Are you interesting in yurt glamping near Yosemite National Park? Check out our Yurt experience at Yosemite Lakes RV Resort and why we stayed there again.

Visiting many of the iconic National Parks with our kids is one of our travel goals. We took our first trip to Yosemite National Park a couple years ago and we had a blast.
The national park was amazing but we also loved our experience staying in Yosemite yurts near the park with our partner Thousand Trails. We loved it so much we paid to stay there a second time last summer. See why we recommend the yurt setups at Yosemite Lakes RV Camp
Yosemite Lodging Options
When I first started researching our trip to Yosemite, I assumed we’d stay inside Yosemite National Park, in Yosemite Valley. Little did I realize how hard it is to get a reservation inside Yosemite Valley without booking it a full year in advance.
Unfortunately, we started planning our trip about 8 months out which meant there wasn’t any lodging available in the park. I could plug in individual dates and find one night here and there but nothing was available for the full length of our stay. Basically, we were out of luck.
Learn from me and plan your Yosemite adventures a full year in advance for the best lodging options. That being said, we returned to Yosemite a few years later and while we snagged 2 nights at the Yosemite Valley Lodge in the park, we still returned to Yosemite Lakes RV Resort for the rest of the trip.
Lodging Near Yosemite National Park
So I started researching lodging outside of Yosemite Valley and Yosemite National Park. Luckily the National Parks Service shares a few different Yosemite locations to consider near Yosemite National Park. Also, Google is your friend. 😉
I really wanted a ‘National Parks’ experience. What that meant, I don’t know. I knew that I didn’t want to stay at a chain hotel nor camp in a tent.
Camping in a tent may be a ‘National Parks’ experience for some people but we were flying to San Jose and our luggage space would be limited. Plus we aren’t camping people and don’t own any camping gear. So camping was out.
Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes Resort
I found Yosemite Lakes RV Resort, a Thousand Trails campground to be just about perfect for our needs. It’s located just a few miles from the West gate of Yosemite National Park. They rent RV sites, tent sites, and a limited number of cabins, and unique yurt rentals. They offer plenty of family lodging options, everyone has their own site and space.

Yosemite Yurts at Yosemite Lakes RV Resort
Of course, we chose a yurt but before I share about glamping in a yurt, I want to talk about the Yosemite Lakes RV Park. Don’t let the name fool you, there is no lake on site but no worries, it doesn’t need one. There is a small river that runs through it that was perfect for us. If you are looking for an actual lake, Lake Don Pedro is 35 miles away.
Also note while there is a modern clubhouse (it was being renovated in 2021), and lots of activities, there is no swimming pool or hot tub on site.

Yosemite Lakes RV Resort Amenities
Yosemite Lakes has a family lodge with lots of comfy seating inside and out. Plus a game room with pool tables and free wifi that is super slow. 🤣 You can check out board games from the activity desk as well as find out the daily activity schedule.
Next to the front desk is a quirky miniature golf course. It really weathered but we still had fun playing on it. There is also a brand new playground, volleyball courts, tether ball, and a basketball court.
Laundry facilities are available on site for a fee. And the complimentary laundry room wifi seemed to work better than the internet at the lodge. Cell phone service is also very hit and miss but that means you have more time to disconnect and enjoy the Yosemite area.

You can get a schedule of weekly activities from staff when you arrive. We also took advantage of an afternoon craft activity in the lodge.
We enjoyed watching the pet parade, an outdoor movie night with popcorn and a live band with s’mores another night during our first visit.

There is a gas station with some grocery supplies close enough to walk to, although it’s up a fairly steep hill so you might want to drive to it instead. It was pricey but we appreciated the option of picking up a few extra things nearby.
We opted to use grocery pick up in San Jose after we picked up our rental car. I didn’t want to drive far to find a decent sized grocery store so this was the best option. We easily saved an hour of time by ordering our groceries ahead of time!

Yosemite Yurts
Beyond the activities scheduled, there was plenty of outdoor fun to be found as well. There were several hiking trails available, just grab a map from the activities desk to get started.
You can also swim, fish or even gold pan in the river that runs through the site. We stayed in a river yurt which meant, the river was just outside our front door. The boys loved our yurt site.

