Once we knew that my brother Ryan and his girlfriend April were going to join us on this trip, I started looking for a place we could share to help keep the costs down. We knew that staying in the park would keep us closer to everything* so Yosemite West was the best option.

I choose the Coyote Walk cabin at Cozy Bear Cottages because it had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room area and a full kitchen. There are not many places to eat in the park, so we stocked up at Trader Joes near Dublin, CA before we got here.

The rooms were clean and very quiet, with the exception of the giant pine cones that would hit the metal roof now and again. Took a bit to figure out what was making that noise!  At night we could see the Milky Way and many constellations from the deck. The kitchen was stocked with lots of pans, a coffee pot, toaster, and more black peppercorns than we had ever seen. And with all the dust on the trails we did make use of the washer and dryer in the downstairs bathroom.

We had prepaid the entire amount, so the key was waiting for us in a little box by the front door. I only saw the woman when I handed over the key upon checkout.

I would definitely stay here again as I think it’s a pretty good value for two couples at $275 per night.

our very own cabin in the woods

*Due to traffic and windy roads it took a very long time to get anywhere in the park. We were less than five minutes from the turn-off to Glacier Point but it still took over 30 minutes to get up there. The valley floor was about 45 minutes, although on Sunday night it took us over an hour and twenty minutes to go those 17 miles to the Ahwahnee Hotel.