South Yosemite Locations
Below you'll find more detailed accessibility information for locations in South Yosemite. Please note that I am most familiar with Yosemite Valley and so need more information about this area. Please visit the forum if you have additional information!
​General Notes
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You'll see accessible restrooms referred to as "family restrooms" at times by the Yosemite Accessibility Guide.
Glacier Point
Elevation 7,214 feet
(May/June to November)
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Accessibility Guide:
"This world-renowned overlook gives visitors a grand view of Yosemite Valley from above and a captivating vista of the park’s high peaks. The overlook is accessible via two different trails. One is more direct and the other is a 300-yard, switchback trail from the main parking lot. Although both trails are paved, they are steeper than an accessible grade in some sections. Restrooms, snack bar, and a gift shop are accessible. A bronze, three-dimensional model (on the terrace below the gift shop) identifies geologic features. "
Additional Accessibility information:
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Badger Pass Ski Area
Elevation 7,245 feet
(Late December to March)
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Accessibility Guide:
"California’s oldest operating ski area offers downhill and cross-country skiing, snow tubing, and snowshoeing. The ski area is approximately 45 minutes from Yosemite Valley. Sit-ski lessons and rentals are offered by reservation and adaptive ski lessons can be accommodated with advance notice. Call 209/372-8430. On the first floor of the Badger Pass Lodge, the food-service area, deck, and restrooms are accessible. There are three designated parking spaces."
Additional Accessibility information:
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Washburn Point
Elevation 7,591 feet
(May/June to November)
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Accessibility Guide:
"Washburn Point will be closed due to construction in 2022. This overlook, just south of Glacier Point, provides beautiful views of Half Dome and the eastern crest of the Sierra Nevada. From this vantage point, visitors can take in the view of Nevada and Vernal Falls as well as Illilouette Fall. Washburn Point lacks designated parking spaces and curb cuts for wheelchair access."
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Additional Accessibility information:
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Wawona
Elevation 4,012 feet
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Accessibility Guide:
"Facilities in Wawona include a year-round gas station (attendant available during business hours) and a grocery/gift shop. A golf course, golf shop, stage rides, and stable are available seasonally.
Wawona Hotel
This beautiful complex of buildings is the oldest Victorian-style hotel in the west, with the oldest building dating to 1876. A piano player may offer nightly summer renditions of turn-of-the century songs. Designated parking spaces are located on the north side (rear) of Hill’s Studio (brown structure). The hotel dining room, lobby, and restrooms are accessible. Additionally, there are two accessible guest rooms available. Other rooms may meet specific accessibility requirements. Call the hotel to discuss at 209/372-6556.
Wawona Visitor Center at Hill's Studio (May to October)Located on the grounds of the Wawona Hotel, Hill’s Studio was the gallery and art studio of famous 19th-century landscape painter Thomas Hill. Today it serves as a visitor center with exhibits depicting life during the 19th -century in Wawona. Two accessible parking spaces and a mechanical lift are available at the rear of the studio. Use intercom to request assistance from staff for operation of the lift."
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Wawona, continued
Accessibility Guide:
"Yosemite History Center
The Yosemite History Center allows visitors to explore Yosemite’s 19th-and early 20th-century past, offering glimpses into the original, historic cabins, a stable, and a historic covered bridge. Written displays about the buildings are available year-round. Stage rides (not accessible) and blacksmith demonstrations are offered in July and August.
Paths within the complex have a dirt surface. Some buildings are up a dirt slope or require one or more steps to look inside the windows. An accessible restroom is located near the parking lot. There is no designated accessible parking. Parking near the Wawona Store & Pioneer Gift Shop provides the best access, but the paved route includes a portion with an 8.1% slope. The path from the gift shop travels through the covered bridge. The bridge’s floor is made of uneven wooden boards, some with spaces that might catch the wheels of a wheelchair. Entrance is also possible from the north, near the stable that offers horseback riding."
Additional Accessibility information:
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Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias
Elevation 5,606 to 6,461 feet
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Accessibility Guide:
"Yosemite’s largest stand of giant sequoias, the Mariposa Grove, also has the park’s largest and most impressive individual trees, with about 500 mature giant sequoias. Giant sequoias are perhaps the largest living things on Earth. There are many giant sequoias in the lower grove area. This area was restored in 2018 with a focus on accessibility.
