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Yosemite - Ultimate Privacy: 14 Acres of meadows & forest. Best location from SF
| Sleeps | 7 |
| Bedrooms | 2 |
| Bathrooms | 1 |
| Half Baths | 1 |
| Space | 1,200 sq. ft. |
| Property type | house |
| Minimum Stay | 2 - 3 nights |
Overview
Cabin, 2 Bedrooms + Den, 1.5 Baths, (Sleeps 5-7)
The most relaxing and amazing location to stay during your next trip to Yosemite is The Secret Meadows Retreat.
This A frame home is situated on it’s own fourteen acres of meadows and forest. It features one bedroom plus a loft bedroom, large living room with sofas and wood burning fireplace.
Frequented by deer and other wildlife this is an exclusive experience being offered as a rental for the first time, on a trial basis.
Driving through three gates and 300 yards down it’s private driveway will bring you to the home and the first meadow.
This is an old homestead site with just a handful of nearby cabins, all of which are far enough away to provide you with complete privacy (except for the deer, birds, and other wildlife). Adjacent to and surrounded by thousands of aces of Stanislaus National Forest which can accessed by trails and old logging roads from the Retreat.
Located just 400 yards from Hwy 120, approximate five miles west of the Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite National Park, in the Hardin Flat area.
This is an incredible destination that may leave you content without even venturing into Yosemite Valley, even though the Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite is just another ten minutes down the 120.
Nearby horseback riding, river rafting and guided tours can be arranged.
The home is cozy, with one private bedroom with queen bed and TV, a loft with one double pillow-top queen and one full (plus an amazing view over the meadow), a dining room, fully stocked kitchen and a large, fourteen x twenty four foot, family room with a big wood burning fireplace, 42” flat screen TV on Dish Network, a desk with computer, and couches which can easily sleep two more.
Includes all appliances, a washer-dryer, hot water (strong pressure), central heating (plus a pellet stove in the dining room and the wood burning fireplace in the living room).
Keywords: Cabin, retreat, honeymoon, get-away, privacy, Yosemite, National Park,
Why The Owner chose Yosemite Area
I have been searching (and continue searching) for extradinary properties in the best natural locations.
Secret Meadows Retreat qualifies due to:
1) It's proximity to incredible Yosemite National Park
2) It's unsurpassable privacy, peace and quiet
3) The rarity of having fourteen privately owned acres of perfect meadows and forest
4) The variety of incredible activities which can be experienced in the immediately surrounding area
What makes this house unique
Watching deer graze in our meadows (seasonal)
Stargazing from our fire circle
On site or nearby horseback riding, whitewater rafting (seasonal), snowshoeing (seasonal), hiking, mountain biking, waterfall viewing, fishing, boating, cliff jumping (into Rainbow Pool - 1 mile), bird watching, horseshoes, volleyball or badminton plus much, much more.
Amenities
Groveland House Accommodation and Amenities
- house
- Guests provide their own meals
- Housekeeper Optional
- 1200 sq. ft.
- Check-in: 3:00 PM / Check-out: 10:00 AM
- Max. occupancy: 7
- Minimum Age Limit for Renters ...
- children welcome ...
- pets not allowed
- non smoking only ...
- Mountain View ...
- Rural ...
- Adventure
- Away From It All
- Family
- Romantic
- Sports & Activities
- Tourist Attractions
- Air Conditioning ...
- Clothes Dryer
- Fireplace ...
- Fitness Room / Equipment ...
- Hair Dryer
- Heating ...
- Internet ...
- Linens Provided
- Living Room ...
- Parking ...
- Telephone ...
- Towels Provided
- Washing Machine
- Wood Stove ...
- Coffee Maker
- Dishes & Utensils ...
- Dishwasher
- Kitchen ...
- Microwave
- Oven
- Pantry Items
- Refrigerator ...
- Stove
- Toaster
- Dining ...
- Dining Area
- seating for 6 people
- 1 Bathroom,
- 1 Half Bath
-
Bathroom 1 -
- 1 and 1/2 bathrooms
- 2 Bedrooms, Sleeps 7
- Queen size Beds (2), Full Beds (1), Baby Cribs (1)
- Books ...
