant sequoias that are around 1,000 years old. This part of the park, as I mentioned, is a few minutes from the South Gate entrance. Your GPS will get you to the parking lot, but no further, so make sure to grab a map at the entrance. There is a sign for the parking lot however, note you need to jump on a shuttle bus to get to the trailhead (unless you have a handicap placard or plate.) Be sure to check shuttle times here to plan your trip. For the most part, it looks like the shuttles start at 8 AM. I would still suggest getting to the park entrance around 7 AM or 7:30 AM to allow time to get through the gate, park, gather up your belongings and grab the first shuttle!

Once you embark on the trail, mystical towering sequoias greet you. The trail starts with a long, wide wooden floor base and then transitions into regular dirt trails. If you have a baby or toddler, I would stick to a hiking backpack carrier. The trail itself is easy and you can go as far as you would like and turn around. We opted for the 2-mile Grizzly Giant Loop Trail and saw all the popular sites including Fallen Monarch, Bachelor & Three Graces, Grizzly Giant, and California Tunnel Tree. It is like stepping into another world. You will want to spend enough time here to truly embrace the scenic beauty.

Next, jump in your car and take a 40-minute drive to Tunnel View. Take Wawona Rd and once you hit the tunnel, slow down and be prepared for your jaw to hit the ground. Once you exit the tunnel, go left right away into the parking lot. Grab a spot and walk over to the extraordinary view of a cascading waterfall.

Last up is Bridalveil Falls, located just 4 minutes from Tunnel View. This is a short, easy trail. Not long into the path, and up to the right, you will find a dramatic view of a waterfall plunging off an impressive mountain carved in the middle of nowhere. Feel the fresh mountainside water mist delicately rain down on you. It is the prefect moment to be present in nature.

Next, continue downstream and dip your feet into the ice cold stream to cool off. My family sat on rocks by the stream and ate our lunches. I couldn’t think of a more peaceful spot to relax in.

The truth is, I had a lot of options on our list of trails however, these 3 spots were just enough for our family! There is an hour ride back the park entrance at this point and we got back to our hotel around 3 PM. Other places on my easy- for-family hikes where: Lower Yosemite Falls, Swinging Bridge and Mirror Lake.

What to Pack for a Family Day in Yosemite National Park

A big cooler full of ice and all the drinks, snacks, and meals you will need for the entire day.
A small cooler with an ice pack so you can put what you need for each trail in your backpack.
A backpack that will fit your small cooler, sunscreen, bug spray, whatever clothing you need.
Trail running sneakers or hiking boots and a hat.

Your family will have an adventurous and unforgettable trip! It is worth every bit of effort to get to Yosemite National Park. There is something about immersing yourself into nature, being in the present moment, and creating family memories that will last a lifetime that really feeds the soul. Let me know how your trip goes in the comments!

Jill