I cannot believe a Yosemite thread has not been started already. Anyway here is a start. Since KMPI lost the FBO and car rentals a few years ago, I had been wanting to test out the YARTS bus system for a while now. With a day to myself, this was the day. 
Yarts is fantastic. It is mainly used by park employees, but if you can work with their commuter schedule, it was great. The buses are big luxury buses with comfy seats, airconditioning and a bathroom. The pickup schedule is roughly every hour from 6am to noon and one run at 6.30pm. Scheduling is seasonal, so you have to study the schedule carefully at the website. Each way $6 incl entrance fee into park. $12 RT.
http://yarts.com/
The BIG issue is that it is 4.5 miles from the airport to the pickup spots in the town of Mariposa. There is one largish hill in the middle as well. I took my foldup Dahon bike, but next time, i will take a larger bicycle with me. The hill was a bit of a bear with the smaller bike. The greyhound style bus can accommodate a huge amount of luggage. You *could* walk but it would take over an hour. It is also a narrow road in some spots. Unfortunately, no Uber cars available when i was there either. Not sure about Taxis. There was an EAA chapter meeting starting when i arrived, and the fellows kindly offered to drive me to town. However, i wanted to do my full test. Thus, you might get lucky if someone is in the terminal, and you can hitch a ride.
Mariposa is a wonderful town with visitors center, cafes, food, restaurants, and museums to check out while you wait for the bus. I would recommend buying your lunch in Mariposa. The food available in the park is probalby the typical park food with crowds, if that is your thing. I have yet to try the Alwahnee Buffet, though, which i have heard good things about. However, I can highly recommend the "High Country Health Foods and Cafe" while you wait for the bus right across the street from one of the stops.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/high-country-health-food-and-cafe-mariposa
From Mariposa to Curry Village, is about 1:20, which is not bad. It is even better when you consider that 1 of the 2 lanes in the valley is a dedicated bus lane. We passed by a few miles of cars very nicely indeed. The bike comes in very handy in the valley to get from point to point. No waiting to get sardined into the shuttles or randomly driving around trying to find parking. BRING YOUR BIKE! Bring your camera, too!
You just cannot beat this valley for the views. I love it. Being only 40 minutes from my airport, it is a crying shame that i am not here every week. I promise to try more often.
Not a bad place to eat my lunch!
Oh and by the way, i am starting to campaign to see if we can get the YARTS bus to stop at the airport upon request. It is only 4.5 miles out of their way, and it would be a life saver for us with airplanes. They stop at the Merced Airport, so i hope they see the light of stopping at the closest airport to one of the most well known national parks in the entire nation, right?!
Like anything like this, it is a political process. I talked with a YARTS manager already. I recently contacted the Mariposa airport manager. Still waiting to hear back from him. I plan to contact the EAA chapter and possibly the airport association if they have one, too.
It would be an absolute WIN-WIN for everyone if we could make this happen!!!
Thanks everyone for listening!
Yarts is fantastic. It is mainly used by park employees, but if you can work with their commuter schedule, it was great. The buses are big luxury buses with comfy seats, airconditioning and a bathroom. The pickup schedule is roughly every hour from 6am to noon and one run at 6.30pm. Scheduling is seasonal, so you have to study the schedule carefully at the website. Each way $6 incl entrance fee into park. $12 RT.
http://yarts.com/
The BIG issue is that it is 4.5 miles from the airport to the pickup spots in the town of Mariposa. There is one largish hill in the middle as well. I took my foldup Dahon bike, but next time, i will take a larger bicycle with me. The hill was a bit of a bear with the smaller bike. The greyhound style bus can accommodate a huge amount of luggage. You *could* walk but it would take over an hour. It is also a narrow road in some spots. Unfortunately, no Uber cars available when i was there either. Not sure about Taxis. There was an EAA chapter meeting starting when i arrived, and the fellows kindly offered to drive me to town. However, i wanted to do my full test. Thus, you might get lucky if someone is in the terminal, and you can hitch a ride.
Mariposa is a wonderful town with visitors center, cafes, food, restaurants, and museums to check out while you wait for the bus. I would recommend buying your lunch in Mariposa. The food available in the park is probalby the typical park food with crowds, if that is your thing. I have yet to try the Alwahnee Buffet, though, which i have heard good things about. However, I can highly recommend the "High Country Health Foods and Cafe" while you wait for the bus right across the street from one of the stops.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/high-country-health-food-and-cafe-mariposa
From Mariposa to Curry Village, is about 1:20, which is not bad. It is even better when you consider that 1 of the 2 lanes in the valley is a dedicated bus lane. We passed by a few miles of cars very nicely indeed. The bike comes in very handy in the valley to get from point to point. No waiting to get sardined into the shuttles or randomly driving around trying to find parking. BRING YOUR BIKE! Bring your camera, too!
You just cannot beat this valley for the views. I love it. Being only 40 minutes from my airport, it is a crying shame that i am not here every week. I promise to try more often.
Not a bad place to eat my lunch!
Oh and by the way, i am starting to campaign to see if we can get the YARTS bus to stop at the airport upon request. It is only 4.5 miles out of their way, and it would be a life saver for us with airplanes. They stop at the Merced Airport, so i hope they see the light of stopping at the closest airport to one of the most well known national parks in the entire nation, right?!
Like anything like this, it is a political process. I talked with a YARTS manager already. I recently contacted the Mariposa airport manager. Still waiting to hear back from him. I plan to contact the EAA chapter and possibly the airport association if they have one, too.
It would be an absolute WIN-WIN for everyone if we could make this happen!!!
Thanks everyone for listening!
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