- DVD Player ...
- Music Library ...
- Satellite / Cable ...
- Stereo ...
- Television ...
- Video Library ...
- Deck / Patio ...
- Lawn / Garden ...
- Outdoor Grill ...
- Ski & Snowboard ...
- Long-term Renters Welcome
- limited accessibility
- autumn foliage
- botanical garden
- caves
- churches
- coin laundry
- festivals
- forests
- playground
- pond
- recreation center
- restaurants
- waterfalls
- zoo
- bird watching
- boating
- eco tourism
- horseback riding
- horseshoes
- paddle boating
- photography
- scenic drives
- sight seeing
- sledding
- walking
- wildlife viewing
- groceries
- laundromat
- massage therapist
- cross country skiing
- cycling
- equestrian events
- fishing
- fly fishing
- freshwater fishing
- golf
- hiking
- hunting
- hunting big game
- hunting small game
- ice skating
- jet skiing
- kayaking
- mountain biking
- mountain climbing
- mountaineering
- rafting
- rock climbing
- scuba diving or snorkeling
- skiing
- snorkeling
- snorkeling/diving
- snowboarding
- snowmobiling
- sound/bay fishing
- spelunking
- swimming
- tennis
- water skiing
- water tubing
- whitewater rafting
Reviews
Very Good!
4.2/5 -
(25 traveler reviews)
Perfect Place to get away!
Just returned from 3 nights at this amazing little gem of a property. At first I was concerned because coming from Southern California, I had booked a cabin north of Yosemite....but I am so glad I did. The drive each day into the valley (only about 40 minutes) was calming and beautiful. The cabin is literally 10 minutes from the Big Flat Yosemite gate. We stayed there with another family and there was plenty of room for everyone. Each night after exploring Yosemite, we would return to the cabin and drink hot chocolate by the fire and watch the 20 to 40 deer grazing right outside the huge windows. The beds were very comfortable and there was enough hot water in the morning for 4 adults and 2 teens to shower (and all still be toasty warm). There was plenty of room to sprawl out and find private places if you needed alone time to read or write. We did not get cell phone service, so no calls, no texts and no emails (this was great for us...gave us a mandatory four days off of work)...but you should be prepared for it. I believe Dan said there was computer hook up...but we didn't bring our laptops. He also has a landline phone and long distance calls are covered. We just gave that number out for emergencies. We can't wait to visit again. After staying here, I can't imagine staying anywhere else when visiting Yosemite.
Felt like our home away from home
This property was a nice getaway. Very private location without being too far off the main road to get in. It was a nice drive into the Yosemite Valley from the property location, even with the roadwork they were performing it didn't take too long to get there. We expected more traffic during June when everyone's on vacation. The nearby resort rush creek excepts day use guests which we enjoyed an evening barbecue poolside and game room amenities for the evening. It was nice to drive back to our private home location without being there in a resort setting for the overnight accommodations. It was beautiful waking up in the morning with views of the meadow - very private. Our entire family enjoyed the experience of our stay!
Great location, amenities were a bit lacking.
While the location is the best feature of this property, the amenities were less than wonderful.
The images in the advertisement do not show the property as it is.
About 2/3 of the trees are dead or damaged. There are piles of dead wood on the property with one of them entangled in a blue tarp (not beautiful). I was a bit nervous to brave the deadwood over concern about wood ticks. "Dont be alarmed" was included in the final instructions to the site; this should have been in the advertisement as well as current photos showing the actual condition of the property.
The propane bbq was non functional but was not new information for the owner (allegedly the last tenants broke it) but because no fires were allowed anywhere on the property I was warned against bringing a briquet bbq. Only after I complained about the propane bbq and was cooking inside, did the owner offer a briquet bbq to use.
The television worked the first night there, but it looked like it was stopped due to non payment (not a big deal since we adapted but just an annoyance.) When I dialed the number on the instruction sheet I was sent, the operator said it was out of service.
I think that it is overpriced for the view and odd outages. The heat exchanger is actually a swamp cooler and provided just enough cooling in the mid 70 degree weather.
The owner did call the first night and i gave a positive response since I was just there and didn't experience the full features of this Secret Meadow.
