• WHERE Yosemite National Park, California
• HOW MUCH About $500 per night at the Ahwahnee (Majestic Yosemite) Hotel; around $200 at Curry (Half Dome) Village
• MORE travelyosemite.com

GETTING THERE

From San Francisco, the trip is about a four-hour shot east—the final leg is on Route 120 into the park. Suburban sprawl melts into rolling ranchland, which morphs into Sierra splendor. (From Southern California, take Route 99 north to Route 41, a five-hour drive.)

NEWSWORTHY

I visited Yosemite and stayed at the Majestic Yosemite Hotel less than a week after the names of the Ahwahnee Hotel, the Wawona Hotel, and Curry Village were replaced with bland monikers, due to a legal dispute between the National Park Service and former concessionaire Delaware North. Despite a few flummoxed employees and several defiant guests who pulled tape off signs anywhere "Ahwahnee" was covered, the property remains as iconic as ever. Read more about the name debacle at sc.org/ahwahnee, and sign a petition to return Yosemite's trademarks to the National Park Service at sc.org/yosemitenames.

Map by Peter and Maria Hoey

BEST MOMENT

Hiking up steep Mist Trail alongside roaring Vernal Fall, exhilarated by conquering more than 600 wet stairs with a small child in tow. As we snacked on clementines and Clif Bars at the top, it began to rain. Back down, we dried off by the huge fireplace in the Ahwahnee's Great Lounge as an old-timey pianist played our requests.  

FAVORITE CHARACTER

My cousin Daniella Bienstock, who works as an educator for NatureBridge (naturebridge.org), a nonprofit that gives children hands-on outdoor experiences. She led us on hikes and, using a scale model and her Nalgene, taught my daughter how the valley's hydrology works. She also gave her The Princesses I Know, a book by Ayla Mae Wild that assures girls it's OK to prefer climbing and kayaking over glitter and boys. 

LOCAL LORE

It's Yosemite. Where to start? Guess I'll go with an abridged list of luminaries who have stayed at the Ahwahnee: Eleanor Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, JFK, Ronald Reagan, Queen Elizabeth II (she booked every room), Gertrude Stein, Walt Disney, and Steve Jobs. When the hotel debuted in 1927, it attracted wealthy Americans, many of whom fell in love with the grand surroundings and went on to wield their influence to protect our nation's remaining wild places.

WHAT'S GREEN

Yosemite's mountains are protected land, never to be developed. The park's eateries offer vegetarian and vegan options. And wherever there's a trash can, there's a recycling bin, too.

WHAT'S NOT GREEN

The valley floor, bustling with SUVs and tour buses, is surprisingly developed for being the heart of America's definitive national park. There's a supermarket, a pizzeria, and a deli—and a wine bar is rumored to be coming soon.