Mammoth Lakes to Bay Area: Weekends only June and September, Every day July and August. In Advance: Book Amtrak Tickets from Yosemite Valley (Amtrak code YOS) to Richmond BART station (code RIC). You can do this at www.amtrak.com Or call 1-800-872-7245. You’ll start the Amtrak part of your trip at 4:15 pm in Yosemite on the 8417 Amtrak Bus. This will link up with the 717 train in Merced, book them together to get the best rate. $31. Step 1: Get to any one of the Mammoth Lakes Yarts pickups.
Step 2: Take YARTS bus from Mammoth Lakes to Yosemite Valley. Approximately 7am to 10:55 am. $15 Buy your tickets on the bus. www.yarts.com Phone: 877 98 YARTS Step 3: Tour Yosemite Valley - There’s the visitor center, nice walks to Lower Yosemite Falls and Mirror Lake as well as a free shuttle bus system to connect all the points. http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bus.htm Be at Yosemite Lodge before 4 pm to catch the bus to Merced. Step 4: Take Amtrak Bus from Yosemite Valley to Merced. 4:15 pm to 6:39 pm. Step 5: Take Amtrak Train from Merced to Richmond. 6:47 pm to 9:27pm. Step 6: Take BART to wherever you need to go. We like www.511.org for Bay Area public transit trip planning. Totals: Over 14 hours of traveling, but 5 of those hours are spent in Yosemite Valley. That’s enough time for a nice hike or reading a book. The cost is $46 not counting local transport on either end. |