Unfortunately I won't return to this site.
Nice place for a trip with family/friends to Yosemite
Location:
Definitely a nice location if your main purpose there is to visit the Yosemite valley area, which is only about one hour away from this house (if you leave early).
Environment:
The ambience is quiet but not as pretty as I imagined, partly because it hasn't rained much and the grass are turning yellow. The road to the house is filled with large deep holes, which means a normal sedan is probably going to suffer a little when you drive up there, so be very careful and slow.
House:
The inside is really cozy with two beds in the attic and one bed in the bedroom. The sofa is not a sofa bed but can sleep a person, so it can accommodate at most 7 people but I highly recommend not going above 6 because the sofa is too soft and could give you a back pain.
Soundproofing is good if you sleep inside the bedroom (you can hardly hear a thing) but not so good if you are sleeping outside because the fridge sometimes makes noises, so please bring your earplug if you are a light sleeper.
Host:
Dan was very helpful throughout our entire stay. We had many questions to ask and he answered all of them. It is my first time using HomeAway so I'm not sure if it is the norm but usually I don't need to sign another contract after payment. Dan sent us the contract after noon on the day of our arrival, at which point we are already deep in the Yosemite area and not having internet connection. We managed to find the hotel Rush creek and used its wifi but it was overall an annoying experience. Hopefully, Dan can figure out a way to simplify this process but as the hostee, please ask him to send you the contract earlier so you can have sufficient time to prepare.
Conclusion:
Overall, we really enjoyed our stay but there were definitely places that can be improved.
Great Getaway!
We stayed here for New Years for a few days. The location was beautiful, very isolated and private which was awesome because we stayed up late a few nights. It was in the middle of the forest, you really feel have no service out there which made it perfect for a family trip. The cabin had wifi if needed but i didn't share that with my family, we can all use a little break from social media.
The cabin was nice and cozy, it was a little dirty but nothing major. The furniture can use a little update. The beds were comfy and there was plenty of blankets. Heater works perfectly! It is an old cabin so using the toilette and showers was a bit difficult as we only had very little water. Overall it was a great place, we enjoyed it very much. The owner responds very quickly and made the booking very simple and easy. Will definitely stay here soon.
Best part was location
I have to say we were taken back to the 60s, and 70s... The cabin was interesting at best and location is the only reason they can get such a high rate. Outdated, dusty and sticky floors. We had high hopes for this cabin after reading the reviews but it wasn't at all what we expected. The property had a couple of fun outdoor amenities but they weren't useable, volley ball/ bat mitten areas the grass was knee deep & no equipment. The hot tub, 2 side panels were off and motor/ wiring were exposed so it looked like it was being worked on and the bottom was green- scretchy & dangerous. The lighting was very odd and dark- random switches all over the house and you have no clue what they go to and the lights that did work weren't very bright. ALL windows have to stay open- NO AC, common for the area. While we love sleeping with the windows open we weren't comfortable leaving them open while we were gone. So every night when we returned it was a pocess to get the house cool enough to sleep especially upstairs which was a hot box till 10-11. The frigerator door and front door don't shut properly. The frig door pops open constantly and isn't very cool. The basement wash room was flat out scary and gross. Burn holes in living room carpet and dead bugs on tables (didn't even look like it was cleaned from people before). We are totally fine with retro/ mismatched decor but bottom line the place wasn't kept up, cluttered and felt super over charged for what we got. Experienced world travelers and traveling with 6, 7 and 10 year old children hiked yosemiti daily.
Map
Half Dome, Rainbow Pool (cliff jumping), Tuolumne River (rafting)
Photos
Rates & Availability
- Available
- Unavailable
Additional information about rental rates
| Cleaning Fee | $90 |
| Damage Deposit | $600 |
Weekends Only are Plus 20%
Minimum night stays are for weeknights. Weekend dates require longer minimum stays, and vary depending on time of year, how far in advance, and other factors. Check with owner for details.
Holidays and special events: Inquire with owner for pricing.
Owner's Cancellation Policy
- 50% refund if canceled at least 30 days before arrival date.
- 100% refund if canceled at least 60 days before arrival date.
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