There is no shuttle service between Wawona and the Mariposa Grove. The Mariposa Grove Road, Welcome Plaza, Arrival Area and Mariposa Grove is open seasonally from around mid-April through November, conditions permitting.
Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza
The welcome plaza is the closest parking near the South Entrance. It has about 300 parking spaces, including 16 large vehicle spaces (two of which are accessible RV spaces) and 24 accessible spots. It may fill up by late morning. The plaza includes a small bookstore, interpretive displays, a cast-bronze displays, water, and an accessible restroom.
A free, accessible shuttle provides service from the Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza to the Mariposa Grove Arrival Area every 10–15 minutes. The road and shuttle service usually open around April 1, but in 2022, will not open before Memorial Day weekend (May 27), and will close on or before November 30. When the two-mile road to the Mariposa Grove Arrival Area is closed due to snow, visitors may walk up the road or the Washburn Trail. Snow and/or ice may be present. The elevation gain is 500 feet."
Additional Accessibility information:
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Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, continued
Elevation 7,758 feet
(Summer only)
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Accessibility Guide:
"Mariposa Grove Arrival Area
An alternative to taking the shuttle (when they are operating), allows visitors with a disability placard to drive to the Mariposa Grove Arrival Area. Access is through a gate with a pushbutton to open it at the bottom of the road. The gate typically has a traffic ranger attendant during business hours. Limited parking of 4 spots is available for cars at the Mariposa Grove Arrival Area. Non placarded vehicles in accessible parking will be towed.
The arrival area includes interpretive displays, a cross-section of a giant sequoia, a cast-bronze replica of the grove and trails, drinking water and an accessible restroom.
Big Trees Loop Trail (0.3 mile/0.5 km)
This wide, level, accessible trail begins at the Mariposa Grove Arrival Area. The boardwalk winds through a forest with many giant sequoias and features the Fallen Monarch. The trail includes numerous benches and interpretive panels on the life and ecology of giant sequoias, as well as animal displays in cast bronze. The Loop Trail boardwalk was closed in 2021, due to damage from a windstorm. Check the website for the status of the Loop Trail before your visit.
Grizzly Giant Road, Parking Area, and Trail
In addition to visiting the Mariposa Grove Arrival Area, persons with a disability placard can drive beyond the Mariposa Grove Arrival Area, up a service road to park at the accessible parking lot near the Grizzly Giant. There are seven accessible spots at this small lot. There is an accessible restroom at the lot. From the Grizzly Giant accessible parking area, it is a 0.1 mi (0.16 km) one-way walk on a compressed dirt trail to access the Grizzly Giant, the park’s largest tree and California Tunnel Tree, which one can walk through.
Use of the service road by vehicular traffic was temporarily discontinued in 2021. The hiking trail from the Mariposa Grove Arrival Area to the Grizzly Giant was damaged from a windstorm. Until the hiking path is restored, hikers have been rerouted to hike on the service road. Du to the amount of foot traffic, it is not safe to allow vehicles with the accessibility placard to share this road with pedestrians. The hiking distance from the Mariposa Arrival Area to the Grizzly Giants is 1.5 miles, 2.4 km, and very steep in sections. When the boardwalk reopens the service road will again open to vehicles with an accessibility placard. Before your visit, call the accessibility coordinator to check on the status of the use of the Grizzly Giant Road by automobiles with a disability placard."
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Additional Accessibility information:
The main hiking areas could be power chair accessible except that they put in stairs instead of a ramp. So it's impossible for me to know if it would actually be accessible if they made that change.
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While I fully understand the need to remove the tram tour, it is sad to lose access to the vast majority of the grove.
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Picnic Areas
Accessibility Guide:
"Wawona: Yosemite History Center
​Across from the entrance to the Yosemite History Center is a paved picnic area, accessible table and paved path to an accessible restroom. Although there is accessible parking, closer parking is at the end of the lot, near the paved picnic area.
Soldier Flat
​Soldier Flat, north of Wawona and south of the Wawona Campground, has picnic tables, grills, and a toilet that is accessible."
Additional Accessibility information:
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