California
Off the Beaten Path: Yosemite National Park
Program No. 25273RJ
From the Hetch Hetchy reservoir to the beautiful Tuolumne Meadows, experience the hidden gems of Yosemite and learn about Yosemite’s rich cultural history.
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Protecting the Environment
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6 days
5 nights
14 meals
5B 4L 5D
3
Hetch Hetchy Valley, Glacier Point
Groveland, CA
4
Foresta Historic Site, Indian Village Museum
Groveland, CA
5
Tuolumne Meadows, Tenaya Lake, Olmsted Point
Groveland, CA
6
Transfer to Fresno, Program Concludes
Fresno, CA
At a Glance
Think you know Yosemite? Discover some of this national park's hidden gems on a small-group adventure that unveils lesser-known wonders as well as some of its more popular landmarks. Experience the tranquil Hetch Hetchy reservoir and majestic Tuolumne Meadows — the largest high elevation meadow in the Sierra Nevada — and learn about these lesser-known corners of the park. Revel in a peaceful evening at Glacier Point, taking in its beauty as the sun sets and the crowds disperse. Along the way, take a deep dive into Yosemite’s lesser known history with local experts including an historic site in Foresta which was one of the last stagecoach stops before Yosemite Valley and a winter home for the Miwuk. With expert naturalists leading your way and local instructors sharing their insider knowledge, this unique adventure invites you to discover Yosemite off the beaten path.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walking up to 3 miles in one day at the most with walks up to two miles on other days over uneven terrain; standing up to 45 minutes at one time. Elevations range from 4,000-8,000 feet.
Micro Group
These adventures feature our smallest group size, with 12 participants or fewer.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Explore Yosemite's hidden corners — experience lesser-known spots like Hetch Hetchy and Tuolumne Meadows and enjoy Glacier Point at sunset.
- Learn about Yosemite’s history with local experts and explore historic sites including Foresta and the Indian Village Museum.
- Enjoy immersive experiences with local naturalists and park experts, delving into Yosemite’s diverse ecosystems and conservation efforts.
Suggested Reading List
(8 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Off the Beaten Path: Yosemite National Park
Program Number: 25273
The Yosemite Grant 1864-1906: A Pictorial History
A comprehensive, well-illustrated history of the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees.
Yosemite: The Complete Guide
Filled with vivid color photography and informed writing, Yosemite: The Complete Guide puts the best of Yosemite National Park at your fingertips. Fully updated to include current travel info (including the new rules for hiking Half Dome), the second edition offers expanded chapters on geology, ecology, wildlife, and history. James Kaiser takes readers on a joyous romp through Yosemite, revealing the fascinating story behind the scenery. From the thundering waterfalls of Yosemite Valley to the sparkling granite of the High Sierra, Yosemite: The Complete Guide equips travelers with everything they need to know. Lodging, camping, and dining are covered in-depth, as well as outdoor adventures (hiking, biking, rock climbing, rafting, skiing), transportation issues, and seasonal weather patterns. Over 20 hikes are listed, with trail descriptions, topographical maps, and photos.
Ansel Adams' Yosemite: The Special Edition Prints
The photographs of Ansel Adams are among America's finest artistic treasures, and form the basis of his tremendous legacy of environmental activism. In the late 1950s, Adams selected eight photographs of Yosemite National Park to offer exclusively to park visitors as affordable souvenirs. He hoped that these images might inspire tourists to become activists by transmitting to them the same awe and respect for nature that Yosemite had instilled in him. Over the following decades, Adams added to this collection to create a stunning view of Yosemite in all its majesty. These photographs, the Yosemite Special Edition Prints, form the core of this essential volume. Adams' luminous images of Yosemite's unique rock formations, waterfalls, meadows, trees, and nature details are among the most distinctive of his career. Today, with America's public lands increasingly under threat, his creative vision remains as relevant and convincing as ever.
Introduced by bestselling photographer Pete Souza, with an essay by Adams' darkroom assistant Alan Ross, Ansel Adams' Yosemite is a powerful continuation of Adams' artistic and environmental legacies, and a compelling statement during a precarious time for the American earth.
History of the Sierra Nevada
The History of the Sierra Nevada covers all aspects of the human history of the area from the prehistoric native Americans, Spanish exploration, mountain men, pioneers, 49'ers, railroad, John Muir and the national parks to recent trends of utilization and recreation.
My First Summer in the Sierra
In the summer of 1869, John Muir made his first long trip to Yosemite. When a friend offered him the chance to accompany his flock of sheep and a shepherd to the high pastures of the Sierra, it was an opportunity Muir could not resist. This book reprints the journal he kept of those summer days, of the wildlife and plant life, and of his explorations into the magical places of the mountains.
Geology Underfoot in Yosemite National Park
Many of the features that visitors find most tantalizing about Yosemite have unique and compelling geologic stories—tales that continue to unfold today in vivid, often destructive ways. While visiting more than twenty-seven amazing sites, you’ll discover why many of Yosemite’s domes shed rock shells like onion layers, what happens when a volcano erupts under a glacial lake, and why rocks seem to be almost continually tumbling from the region’s cliffs. With a multitude of colorful photos and illustrations, and prose tooled for the lay reader, Geology Underfoot in Yosemite National Park will help you read the landscape the way a geologist does.
Sierra Nevada Natural History
First published forty years ago, this handbook has become an enduring natural history classic, used by thousands to learn more about virtually every aspect of this spectacular mountain range--from its superb flora and fauna to its rugged topography. Comprehensive yet concise and portable, the book describes hundreds of species: trees and shrubs, flowering plants and ferns, fungi and lichens, insects and fish, amphibians and reptiles, and birds and mammals.
Geology of the Sierra Nevada (California Natural History Guides)
Geology of the Sierra Nevada (California Natural History Guides) is a comprehensive guide to the geologic history of the Sierra Nevada.
