Gold rush country/Yosemite/etc.
 

DH and I have finally agreed on where to go next summer: California. We'll spend part of our time doing LA?Monterey/SF, then we want to see the Gold Rush country, Yosemite, Death Valley, and ?. We have two teenage boys who will want to do outdoor things, DH and I are interested in that, museums, architecture. I was tentatively thinking 3 nights in the Gold Rush area, 2-3 nights in Yosemite, 1 night in Death Valley. Is that about right? What might I be missing?

You have a good plan - but I'd probably do 3 nights in the Gold rush foothills and 3 in Yosemite (or maybe a night at Kings Canyon/Sequoia and only 2 in Gold country). You can visit wineries as good as anything in Napa/Sonoma, explore caverns, visit Columbia state park, pan for gold, etc. And in Yosemite - lots of hikes, bike riding, tubing, etc.

I would drop Death Valley. It is not a summer destination. It is waaaay too hot to do any outdoors activities. It is named Death Valley for good reason.

If you were going at another time of year DV would be terrific (but most other times of the year you can't easily get from Yosemite to DV but that is different issue)

We firmed things up a bit more last night I'm a planner and DH isn't, so it's always a struggle to get him to sit down with me - but he had to this time because we are visiting his sisters and friends on this trip and I couldn't/wouldn't make the decision on how much time to spend with each. He REALLY wants to see Scottie's Castle. If we drove over from LA, arriving late afternoon, spent the night in DV (Stove Pipe something), got up early to see SC, and then kept going - would we be ok? Also, we end up either in Yosemite or the Gold rush area on a weekend. It seems to me it would be best to avoid Yosemite weekend traffic, but would GR area be packed? Which of the many caverns would you recommend?

Driving all the way from LA to Death Valley for one night and a house tour in summer and then driving to Yosemite on a weekend is not my idea of a relaxing vacation.

Save Scotty's Castle for another trip - preferably in Spring or Fall when you will have more time to explore the immensity of Death Valley National Park.

Instead, go to the Hearst Castle since you are planning on seeing Monterey. The drive along the Big Sur coast will be more enjoyable than driving through the desert in summer and San Simeon is a lot more interesting than Scotty's anyway.

As far as caverns go, your kids may enjoy the rapelling and zip line at Moaning Caverns.

http://www.caverntours.com/MoCavRt.htm

We did the walking tour last year and really enjoyed it. The area around Murphys is really nice and there are many fine wineries with tasting rooms.

Our favorite part of the Gold Country though is further north around Nevada City/Grass Valley. Here you have the Empire Mine and Malakoff Diggings State Park and the neat mining towns of Downieville and Sierra City along the Yuba River.

If you are coming all the way to California and your husband wants to see Scotty's Castle, then you can make it work. Be sure your rental car has good air conditioning!

I haven't been to Death Valley yet, but when I lived in So.Cal. we used to drive to Mammoth Lakes in the summer, getting up early to start by 5 am to get across the Mohave before it got too hot. According to Mapquest, it is a 5-hour drive from LA (startingin the vicinity of the airport) to Death Valley (not sure where in Death Valley they are counting). The Furnace Creek Ranch has a swimming pool, so an overnight there wouldn't be so bad. With an early start, you would have time for the Scotty's Castle tour that day. (I'm assuming it is open in the summer, but did't check; you should).

From Death Valley, it makes sense to go straight to Yosemite, approaching from the east. Again, Mapquest says it is 4.5 to 5 hours to get to Lee Vining. Or you could stop for the night in Mammoth Lakes, which offers lots of great outdoor activities for the kids. Then you continue over Tioga Pass into Yossemite. Where you spend the next few nights depends on what you can get---Yosemite Valley may be already booked, unless you are willing to take a tent cabin. (Or consider a ttent cabin in tuolumne Meadows). There are also cabins and condos just outside the park to the west; I'm sure others here can tell you about those.

From Yosemite, you can continue throught the Gold Country and on to San Francisco. Moaning Cavern, mentioned by Otis_B_Driftwood, is a great suggestion for the Gold Country---my kids loved the rappel in and side tunnel tour. It is near Murpheys, as I recall.

I got a AAA map of all of California yesterday, which gave me a much better idea of roads between places than looking at the guidebook maps of the individual areas. It looks like we would have to do a lot of backtracking to see Scotty's Castle and then get up to Yosemite. We really wanted to see the dunes/desert (and DH the castle) and it may be another 20 years before we get back to California, but we will probably be dropping Death Valley. That being the case, I wondered how to tweak our trip.

My original plan was

Friday - fly to LA

Sat and Sun nights - LA (DH has friends he hasn't seen in years and he wants to see the Queen Mary)

Mon - drive to Death Valley and spend the night EXTRA NIGHT NOW

Tuesday - drive to Yosemite - stay Tuesday,Wednesday, and Thursday nights

Fri - Sun nights in Gold country (definitely do the Moaning Cavern - thanks Otis!)

Mon - Wed nights in Monterey with DH's sister and b-i-l. The boys haven't seen San Simeon, so that might be an idea. My s-i-l is a born tour guide, so I'm not planning too much

Thurs - Sat nights in San Franciso (another sister and b-i-l)

Fly home Sunday.

That extra day might could be spent in LA, and then stay Sat night in Oakland to be close to airport and see another of DH's high school friends who lives there. I think 1/2 of Wyoming, OH lives in California now!

Yosemite is filled up except for the permanent tents. I've read some negatives about them. Any positives? Alternately, what places would you recommend outside the park?