We are planning a driving holiday in California from UK in October. Is this a good time of year to visit? Is it worth going to Yosemite at this time due to dried up waterfalls or snow? Is it possible to fly from California to view the Grand Canyon as a day trip. We have a fortnight and want to do six flags in Anaheim, & drive the coast road to San Fran. We don't want to be exhausted but want to fit in as much as possible. The question is Grand Canyon or Yosemite any recommendations. Thanks

October is a beautiful time in most of California. The Bay Area, in particular, has its real summer weather at that time; July and August are cool and foggy for the most part.

Yosemite in the fall shouldn't have snow, and there might still be some water left in the waterfalls because last winter and spring had record snow levels.

October is indeed a beautiful month in California, but I would recommend that you opt for the first half. The second half can have a somewhat off-season air about it (not that there isn't any charm in that, too).

Yosemite is always worth visiting.

Six Flags Magic Mountain is not in Anaheim. It's in Valencia, just north of Los Angeles. Anaheim is the home of Disneyland.

The Grand Canyon as a day trip might be a stretch.

As the others have said, the weather should be lovely.

Hello juliewalsh, welcome to California.

As far as the weather goes, here in N. CA it is usually just beautiful. It is one of my favorite months.

It is not possible to fly from California to the Grand Canyon as a day trip, unless you can fly yourself in your own private, small plane.

Yosemite is good any time of year, even when the waterfalls are dry, the high, sheer cliff faces from which they fall are still up. In October, the high country will still be accessible (Tuolumne Meadows, Tioga Pass), though the gas (petrol) station/grocery store at Tuolumne will be closed for the season. Same for Glacier Point.

It's important to note, juliewalsh100, that California is a huge state with many, many microclimates. When somebody writes that the weather will be X, or the weather will be Y... be careful. I don't know what "the real summer weather" is outside of July and August in the SF Bay Area. For this region, October provides about 10-14 days of "Indian Summer" and then, like a switch, the weather changes to windy and cool until winter passes.

Again, you can experience 12 degree Fahrenheit shifts within SF, itself.

If you go to Valencia for Six Flags/Magic Mtn, you might then drive North on Hwy 5 and then cut over to Hwy 1 at a later point, simply to condense the drive time. Hwy 1 hugs the coast and can be a beautiful and deliberate path to San Francisco.

You might consider flying from SF to Las Vegas, and then taking a helicopter day trip to the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas. Depending on your level of interest for the two sites (GC and Yosemite) I would narrow the choice to one. It would require Herculean efforts to fit it all in w/o being exhausted, as you noted.