YOSEMITE, CA–(Marketwire – October 25, 2010) –  Evergreen Lodge, a recently expanded Yosemite resort located on the western border of Yosemite National Park, announces it is offering special packages and holiday events for Christmas week and New Year’s. Families and couples looking to experience the winter majesty of Yosemite and get into the holiday spirit through a variety of traditional and creative Christmas and New Year’s activities will enjoy the celebrations at Evergreen Lodge.

Christmas Week Holiday Packages
The Evergreen celebrates Christmas with a blend of Old World lodge charms and festive innovations. Christmas week activities include the traditional, from ornament decorating to three-course feasts, and some not-so-traditional, from s’mores and tie-dying to a Christmas Day visit from Santa in his hot rod.

Formal holiday festivities begin Dec. 20. Every day includes specially selected guided recreation options, such as the Giant Sequoia Snowshoe Walk and the Wapama Falls Hike, and holiday specials in the restaurant. Scheduled activities include holiday readings, hayrides and a pajama party for the kids, and a “Tour of California” wine and cheese tasting for the adults, as well as family crafts, including snow globe making, shirt tie dying, and writing letters to Santa.

On Christmas morning, guests are invited to the blazing indoor/outdoor fireplace at the Recreation Center to see what Santa left in their stockings and get their picture taken with him in his hot rod. After a day touring Yosemite or enjoying lodge activities, guests may head to the restaurant for a sumptuous three-course Christmas Feast.

Two- or three-night packages are available Dec. 17-27, 2010, and include cabin accommodations, the three-course Christmas feast or a three-course dinner on a different night, daily breakfast, trail lunches, guided tour, sunset hayride, gift basket, holiday family crafts, and evening campfires and s’mores. Package rates start at $350 per couple or $515 per family (two adults and one or two children ages 2-12) per night. Guests may also book cabins and activities a la carte. Details and prices are available online at http://evergreenlodge.com/christmas.html.

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day Packages
New Year’s celebrations start Dec. 29 and last through Jan. 2, 2011, at Evergreen Lodge. By day, guests may enjoy a variety of guided adventures, such as the “Range of Light” Yosemite Valley Naturalist Tour or the Owl Prowl, while evening schedules include arts & crafts projects, bingo, naturalist presentations and Old Vegas-themed gambling with commemorative Evergreen Lodge chips and tunes spun by DJ Steve Truempy. On New Year’s Eve, the resort will host an extravagant Voodoo-themed celebration, including a three-course Creole Feast and a Voodoo Lounge costume party with music by Afro Funk Experience, more casino games and a countdown to midnight. A supervised “Kid Zone” will be set up nearby with crafts, movies, s’mores and a kid-friendly countdown. On New Year’s Day, guests may start the day slowly with a decadent brunch followed by guided activities, football bowl games in the tavern, or a massage, but the party heats up again at night with a Carnivale Masquerade Party featuring the Adam Burns Band.

New Year’s packages include two or three nights’ accommodation, New Year’s Eve dinner and party, brunch on New Year’s Day, breakfast, evening activities and a gift basket. Nightly package rates start at $320 per couple or $450 per family. Guests may also book cabins and festive activities a la carte. For more details and prices, guests may visit http://evergreenlodge.com/newyears.html.

A two-night minimum is required on both Christmas and New Year’s packages; extra nights may be added for a reduced rate. Taxes and gratuities are not included. Guests may call (209) 379-2606, email [email protected] or book online at www.evergreenlodge.com.

In addition to the holiday activities, Evergreen Lodge has an outdoor recreation program with winter offerings that include guided snowshoe treks, naturalist tours of Yosemite Valley, and rental equipment such as GPS units, trekking poles and snowshoes. The lodge’s guided recreation service has expanded to become the most comprehensive in the area since new owners took over the lodge in 2002. The experienced recreation staff provides not only guided tours but also advice for planning individual adventures. Guests may also end a day of hardy activity by indulging in one of a variety of massage therapies available at the massage cabana or in the privacy of one’s cabin.

In 2009, the Evergreen completed an expansion and added 24 new family and couples cabins (for a total of 90), and in spring of 2010 it added the John Muir House, a private, three-bedroom retreat. All cabins are warmly furnished with comfy beds with feather pillows, heat, private bathrooms, spacious decks, SIRIUS satellite radio, Keurig coffee makers and more.

About Evergreen Lodge
Located near the Hetch Hetchy Valley on the western border of Yosemite off Highway 120, Evergreen Lodge is a serene Yosemite destination that blends the modern comforts of a resort, the relaxed approach and activities of a dude ranch and the timeless warmth of a historic 1920s lodge. Evergreen features 90 fully furnished cabins, 15 custom campsites and the exclusive John Muir House. The lodge is popular with couples, families, groups, weddings and corporate retreats.

First Light Destinations, based in San Francisco and founded by Brian Anderluh, Dan Braun and Lee Zimmerman, purchased the property in 2002 and began to restore, upgrade and expand this historic lodge. The Lodge is a socially minded business that finances and operates an innovative behind-the-scenes on-site Youth Employment Program in which a group of high-potential young adults from urban backgrounds work as paid interns, gaining work experience while receiving career and life counseling.

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