Glacier Point, Wawona
& the Giants of Mariposa Grove

No need for an early Valley rush today. Load up, take the truck (leave the Brinkley at the resort), and head east on Hwy 120 to the Big Oak Flat entrance. Once inside the park, drive straight south through the Valley on Wawona Road without stopping — you're headed for Glacier Point. The Chinquapin junction comes up about 9 miles south of the Valley floor. Turn left onto Glacier Point Road and drive 16 miles to the overlook. Total drive from Yosemite Pines: about 2 hours.

Drive south on Wawona Road, turn left at the Chinquapin junction, and take the 16-mile Glacier Point Road to the overlook. You're standing 3,200 feet directly above the Valley floor — Half Dome at eye level, Vernal and Nevada Falls visible as white threads far below, and the entire Sierra Nevada spread east. This is the single most dramatic viewpoint in Yosemite and it's paved and accessible right to the railing. Take it in. This is why people come back to Yosemite.

Charlie is welcome at the overlook area. Take a snack break here — you've earned it after the morning hike.

Drive back down Glacier Point Road to Chinquapin, then continue south to Wawona — about 55 minutes from the overlook. The Wawona Hotel is a beautiful white Victorian-era property dating to 1879, one of the oldest resort hotels in any national park, with dog-friendly outdoor lawn dining.

⚠️ Check ahead — the Wawona Hotel has been closed for renovations and may not be open. Call the hotel or check the Yosemite NPS site before the trip. If it's closed, pack your lunch at Yosemite Pines and plan to eat at a picnic table near the Pioneer History Center — the grounds are open regardless and are a great spot to sit. It's an early lunch either way, but after Glacier Point you've earned it.

Right next to the Wawona Hotel is one of the most underrated stops in the park. The Pioneer Yosemite History Center is an open-air living history museum with a collection of historic log cabins, a covered bridge, a Wells Fargo stagecoach, and 19th-century buildings relocated here from across Yosemite. Each structure represents a different era of the park's history — cavalry soldiers, homesteaders, early rangers. You can wander freely through the grounds, cross the covered bridge (the most photographed covered bridge in California), and peek into the buildings. It's completely free, entirely outdoors, and Charlie can come with you on leash. Budget 20–30 minutes — it goes quickly but it's genuinely interesting.

Mariposa Grove is home to over 500 giant sequoias including the Grizzly Giant — one of the largest trees on earth at over 2,700 years old — and the California Tunnel Tree, a living sequoia you can walk through. The walk to the Grizzly Giant is 2 miles round trip on a gentle forested path. The scale of these trees is impossible to prepare for. Charlie waits in the truck in the shaded parking area — this walk takes about 60–90 minutes.

Stop at the Wawona Visitor Center inside Hill's Studio, just adjacent to the Wawona Hotel, for Kat's second Yosemite passport stamp. The center has exhibits on the park's history and the sequoia ecosystem. Charlie waits outside.

🎌 Bonus — The Japanese Lettering Stamp: Hill's Studio holds one of Yosemite's most sought-after specialty cancellations — a passport stamp featuring Japanese lettering. This stamp is NOT sitting out on the public tables. You must walk up to a staff member and specifically ask for it by name. Most visitors walk right past it without knowing it exists — don't be one of them. Right next door is the Pioneer Yosemite History Center — historic covered bridges and 19th-century buildings you can wander with Charlie on paved paths.

Drive north on Wawona Road back through the Valley and out via Big Oak Flat. About 2 hours to the resort from Wawona.

Two stamps down, one to go. You stood 3,200 feet above the Valley floor at Glacier Point, walked among trees that were already 2,000 years old when the Wawona Hotel was built, and crossed a covered bridge older than the national park itself. Day 3 is the high country — Tioga Road, Tuolumne Meadows, and the most dramatic scenic drive in California. Enjoy the early evening.