Mammoth Lakes-good base to explore national parks?
 

We will be traveling in northern California with children ages 8 and 10. Plan to explore gold country then head to Mammoth Lakes area. Is it practical to take day trips to Yosemite and/or Sequoia National Park without spending the whole day in the car? Family friendly places to stay? Trip in August. Thanks.

it is not very practical. <BR> <BR>Mammoth is on the east Sierra side, Sequoia on the west. You'd have to drive to the south tip of the Sierras & then head north on the west side. Probably a 4-6 hr trip. <BR> <BR>regarding Yosemite, you could get to the Tuolumne Meadows (sp) area in a couple of hours. But Yosemite Valley is another hour or so past that. <BR> <BR>The Mammoth area is lovely in summer, & is relatively uncrowded. But to visit the other 2 parks, it's better to stay there.

I agree with the above poster. I stayed in Mammoth Lakes a few years ago, and we decided to do a day trip to Yosemite. We left at 7:00am and got to the Valley at 11:00am (did some stops along the way). It was SO crowded, we didn't get much of a chance to see anything. Driving back was the worse! We didn't get back to the condo until almost 7:00pm. Yosemite from Mammoth Lakes is a long, tiring trip. It's best to either stay there or some place closer. <BR>

oops, I realize the last sentence of my post above, may not be clear in its meaning...what I mean is: <BR> <BR>"The Mammoth area is lovely in summer, & is relatively uncrowded. But to visit the other 2 parks, it's better to STAY ON-SITE AT SEQUIOA OR YOSEMITE. <BR>

You can, however, base in the Gold Country and do a day trip to Yosemite. Plan to stay in Columbia or Murphys and then head down south to Chinese Camp and over on 120 to Yosemite. You'll want to get an early morning start, but it's very "doable" in one day. The kids, 8 and 10 will love the Gold Country--mine tours, recreations, old towns,lots to do. Sequoia and Kings Canyon are more wilderness parks without the facilities of Yosemite. If you are coming in the summer, it's possible to cross Yosemite on 120 via Tioga Pass to Lee Vining and visit Mono Lake which would be interesting for your kids. From there you can continue down the eastern edge of the Sierra but don't think I'd want to do this as a daytrip and then back. Once you've crossed the Sierra you can get down to Mammoth, but risking being jumped on for this advice, maybe you want to consider Tahoe instead of Mammouth and spend your time on the west side of the Sierra.