• Apr, 19 2025
• Travel

selma souza

The Truth About Trains in Yosemite National Park

If you’re planning a trip to Yosemite National Park and think you can roll into the valley on a shiny passenger train, you’ve got some surprises ahead. There’s no train station—no tracks—anywhere inside the borders of Yosemite. Never has been, and odds are, never will be. It sounds wild, especially since so many national parks have train lines connected to them. Yellowstone did, the Grand Canyon still does, but Yosemite decided to skip that chapter in its travel story.

Why? Well, blame geography, history, and a good bit of 20th-century politics. The steep Sierra Nevada terrain made it nearly impossible for a mainline train to wind its way right into the Yosemite Valley. By the time American road trips became a thing and roads started snaking into the park in the early 1900s, nobody felt like laying miles and miles of expensive track. The closest you’ll get on the rails today is the city of Merced, about 80 miles from Yosemite Valley. That’s where the Amtrak San Joaquins train ends, and where you’ll need to hop onto a bus or grab a car.

Still, the idea of a train in Yosemite isn’t just some modern rumor. People have pitched it again and again for more than a hundred years. Back in the 1900s, there was real talk of an electric railway rolling right into the park from the west. The Southern Pacific was interested, and locals argued about it in old newspaper clippings. But every plan hit dead ends. Tight curves, harsh winters, and conservationists refusing to cut into pristine wilderness meant trains would always stay outside the main gates.

"To preserve the park’s natural beauty, the laying of any railway tracks within Yosemite’s borders was firmly rejected by Congress in 1905,"

according to historian Steven P. Medley. So, if you’re dreaming about traveling by rail, don’t get your hopes up for an Amtrak whistle echoing off Half Dome.

At this point, the lack of train access actually helps keep the Yosemite Valley from being crushed by visitors the way other parks sometimes are. Fewer crowds piling in at once, less noise, and a vibe that remains refreshingly wild. It’s just you, your hiking boots—and if you want public transportation, there’s still a way to combine train and bus thanks to Amtrak and the YARTS system (more about that coming up).

The Not-So-Secret Rail History Around Yosemite

Just because you can’t hop on a train to Yosemite National Park doesn’t mean the area has never heard a train whistle. Back in California’s wild logging days, railroad tracks zigzagged all around the park’s edges. Hundreds of miles, actually, built mainly for hauling cut timber out of the mountains. These weren’t the massive iron horses of the Union Pacific—think smaller, agile steam trains, tackling hair-raising curves and ridiculously steep slopes.

If you’re a history buff (or just like cool old machinery), check out the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad, about a half hour south of the park’s southern entrance. Tourists can ride restored Shay locomotives on tracks laid long before the first Yosemite road was paved. It’s a living museum, running two-mile rides through giant pines just outside the park. That’s as close as you’ll get to feeling what logging crews did in the 1920s—and if you’re traveling with kids, they’ll actually love it.

The biggest of the old logging lines? The Yosemite Valley Railroad. Its tracks ran from Merced right up to El Portal, at the Yosemite boundary, from 1907 to 1945. Passengers would get off the train at El Portal and finish the trip by stagecoach, mule-drawn wagon, or later, by car. The railroad delivered everything from lumber to tourists—at its peak in 1926, 53,000 passengers rode it in one year! When World War II shut down tourism and trucks replaced trains for freight, the line folded and was ripped up for scrap. Today, you can still spot pieces of its old bridges and trackbeds near El Portal if you know where to look.

Pro tip: If you’re geeky about abandoned places, take the time to scout along the Merced River outside the park’s Arch Rock Entrance after heavy rains or when foliage is thin in winter. Rusted rail segments and concrete piers often peek through. Classic picnic-stop photo ops for sure. If you’re thinking about backpacking in, skip it—parts of the route are private property and you’ll get friendly reminders (or “No Trespassing” signs).

Want more railroad nostalgia nearby? The California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento houses actual Yosemite Valley Railroad cars. Another local piece of history: the Hetch Hetchy Railroad, once used for the construction of the Hetch Hetchy Dam, ran deep into the wilderness north of the Valley. It, too, is long gone, but pieces remain for anyone who likes to bushwhack and daydream about old steam engines roaring under snow-capped granite spires.

