Yosemite Lodge green prototype room

One of the most awe-inspiring views in California’s Yosemite National Park is Yosemite Falls. Gawkers stand for hours at the base and hikers venture up the trail to the top. When you plan your vacation to the park, why not stay as close as possible—Yosemite Lodge at the Falls.

Take advantage of the opportunity to get even closer to nature by staying in one of the new green rooms. Two of the 245 rooms at the lodge have been redesigned to be environmentally friendly as a first step to eventually get all the rooms to follow suit. The green rooms include electronic key cards, insulation made from recycled newspaper, double-pane windows, fixtures to reduce water consumption, organic cotton sheets, recycled flooring, and more.

Now that you’re all hyped up to be green at Yosemite, take note that since these are only two rooms, they may be difficult to get. When you make your reservation, make your preference known, and you may snag one. But if you don’t, you’ll be happy to know that other aspects of the hotel follow environmentally friendly practices.

Yosemite National Park seems like the ideal place to be green.

Yosemite Lodge at the Falls, 801-559-4884
Yosemite National Park, CA 95389

Photo courtesy of Yosemite Lodge at the Falls

More Yosemite-related information:
Award-Winning Ahwahnee in Yosemite Delivers Best Lunch

A tiny Highway 120 town on the way to Yosemite National Park is planning to construct two large hotels with 400 rooms and a conference center.

Yosemite Nat'l Park sign at Big Oak Flat entrance

The Groveland-Big Oak Flat project, currently in the environmental study stage, also includes an indoor water park, an IMAX theater, bowling alley, retail space and other attractions.

Big Oak Flat is about 25 miles west of the Park entrance, and the project’s developer Morgan Burkett says work on the $60 million project will begin in mid-2011 and possibly be completed by late 2012.

Burkett’s plan is not just to provide an alternative to Yosemite hotels, but also to try and attract conventions by offering a cheaper alternative to conference hotels in Monterey, San Francisco, Napa and Lake Tahoe.

Meanwhile, inside Yosemite, the parks superintendent is seeking input on what’s to be done with the 233 historic cabins in Curry Village that were abandoned after a rock-slide rained down on students staying in the cabins in Oct 2008.

The family campground beneath Glacier Point has been fenced off since then, and the park is planning to dismantle whatever needs to be saved and move it to a location near the Wawona Hotel on the park’s south end.

Park officials are asking the public for suggestions and doing an environmental assessment. A public open house on this subject will take place on March 31, 2010 from 1 pm to 4 pm in the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center Auditorium. Park admission fees will be waived for those attending the open house.

 If you want to send in your comments online, you can do so here. Last date for sending in your suggestions is April 7.

Photo by Alaskan Dude

Madonna Inn

I asked a friend recently to tell me about their most memorable hotel experience.   “The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California,” he said without hesitation.  “They have caveman rooms!”

As it turns out, the Madonna Inn offers a variety of themed suites to fulfill just about every vacation fantasy.  Inspiration for the 110 themed suites ranges from merry-go-rounds to Yosemite National Park’s Bridal Veil Falls.  Sixteen of these suites include a unique “rock shower” and fourteen include in-room waterfalls!

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