Right outside the park on Highway 41 is the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad (559-683-7273; www.ymsprr.com), set in a lovely wooded glade. An eighty-four-ton vintage locomotive, the largest ever built for a narrow-gauge track, pulls open cars 4 miles through forestlands into Lewis Creek Canyon. Steam rolls out from under the great engine, black smoke belches up into the sky, and a conductor spins tales of when the railroad hauled millions of board feet of lumber out of the Sierras. From June through September, a "Moonlight Special" evening train excursion ends with a steak barbecue and live music around a campfire. There's a beautiful picnic spot here, and cross-country skiing is excellent throughout the Sugar Pine area.
BREAKFAST: At the Parkside Restaurant, in the lodge. All-American breakfasts. Have the Parkside Deli put together sandwiches, salads, and giganto brownies for a picnic.
Its 200 miles from the Bay Area to Yosemite. From San Francisco take the Oakland Bay Bridge Co Highway 580 east to Highway 99, turning south to Merced, then going east on Highway 140 to Mariposa, then south on Highway 49 to Oakhurst, an antiques center and busy gateway to Yosemite and the recreational lakes country.
The southern part of Yosemite National Park, called Wawona, is the place to go in midsummer, when Yosemite Valley is crowded with cars and people. Wilderness trails are silent, except for the crunch of your own footsteps and the prattle of squirrels and Steller's jays.
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