Eight windows, month by month.
Every row comes from an NPS page, with the weather each subject needs. NPS gives months for most of them, and the chart below bands those months. It also names places for some subjects: night-sky spots on its stargazing page and flower trails on its wildflower page. We name a place only where NPS does, and only for the subject NPS gives it. The high-country rows depend on roads that close in winter: Glacier Point Road opened May 9 in 2026 and Tioga Road May 15, and both usually close sometime in November.
| Subject | Window | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Horsetail Fall at sunset | Mid- to late February | A small waterfall on the eastern edge of El Capitan that usually flows only in winter. It glows orange when the setting sun backlights it, only on clear evenings while it flows, and NPS says even some haze or minor cloudiness can greatly diminish or eliminate the effect. NPS projected February 10 to 26 for 2026 and had posted no 2027 window when we checked in September 2026, so watch the NPS Horsetail Fall page. |
| Waterfalls at peak flow | May and June | NPS says peak runoff typically happens in May or June, and some falls, including Yosemite Falls, are often only a trickle or completely dry by August. Yosemite Falls flows about November through July and peaks in May, with an ice cone at the base of the upper fall in winter. Bridalveil Fall flows all year: it thunders in spring and has a light, swaying flow the rest of the year (NPS waterfalls page). |
| Moonbows | Full-moon nights, April to June | On full-moon nights in peak waterfall season, moonlight makes rainbows in the mist of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. NPS says they look gray to the eye but pop with color in pictures. NPS gives no moon dates, so check the moon phase for your nights. |
| Spring wildflowers, lower elevations | March to mid-May | In March, flowers open at the park's west edge in the Merced River canyon. By mid-May a second wave blooms in Yosemite, dogwood included. NPS names Cook's Meadow Loop in Yosemite Valley, Wawona Meadow Loop in Wawona, and Wapama Falls in Hetch Hetchy (NPS wildflower page). |
| Wildflowers on Glacier Point Road | As the snow melts (no month given) | Another set of flowers comes up before the snow is gone in the forests and meadows along Glacier Point Road, above 7,000 feet. NPS names the McGurk Meadow, Taft Point, and Sentinel Dome trails but gives no month. The road opened to cars on May 9 in 2026. |
| Subalpine meadow flowers | Late June to late August | In late June, patches of shooting stars color the meadows at Tuolumne Meadows pink, and by late August blue gentians and alpine goldenrod appear. At the highest elevations, flowers sometimes wait until early July for the snow to melt. NPS names the trails to Soda Springs and Parson Lodge, Lyell Canyon, and Elizabeth Lake, all from Tuolumne Meadows. You reach them on Tioga Road, which opened May 15 in 2026. |
| Milky Way core | Moonless nights, July to October | NPS says the core of the Milky Way is easy to see on moonless nights in these months. In Yosemite Valley it names El Capitan Meadow, Cook's Meadow, Swinging Bridge, and Tunnel View, where car lights and campfire haze can get in the way. Glacier Point Overlook and Washburn Point are reachable about late May to November, and Tenaya Lake and Olmsted Point on Tioga Road about late May or June to November. Wawona Meadow sits at about the Valley's elevation. In the spring and fall climbing seasons, climbers' headlamps come on along the Valley cliffs as the stars come out (NPS stargazing page). |
| Fall color | Usually late October, into early December | NPS says fall color is hard to predict. It's usually at its best in late October and generally lingers until the first heavy winter storms or hard frosts, often in early December. The best color comes on clear, dry, cool days that aren't freezing. NPS points to the non-native sugar maple that turns red near the Yosemite Chapel, roadside aspens on Tioga Road near the Tuolumne Grove trailhead and the Yosemite Creek picnic area, and aspens on Glacier Point Road past Summit Meadow (NPS fall color page). |
Sunrise, sunset, and full dark.
At the Yosemite Valley Welcome Center the sun sets at 8:24 p.m. on June 21 and 4:43 p.m. on December 21, per the U.S. Naval Observatory, and rises at 5:37 a.m. and 7:10 a.m.. Plan golden hour around those times. On February 21, in the Horsetail Fall season, sunset is 5:44 p.m., and on October 21, in fall color season, it's 6:13 p.m..
For night shots, NPS says the sky is darkest from about 1.5 hours after sunset to 1.5 hours before sunrise, and that moonlight hides the Milky Way, so go out before the moon rises or after it sets. On July 21 sunset is 8:16 p.m., so full dark starts around 9:46 p.m..
Crowds in the photo months.
