With its flowing waterfalls, pristine lakes and towering granite cliffs, Yosemite National Park is considered one of the most beautiful spotsin the nation.
When it snows, the park in Central California is even more magical.
The dreamy winter wonderland features snow-laden trees, frozen lakes and majestic mountains with gleaming white caps.
According to the National Park Service, snow can fall in Yosemite as early as September or October.
The first snows of autumn are usually light and melt within a few hours or days, according to the National Park Service
“By mid-November the ground is generally cold enough for snow to accumulate, particularly at elevations above Yosemite Valley at 4,000 feet,” the park servicesaid.
Arwin Levinson of Las Vegas makes pictures of Yosemite Valley at Tunnel View in Yosemite on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, following a snowstorm the day before. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
By November or December, visitors should be prepared for snowy conditions throughout the park.
While the Yosemite Valley floor may not always be snowy, you’re more likely to encounter drifts of the white, fluffy stuff at higher elevations.
Yosemite receives 19.3 inches of snow per year on average, according to the National Weather Service.
When spring is in full bloom in other parts of the state, Yosemite often still has snow.
In early April 2023, the park measured an average snow depth of 177.3 inches, equivalent to 14.78 feet.
Photographers line up to photograph the snow-covered chapel in Yosemite Valley on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, following a snowstorm the day before. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
See pictures, videos of Yosemite National Park in the snow
Check out these fun, frosty photos and videosof Yosemite National Park as a winter wonderland, courtesy ofThe FresnoBee, The Modesto Bee and Merced Sun-Star:
Snow covers the trees below an icy Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, following a snowstorm the day before. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
A dog sledding team races through the snow at Yosemite National Park on Feb. 10, 1932. The Fresno Bee
Queen Elizabeth II walks with rangers and her husband, Prince Philip, during her 1983 visit to Yosemite National Park with snow in the background. Richard J. Darby Fresno Bee archive
The royal motorcade travels out of Yosemite Valley under the snow-capped visage of Half Dome during Queen Elizabeth II’s 1983 visit to Yosemite National Park. Fresno Bee archive
Clouds graze the top of El Capitan, left, as Bridalveil Fall, right, flows down into Yosemite Valley and the Merced River while a heavy blanket of snow covers the roadway banks on March 3, 2023. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
Lori Chandler, left, and Matt Garrett, both of Fresno, use a log for a table as they picnic in the snow at El Capitan Meadow in Yosemite National Park on Feb. 10, 1995. John Walker THE FRESNO BEE
A solitary skier flies down a powdery slope at Badger Pass ski area in Yosemite National Park on Jan. 21, 1998. JOHN WALKER THE FRESNO BEE
Bridalveil Fall is flowing while the cliffs around Yosemite Valley still show snow from its last snowfall as tourists stop at Tunnel View Friday, Feb 9, 2024 in Yosemite National Park. Public interest in the annual Firefall at Horsetail Fall has increased as the best viewing time approaches this month. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
The Yosemite Vally chapel stands surrounded by a heavy blanket of snow on Friday, March 3, 2023 CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
A park visitor uses an umbrella to deflect the water droplets coming off Bridalveil Fall like a driving rain in Yosemite Valley Wednesday, May 24, 2010. With an above average snowpack, the park’s rivers are flowing at a high capacity. Craig Kohlruss ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
TRACY BARBUTES / tbarbutes@modbee.com Footprints in the first snow storm of 2011 in Yosemite National Park, Crane Flat area, October 5, 2011. Tracy Barbutes The Modesto Bee
A beautiful winter scene: Snow covers trees and Half Dome in the distance, as seen from Sentinel Bridge over the Merced River in Yosemite in this December 2021 photo. CRAIG KOHLRUSS Fresno Bee file
Snowshoers make their way through the Van Vleck Meadows in Yosemite National Park in 2015. Adam Blauert Sun-Star correspondent
Massachusetts native Jasmine Scalli, now of San Diego, right, with friends Marie Foltier, left, and Anne Pervier, center, both of France, all on their first visit to Yosemite, have fun building a snowman in front of the chapel in Yosemite Valley, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. JOHN WALKER jwalker@fresnobee.com
Snow covers Half Dome, the surrounding cliffs and trees in Ahwahnee Meadow in Yosemite Valley on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, following a snowstorm the day before. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
In a full winter coat, a coyote hunts for mice and birds in a snowy Yosemite Valley meadow, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. JOHN WALKER jwalker@fresnobee.com
New-fallen snow covers Yosemite Valley’s floor Monday, Nov. 9, 2020, following the weekend’s snowstorm in Yosemite National Park. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
A photographer gets a shot of the icicles hanging from the opening of the tunnel at Tunnel View in Yosemite on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, following a snowstorm the day before. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
Steve and Margreet Ray of Topanga eat lunch under a stately pine in the snow at Dewey Point after they cross-country skied there from Badger Pass on Jan. 13, 2009. In the background is Yosemite Valley with Half Dome in the distance in the center. MARK CROSSE The Fresno Bee
Rocks are covered in thick snow as the water of the Merced River flows by in Yosemite National Park on Friday, March 3, 2023. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
A coyote hops over a fence onto a snow-covered meadow in front of Curry Village in Yosemite National Park looking for food on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007. Tomas Ovalle The Fresno Bee
A few skaters begin to take the ice at the Curry Village ice skating rink in Yosemite Valley on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, following a snowstorm the day before. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
Record snowpack over Yosemite National Park as seen from Mt. Hoffman on April 23, 2017. National Park Service
El Capitan stands out above thick blankets of snow after recent storms inundated the area and force officials to close the park to visitors. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
Seattle, Washington’s Erick Jensen, left, and Los Angeles’ Ruth Reyes, right, prepare to photograph the sunset in Yosemite Valley Monday, Nov. 9, 2020 following the weekend’s snowstorm in Yosemite National Park. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
Half Dome and surrounding peaks loom over Yosemite Valley shrouded in snow, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. JOHN WALKER jwalker@fresnobee.com
Advay Raj, 7, form San Jose, poses with a snowman he found with his family in Yosemite Valley Monday, Nov. 9, 2020, in Yosemite National Park. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
Crosscountry skiers enjoy the snow on the Glacier Point road in Yosemite National Park on Jan. 21, 2005. MARK CROSSE The Fresno Bee
Light and shadow on the snow make for an abstract design in a meadow area on the trail to Dewey Point in Yosemite National Park on Jan. 13, 2009. MARK CROSSE The Fresno Bee
Yosemite National Park has been called a winter wonderland. Snow-covered trees are shown in this photo published on Jan. 26, 2010. Marci Stenberg Merced Sun-Star
Visitors to Yosemite National Park continue taking their photos as night comes. The valley floor in Yosemite National Park becomes misty and cold with Half Dome in the background covered in snow on Monday Feb. 25, 2008. Marci Stenberg Merced Sun-Star
Fernanda Galan covers Central Valley and California news as The Fresno Bee’s service journalism reporter. Before joining The Bee in 2024, she reported in Milwaukee, Arizona and Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
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