For the finest rooms, resort homes and RV park nearest Yosemite Valley, click on any of the four Yosemite Resorts properties in the left column. From luxury to economy, they're four great places to stay!

“Rat-ta-ta-ta-ta, rat-ta-ta-ta-ta” people would hear as they approached Mariposa during the California Gold Rush, it was the distinctive sound of a five stamp mill than ran day and night crushing quartz ore to capture gold. Travelers would know what town they were approaching by the sound of its mill. It’s said that when the stamp mill was finally turned off, Mariposa residents couldn’t stand the silence.

This interesting bit of history can be seen operating at the Mariposa Museum and History Center on Jessie St. in Mariposa. It’s the only operational 5-stamp mill in California. The Smithsonian called this museum one of the best small museums in America. Gold panning is demonstrated and taught for $6.00 adult/ $3 child, and you can keep whatever gold you find. Dioramas inside the museum show how various merchant stores, homes and professions would have looked in Mariposa’s past. Indian lodges, a miner’s tent and exhibits representing various periods in Mariposa’s history are entertaining and informative.

Visiting the Mariposa History Center is a fun and inexpensive stop on the way to or from Yosemite National Park. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily through October.  Admission is $3 for adults and free for kids. The Best Western Yosemite Way Station.is within walking distance along the Mariposa Creek Trail.

For the finest rooms, resort homes and RV park nearest Yosemite Valley, click on any of the four Yosemite Resorts properties in the left column. From luxury to economy, they're four great places to stay!

The California Department of Transportation is estimating it could cost as little as $35 million and up to $378 million to rebuild a short section of state route 140 between Mariposa and Yosemite National Park that was buried by a rock slide last year which is now bypassed by a detour, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The most expensive option is to construct a mile-long tunnel through a mountainside to permanently restore Highway 140, the western approach to the popular park. Less expensive solutions begin at $35 million, including constructing bypass bridges and a short road along the Merced River canyon.

Highway 140 was closed for three months beginning in April, 2006, after a rock slide occurred approximately 12 miles west of Yosemite’s Arch Rock entrance station. Two temporary, one-lane bridges now let motorists cross the river to get around the debris and return them to Highway 140 beyond the slide, but large tour buses can’t use the temporary detour, and the highway (nicknamed the “All Year Highway�) often is the best route during winter storms. National Park Service spokesman Scott Gediman described the highway as vital, “not only for tour buses but from an employee perspective,� as a large number of park and concession employees live in Mariposa and Midpines and must use the road to reach the park.

Transportation officials plan to select an option by next year, commence construction in 2009, and finish by 2012.

For the finest rooms, resort homes and RV park nearest Yosemite Valley, click on any of the four Yosemite Resorts properties in the left column. From luxury to economy, they're four great places to stay!

Now that the cables have been installed on Half Dome, hikers will be making the 17-mile round trip hike to the summit of the monolith. Thousands of people hike to the top of Half Dome each year. Because the hike is so accessible, people often underestimate what it takes to get to the top.

First, you must be in shape for a 17-mile hike that gains over 3,000 feet in elevation. Hiking boots and good woolen hiking socks are a necessity, as normal street shoes or athletic shoes with cotton socks don’t provide sufficient protection from the pounding of walking on granite rocked trails.

Because you will be exerting yourself, wear shorts, a short-sleeved shirt and a sun hat to stay cool, but also bring a backpack with protective clothing should the weather change: a water-repellent wind breaker, a light fleece sweater, and long legged pants to wear over your shorts.

Carry plenty of fresh water (at least a half-gallon per person) or a giardia filter (don’t drink water from Yosemite streams) and food for the trail (lunch, snacks, fruit, energy bars). Sun glasses, suntan lotion, mosquito repellent, a light camera, and a pair of light binoculars are all good things to carry and one person in your group should carry a small first aid kit for cuts, banged knees and blisters. With all these things, you will be a prepared hiker and make the most of your trip.

If you plan to hike to the top in a day, understand that you must begin early and you will return after dark. Only the very fit can climb to the top and back in less time. Wilderness permits are required in order to to camp halfway in Little Yosemite Valley. That is a welcomed alternative to doing it in a day, in that camping halfway cuts the hike into two easier sections.

Park officials caution that this is a strenuous hike and that hikers should come prepared and use caution, as many injuries occur from inattention while hiking on the trail. However, the reward is being able to say “I made it to the top!” and to look out upon Yosemite Valley and Yosemite National Park from the summit of Half Dome.

For the finest rooms, resort homes and RV park nearest Yosemite Valley, click on any of the four Yosemite Resorts properties in the left column. From luxury to economy, they're four great places to stay!

At the confluence of the middle and south forks of the Merced River is the site of Major James Savage’s legendary 1849 trading post. Savage was the leader of the Mariposa Batallion, the first group of non-Indians to enter Yosemite Valley. This authentic trading post attracted prospectors, loggers and trappers during the California gold rush.

Eight, luxurious, extended-stay vacation homes and apartments are located there. Favorites include Cliff House, the Hunters’ Retreat, the Annex, the A-Frame, the Overlook Apartments and the Log Cabin. Savage’s Trading Post accommodates from 2 to 16 in any given home. All homes have private access to the south fork of the Merced River and the Hite Cove Trail (excluding fire season). The Hite Cove Trail is considered to be one of California’s finest wildflower trails (March to May). Savage’s Trading Post is 18 minutes west of Yosemite National Park on state route 140.

For the finest rooms, resort homes and RV park nearest Yosemite Valley, click on any of the four Yosemite Resorts properties in the left column. From luxury to economy, they're four great places to stay!

Nighttime rainbows created by moonlight (called moonbows) are now more dependably found in Yosemite Valley, thanks to the work of a group of Texas State University (San Marcos) astronomers. As reported in the Los Angeles Times yesterday, the astronomers calculated the most likely days and times at which a moonbow might be seen in the spray and mist of Yosemite Falls.

“So far as we know, we’re the first to predict dates and precise times for when moonbows will appear,” the LA Times reported Don Olson, the Texas State astronomy professor who led a team of honors students in the project, to have said. “It’s great for people who otherwise might have sat around all night waiting to see a moonbow, and for the students it was a nice exercise in calculus, spherical trig and computing.”

CLICK HERE to see the Moonbow Table. Post a comment by clicking on the headline.