August is Yosemite's busiest month, at about 537,000 visits. June runs 95% of that and May 71%, so the waterfall months are busy. October, the fall color month, runs 77%. February runs just 24%, but Horsetail Fall draws its own crowd: NPS counted 2,433 people viewing it on February 19, 2022. Yosemite isn't using a timed entry reservation in 2026; our Yosemite reservations page follows that decision.
During the Horsetail Fall viewing period, NPS bans parking and stopping between Lower Yosemite Fall and El Capitan Crossover and has you walk 1.5 miles each way from Yosemite Falls parking; the full viewing rules are on Yosemite in winter. Tioga Road detail lives on our Tioga Road page, and every road's season on Yosemite road closures. Month tradeoffs are on the best time to visit Yosemite page.
Permits, drones, and wildlife.
Most photographers need no permit. NPS says filming and still photography by eight or fewer people needs no permit or fee if it happens in areas open to the public, uses hand-carried equipment only, needs no exclusive use of a site, doesn't harm park resources, values, or other visitors, and adds no administrative cost. Entrance fees still apply. When a permit is needed, Yosemite charges a $300 application fee and a $500-a-day monitor fee, plus $50 an hour if the ranger is on location 11 hours or more, and location fees that rise with group size, from $0 a day for one or two people with a camera and tripod. The NPS filming page lists more than one fee table, so confirm costs with the permit coordinator at 209/379-1858. Except for casual filming by visitors, all filming in wilderness needs a special use permit, whatever the group size or gear.
Drones are illegal in Yosemite under all circumstances. NPS cites 36 CFR 2.17(a)(3), which bans "delivering or retrieving a person or object by parachute, helicopter, or other airborne means" except in public-safety emergencies or under a permit (NPS drone notice). The filming page adds that aerial photography is rarely allowed and extremely restricted.
Give wildlife room: NPS says to stay at least 150 feet (46 m) from bears and coyotes and at least 25 feet (8 m) from all other wildlife (NPS wildlife safety). For a meadow shot, stay on trails and out of the meadows, which NPS calls fragile and easily disturbed, and don't cross into fenced areas.
At night, NPS asks stargazers to skip white light and use red light, and to spend 20 to 30 minutes away from any white light, phone and camera screens included, so their eyes adjust. After a late shoot, you may sleep only in a designated campsite you've reserved or with a valid wilderness permit, so plan where you'll spend the night; campgrounds are on Yosemite camping.
Smoke is the wild card. NPS says wildfire smoke often affects Yosemite's air in summer and fall, and the park's worst days of visibility are due to smoke. Check NPS Yosemite air quality before you drive up for a long view.
Common questions.
What is the best place to take photos in Yosemite?
NPS doesn't rank photo spots, but it names places for certain subjects. For the night sky it names El Capitan Meadow, Cook's Meadow, Swinging Bridge, and Tunnel View in Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point Overlook and Washburn Point, Tenaya Lake and Olmsted Point on Tioga Road, and Wawona Meadow. For fall color it points to the sugar maple near the Yosemite Chapel and aspens along Tioga Road. For moonbows, it's the mist of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls from April to June. NPS says Glacier Point is open about late May to November, and Tioga Road about late May or June to November.
Dates, fees, and rules change. Confirm the current details on the official pages before you leave. NPS Horsetail Fall · NPS stargazing · NPS filming and still photography · NPS air quality
Facts on this page last verified September 11, 2026.
Where these facts come from
Horsetail Fall timing, the clear-sky condition, and the stay-on-trail rules come from the NPS Horsetail Fall page (last updated January 14, 2026), and the 2026 viewing period from the NPS 2026 Horsetail Fall news release. Waterfall flow and peak months come from the NPS waterfalls page; bloom timing and flower trails from the NPS wildflower page; fall color timing, weather, and places from the NPS fall color page; moonbows, the Milky Way season, night-sky spots, full dark, red light, and the sleeping rule from the NPS stargazing page (last updated July 21, 2024). The permit threshold, fees, wilderness rule, and aerial photography limit come from the NPS filming page; the drone ban from the NPS drone notice; wildlife distances from NPS wildlife safety in Yosemite; smoke and visibility from the NPS air quality page; the 2026 reservation decision from the NPS reservations page. The 2026 opening dates and usual seasons of Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road come from the NPS Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road page. Sunrise and sunset come from the U.S. Naval Observatory for 2026 at the Yosemite Valley Welcome Center in local clock time. Pins come from NPS parking lot data and NPS visitor center data, with Glacier Point from our OpenStreetMap routing waypoints; the park boundary is from the NPS boundary service and state outlines from the U.S. Census. Crowd numbers are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from the NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package on NPS IRMA Stats. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.
Independent site. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Data comes from the official NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025; editorial analysis is ours. The NPS Arrowhead and other NPS marks are not used.