EXPERIENCE HOLIDAY MAGIC AT BASS LAKE, CALIFORNIA AND YOSEMITE

Staying at Bass Lake, California over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend truly felt like I was living in a Hallmark movie. Bass Lake is within The Sierra National Forest. The town is quaint and cute, with one main store and one gas station. The Pines Resort puts on an annual Christmas tree lighting and parade of lights. There is holiday food, drinks, and a festive craft fair. It was about a 15 minute walk from the Airbnb to the Pines Resort. This felt like a little Christmas town with all the residents literally decking out the halls with their Christmas decorations. Bass Lake is a super family friendly spot.

BASS LAKE & AIRBNB PROPERTY

Bass Lake is a beautiful and convenient location to stay at if you are planning on going into Yosemite. It is about 30 miles from the South Gate of Yosemite’s park entrance. The drive to and from the park was beautiful, the roads were lined with beautiful sequoia and pine trees. It hadn’t yet snowed yet that year, and there were still pops of fall colors on the trees. There have also been more black bear sightings at Bass Lake in recent years. I was hoping to see one in the wild….but I think they had already gone into hibernation for the winter…prob for the best 😉

The Airbnb we stayed at was listed as having a retro vibe. It provided the perfect cabin-like feeling and we were really happy with the rental. The best parts of the property was the rooftop patio/deck. We sat out there as much as we could, but definitely this would be a prime feature in the summer. The fireplace was SO cozy and we used it every night we were there. Warming up to a fire with a glass of wine = chefs kiss

Center of the town, where they do all the Christmas festivities

VISITNG YOSEMITE

This was my FIRST TIME in Yosemite! Only after 8 short years of living in San Francisco, I finally made it a priority to get to this national park. I prepared for snow, but we didn’t have any snowfall on this visit. From being a first time visitor, I’ve written some tips and advice if you are going to head to Yosemite.

GET UP EARLY

Depending on the time of the year and what time the gates open at, Yosemite is very very popular and in 2023 they had almost 4 million visitors. To beat crowds and make the most of your sunlight hours in the Winter, get up early and to get the gates on opening. Take this with a grain of salt because I’m not a morning person, definitely in the cold and winter either, but it is worth it.

PLAN AHEAD

Make sure to check out Yosemites government website which lists pertinent park info and road closures. Look up any road closures / study the driving routes, and do the trip with someone who can help you navigate. There were a few times we missed our turn and ended up having to backtrack and drive 45 minutes again to get back to where we wanted to go.

WHAT TO BRING

Depending on the season, I would make sure you have the essentials for a visit.

-Warm layers, extra clothes, hats, gloves, etc – AND if you get to be passenger princess a blanket. This was great to stay warm during scenic drives and we had the windows open a lot to take photos.

-Water, Camelback, extra water to store in the car, there is lots of driving involved when visiting Yosemite and not that many places you can stop.

-Food / snacks – the restaurants at the park are super busy, can be expensive so having a cooler of food in the car is super convenient especially if you are doing lots of hikes and walks, the hangry-ness can be real.

CAR PREP

SNOW CHAINS & ANTIFREEZE: The National Park Service recommends carrying chains in your car when visiting Yosemite between November and March, but chain controls may be in place as early as September or as late as May. When you go to buy the snow chains, make sure you have your car manual with you and take photos of your current tires since you’ll need to follow the manufacture recommendations for which chains and sizes you can use and which antifreeze is okay in your car.

The photo above shows The Ahwahnee Hotel. It is a beautiful hotel right within Yosemite Valley built in the 1920’s. They are strict with parking unless you are a hotel guest or have a dinner reservation, so we had to park far away and take the park shuttle in. We were able to do a walk-in at the Anwahnee Bar, which was about a 30 minute wait.

Overall Yosemite is a stunning visit, coupled in with staying at Bass Lake felt like the perfect intro and start to the Holiday season. I would one thousand percent go back in a heart beat.

More snaps from my visit below 🙂