Our yurt had a futon sofa bed (queen bed) and a set of bunk beds, they weren’t the most comfortable beds we’d ever slept on but it did the trick. It’s all about perspective in my opinion and to me, this was a ‘camping but better experience.’
The beds were definitely better than sleeping outside in a sleeping bag on the hard ground. We also preferred our private bathroom with a tiny shower stall shared public restrooms for tent campers.

There isn’t really a separate living area. If you are seated on the futon you can see both the TV and someone working in the kitchen. Again it’s much more comfortable than a tent.
The satellite TV didn’t work great, but we weren’t there to watch tv, so it didn’t matter too much to us. Although Elliot did manage to watch a few programs during some downtime.

Yurts include a full kitchen with a two-burner stove, kitchen sink, fridge, microwave, and coffee maker plus some basic cookware. There is also a gas BBQ grill outside on the deck.
The yurt comes stocked with some basic supplies like paper towels toilet paper, dish soap and towels.

The yurts also have modern conveniences like a gas stove heater and air conditioning to help when it’s extra cold or extra hot. We used the air conditioning a lot on our second trip which was in late July.
Yosemite Yurt Camping
Now some people may say staying in a yurt isn’t camping but I don’t care. It’s the best way to ‘camp’ in my opinion. It’s like tent camping but with a bathroom and kitchen. 😀
Yosemite Lakes offers several unique yurt rental settings. You can choose from a river yurt, a hillside yurt or a meadow yurt. We’ve stayed in a river yurt both times and would highly recommend it.
The fact that our yurt was right next to the river, made our experience feel very outdoorsy. The boys waded in the water every day right from our picnic area and we roasted s’mores in the fire pit every night.

Yosemite Lakes Campground
If you have an RV or are a tent camper, you can have a similarly amazing experience staying at Yosemite Lakes because the bulk of the campground are RV and camping sites. All sites have picnic tables and the RV sites have full hookups. We saw lots of pull-through sites that good accommodate a variety of motorhomes.
Other Rental Accommodations
In addition to yurts, there are a variety of cabin and tiny home rental options available. Keep in mind that the summer months are peak season to visit California’s beautiful national park and you will need to book well in advance if you want your choice of sites.
Tips When Staying at Yosemite Yurts
Yosemite Yurts Tips
Tips to planning a trip to staying Yosemite Yurts at Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes Resort while nearby visiting Yosemite National Park.
Book ASAP
We had no trouble booking our river yurt but we also visited before the kids in California get out of school. Our trip was just before the busy summer season.
I’d recommend booking ASAP as soon as you start planning a Yosemite trip, whether you try to stay in Yosemite Valley or nearby at Yosemite Lakes RV Resort.
No Regular Housekeeping
There is no regular housekeeping service during your stay. You can ask the front desk for new towels, linens or trash service.
We found it easier to just take our trash to the dumpster ourselves rather than wait for someone else.
Yosemite Shuttle
If you don’t want to drive into Yosemite Valley, you can take the YARTS Bus. It was $10 round trip with 3 departures scheduled during our stay.
Limited Connectivity
There is extremely limited wifi available in the lodge area and there was none at our Yurt site. I’d plan on just disconnecting while staying here. There is a printer and computer available for guests to use at the front desk.
Laundry Facilities
A laundry room is available next to the front desk with several washers and dryers.
Bringing 1/2 as many clothes and doing laundry in the middle of our trip definitely helps when packing suitcases.
Bring your Groceries
We packed an insulated grocery bag in our suitcase. It was perfect for keeping our milk, meat and cheese cold on our road trip from San Jose to Yosemite Lakes RV Resort.
Just be sure to add a couple of bags of ice to your grocery order. The insulated bags doubled as a cooler for drinks during our stay.



This post was originally published February 25, 2019 after we were guests of Thousand Trails. We loved our Yurt stay at Yosemite Lakes so much we opted to go back a few years later on our own dime. We can't wait to go back a 3rd time.
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