Las Vegas/Sequoia/Yosemite route
 

Can you experts please help? I’ve been doing searches until I’m blue in the face and I’m just getting more confused. We’re doing a southwest NP tour in late Sept/early Oct. I think I’ve got the first part covered (LV to Zion to Bryce to Lake Powell to GC-South Rim and back to Vegas). But then we want to go from Las Vegas to Sequoia NP and Yosemite (then back to Vegas). Right now we plan to leave Vegas early, drive to Sequoia and stay at the Wukasachi Lodge that night, spend most of the day at Sequoia, then head to Yosemite and stay 2 nights at the Yosemite Lodge. Then return to Vegas to catch a red-eye flight back home. Will this work? What routes should we take? It sounds like according to some of your advice I’ve done it backwards and should do Yosemite before Sequoia. I can make that change, but I doubt I’d be able to change my Lodge reservation and would probably have to stay somewhere else for one night. I’d like the drive to be scenic and the Tioga Pass sounds good if that’s along the way. Any suggestions?

Don't change your itinerary if it means not staying in Yosemite Valley. And besides driving the loop clockwise or counter clockwise doesn't make much difference.

There are no roads into Sequoia from the east so you'd need to do the one loooong drive either LV to Sequoia or Sequoia to LV no matter what.

So if you have rooms in YNP now, leave well enough alone.

Meant to add -- Tioga Pass is the eastern gateway to YNP. You would go over it either on your way out back to LV, or your way in from LV, depending on which direction you drive the LV > Seq > YNP >LV loop.

Thanks so much janisj!

So how do these routes look?
LV to Sequoia: 15S, 58W, 99N, 198E to Sequoia.
Sequoia to Yosemite: 180W to 41N
Yosemite to LV: 120E to 395S to 190W to 95S??? OR stay on 120 and then cross into Nevada via Rt. 6 then 95S; OR something else? (I’m not that great at map reading)
We’d like scenic – but not too far out of the way.
Can anyone help?

You have your routes to Sequoia and Yosemite planned out fine.

Yosemite to LV, take 120 to 395. Then at Lone Pine cut over on 136 to 190 and east eventually to 160 into LV. This route will take you across Death Valley which will be great in October. Also - if you have time when you are at Lone Pine you can take a short detour west to the Alabama Hills and Mt Whitney.

(I had to look at a map myself because I couldn't remember where hwy 6 took off from.)

Thank you!

Pugsley--
We just returned from a trip that included the drive from SF to Yosemite to Sequoia to LA. Just want to caution you that these drives can be much slower than you plan due to unbelievably windy and (in my opinion) treacherous roads. If anyone in your group gets motion sickness, I highly recommend some Dramamine! I would say that the road into/out of Sequoia's south entrance takes the cake for winding and they are now starting construction of a section of it that will cause them to close it for 30 minutes at a time (see the nps.gov website for more info).

It might help to know that we left Yosemite Lodge at 8:45 a.m. last Wednesday morning. Made a 20 or 30 minute stop at the Wawona Lodge (so daughter could get her junior ranger badge!) and arrived at the gate to Sequoia NP at 12:30 p.m. Husband drove above speed limit on the straight aways in the valleys (around Fresno). But it takes a long time.

So plan accordingly. You will have an AWESOME trip. We did the Utah portion two years ago and loved that too!!

Be sure to read hotel reviews on tripadvisor.com before going. Will prepare you for your perfectly-fine-but-less-than-luxurious accommodations!

ccrosner, thanks so much for the info and advice. I wouldn't have expected that drive to take so long, so now at least I'll be prepared.