Avis - Driving Rental Car into Yosemite

We'll be picking up a car from Avis SFO and will be driving into Yosemite early April. We will only be in the valley area (stay in Clovis and intending to go into Yosemite 2 days). AFAIK I'll have to have the chain for the car this time of the year and I guess Avis won't provide one for me?

I assume I have to buy some chain from a Walmart or something and then keep it in the car, but what if I have to use it, am I allowed to put those tyre chain on a rental?

Is it easy to get a chain that fits the rental car?

Thanks in advance!

This does not directly answer your question, but I hope it helps as I rent vehicles and drive to ski resorts and national parks each year. I have found that a small to mid sized SUV is is the way to go because you may not get chains when you need them as winter items are not always available in March and a car does not have the height to get through deep snow. It also can cost 50-100 for a set of chains and you have to put them on and take them off (or pay someone yo do it in the snow).

We'll be picking up a car from Avis SFO and will be driving into Yosemite early April. We will only be in the valley area (stay in Clovis and intending to go into Yosemite 2 days). AFAIK I'll have to have the chain for the car this time of the year and I guess Avis won't provide one for me?

I assume I have to buy some chain from a Walmart or something and then keep it in the car, but what if I have to use it, am I allowed to put those tyre chain on a rental?

Is it easy to get a chain that fits the rental car?
No, it's not! With today's cars, you have to get a very specific chain for the specific tire size. There's no way AFAIK that you can know the tire size before you pick up the rental. And finding a tire chain just right for that specific size in stock in a random store after you pick up the car may be tricky. (And it'll cost quite a bit, and you'll likely have to throw it away afterwards, because it's not likely to be right for whatever next car you get!)

Having said that, if the only place you're going is the floor of Yosemite valley, if the road is open at all, I wouldn't necessarily worry about chains in early April. (Early April would be more of a problem if you were going in the high-altitude roads on either side above Yosemite valley.)

I went there in the middle of winter (December or January, I think) a couple years ago, and bought chains specifically because of that (for my own car; I live in Los Angeles so I just drive to Fresno), and never once did I have to put them on on that trip. I had snowed very recently but was not snowing any more. Yes, there was snow on the road, but it had been recently half-plowed, and I entered the park (from the Fresno area where there was no snow) a few hours after daybreak, and by then there had been one plowing (though some snow had sloshed back onto the road and such, so I definitely needed to drive slowly and carefully).

I went another time in early May and there was no snow anywhere (low or high altitude) then.

I can't guarantee the weather, of course, but I don't expect snow to be an issue on the (lower elevation of the) Yosemite Valley floor (ie, the main loop road) by early April in most years. And once you get there, you can find out the location conditions of the other roads (at higher altitudes) to see if they can be driven by then in whatever car you're in.

Thanks for the info. I'm not expecting to drive further than the valley, so I guess I should be able to go there without buying chains.

Thanks for the info. I'm not expecting to drive further than the valley, so I guess I should be able to go there without buying chains.

You should be completely OK without chains. It's been a VERY dry winter here in CA with very little rain/snow in the Central Valley and Sierras. Also to note: chains are non-refundable. To give you an idea, I paid about $150 for the chains for my truck and I have standard truck tires.

Also, you may find it easier to stay in Merced rather than Clovis as that is a bit out of the way unless you have to go to Fresno.

You should be completely OK without chains. It's been a VERY dry winter here in CA with very little rain/snow in the Central Valley and Sierras. Also to note: chains are non-refundable. To give you an idea, I paid about $150 for the chains for my truck and I have standard truck tires.

Also, you may find it easier to stay in Merced rather than Clovis as that is a bit out of the way unless you have to go to Fresno.

Are they really non-refundable? I thought as long as you don't open the packaging then you should be fine.

I got Fairfield Inn Fresno for less than $60 per night, that's why we are going to stay down there.

Thanks a lot for the info!

Yes, once you walk out of the store, they are non-refundable.



Although, Wal-mart has been known to not really ask questions when returning items. YMMV, but you can try that route. Though I would really doubt that you'd end up needing chains anyway.

I would second the idea mentioned above about renting a mid to small sized SUV. Also, and I am NOT certain if this is true with AVIS, there are some car rental companies that specifically prohibit the placing of chains on the car tires...if you insist on going the chain route, which I really don't think you need to do, give AVIS a call first and ask if it okay to get chains for the car...Again, as said above, until you get the car, you will have no idea what size chains you would need to buy...I drove perfectly well through a near blizzard Jan. 17 from SEA on Hwy 2 to Wenatchee over Stevens Pass with an SUV and no chains...have a safe and fun trip!!

The current 10-day weather forecast for Yosemite Nat'l Park (the Valley part) shows highs ranging from the low 50s to the mid 60s, lows ranging from just above freezing to the mid 40s, and on the precipitation days, rain or rain showers. No snow now or forecast. So I see no reason to worry about chains or lack of them specifically for a Yosemite Valley visit early this April.

And, nacho, once you're in the area, if you're interested in possibly taking a drive to the higher elevations (say, the Sequoia grove), you can find out the current conditions then at the information center in park Valley and figure out whether it's any problem for the rental car.

Btw, more than anything else in the park, if Mirror Lake is indeed a "lake" when you're there (it's actually a meadow that's allowed to fill with water in the spring, then drains in the summer, and thus is only a "lake" seaonally), I very much recommend a morning hike out there (about 1 mile from the parking IIRC). It's one of the most beautiful reflections of towering glacier-scoured cliffs in a big pond you're likely to see.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_Lake_%28California%29

I got a Chevy Traverse, so it should be OK to handle the drive into Yosemite. I was lucky because they ran out of Premium cars at SFO and they are very kind in giving upgrade at Preferred.

Mirror Lake sounds interesting and I'll definitely check it out!

Thanks you all for the info.

Just watch for ice and snow. The 4WD only really helps to get you going, and not to turn and stop which are even more important.