How to Get to Yosemite Without a Personal Car

No need to give up your train dreams. Here’s the insider’s route: Take Amtrak to Merced, then transfer to YARTS, the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System. It works surprisingly well. You can roll from Bay Area cities, L.A., or the Central Valley on Amtrak’s San Joaquins line, with schedules that match up with YARTS buses (usually waiting right outside the Merced rail station). In summer, this is the stress-free way to get to Yosemite: skip the drive, look out the window, and zero out those jaw-clenching traffic moments.

YARTS buses aren’t fancy, but they run year-round from Merced and seasonally from places like Fresno, Mammoth Lakes, Merced, and Sonora. There are racks for bikes, space for luggage, air conditioning, restrooms—the works. Plus, in peak season, parking can turn into a nightmare inside the park, with spaces filling up before breakfast. On YARTS, you’ll be dropped right at Yosemite Valley Visitor Center, ready to jump on the park’s free shuttle system. Here’s a look at why this method’s become super popular:

Route	Transit Method	Total Travel Time from Merced	Frequency (Peak Season)
Amtrak + YARTS	Train + Bus	3-4 hours	Up to 8 departures daily
Personal Car	Drive	2.5-3 hours (traffic can double this)	Whenever you want

You’re not stuck if you want to start your trip in San Francisco or Los Angeles, either. Amtrak’s line connects with buses from both, or you can fly into Fresno and shuttle up. Many travelers use the Amtrak+YARTS option especially in winter when snow chains (required by law on mountain roads) are not something you want to fuss with. Even the park rangers do it sometimes!

Sure, it’s not the romance of a streamliner pulling into the heart of the Valley. But you get to stretch your legs, nap, look for bald eagles over the Merced River, and zone out until it’s time to hike. Lots of regulars use the YARTS bus to avoid the headache of getting caught in a traffic snarl outside the entrance—especially during summer weekends. Most YARTS drivers are old pros; if you ask, they’ll often share great tips on where to eat, what trails are snow-free, or which waterfalls are going off that week.

So here’s the truth: you can’t ride a train in Yosemite, but you can string together trains, buses, and shuttles to arrive car-free, and you’ll probably dodge a lot of stress doing it.

Travel Tips and Oddball Trivia for Yosemite-Bound Adventurers

Here’s what most first-timers miss. You can do Yosemite with zero car drama, if you plan right. Pizza deck at the main lodge, evening lectures by the fire, waterfalls loud enough to drown out your phone—none of it relies on driving. Once you’re in the Valley, the park’s own shuttle loops hit all the main trailheads, stores, campgrounds, and viewpoints every 10-20 minutes. The bus is free and friendly, especially handy after a sweaty hike.

Want to visit in winter? YARTS buses have chains and snow drivers who know their stuff. Or in spring, when snowmelt makes the waterfalls spectacular (and traffic enters gridlock mode by mid-morning)? Again, skip the car, bus in, and your blood pressure stays at sea level.

If you’re the type who wants a retro train fix even if you can’t ride one into the park, definitely swing by the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad. Their Moonlight Specials are legendary—steam engines puffing through the forest after sunset, live music, and campfire s’mores waiting at the end of the track.

For gearheads or history freaks, some of the old Yosemite Valley Railroad’s locomotives survive in museums, and forums online are packed with photos of the remains of the old rail grades. If you have half a day, riding Amtrak to Merced and connecting to YARTS makes for a sweet weekend adventure—no freeway meltdowns, no Yosemite gate lines, and all the granite you can handle.

A strange fact: locals and old-timers used to call the original railway’s final stop "El Portal"—Spanish for "the gate"—because it quite literally was as close as a train could ever get to Yosemite National Park. That’s still true. Want a shortcut? If you want to see remnants of the old railroad, poke around the El Portal area. The town’s community center has a few railroad artifacts, and the nearby historic post office was once right by the railway tracks. It’s about as close to a Yosemite train vibe as exists now.

A final tip no tour brochure will tell you: If you dream of that old-timey scenic train approach to a U.S. National Park, try the Grand Canyon Railway out of Williams, Arizona. That one you can ride right to the rim. But for Yosemite? Take the train as far as it goes, then let the buses do their thing. Once you see Half Dome glowing gold at sunset, the tracks you took—or didn’t—will hardly matter.