/san fran/yosemite/sequoia/kings canyon
 

in june we will fly into san francisco and wnat to go to see yosemite/kc and seq.
Thinking two spend two full days in Yosemite-which hikes are must dos? we are in good shape so any day hike is acceptable. Especially want to see some waterfalls.
In KC abd Seq really want to do crystal cave. what else is a must see?
we will hav e about half a day on the day we arrive and leave to do other things. any must see things in area close by?
recommendations on what city to stay in? (I am assuming to late to book in the park)
Thanks

I have no idea abut how many days you have allocated to visit these places. It is too late in the year to reserve & stay inside the park - unless you get lucky. To get 2 full days inside Yosemite and starting day 1 in San Francisco (possibly) - you really have to stay there (outside the park) for 3 or more nights. For a half day in the other parks, you need about 2 nights in each. And in a half day you are not going to be able to take many hikes. Traffic & access is difficult in June.

Stu Dudley

The ONLY places I'd stay (assuming you can't get into Yosemite Valley) would be Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal, or a condo/cabin either in Yosemite West or in Foresta. ANYPLACE else will be more than an hour from the Valley - and much longer in summer traffic.

Sorry I feel like I was not clear enough.
Day one fly in and drive to kings/ Canyon (see something in the way or nearby)
day 2 and 3 stay and hike kc and sequoia
drive to Yosemite in evening
day 4 and 5 Yosemite
day six leave and drive to Vegas (see/do something in the way )

So far booked first two nights in three rivers
thanks for advice about where to stay in Yosemite will do that today.

Still would love ideas about what are must do in each park. We are in good shape.
I want to see waterfalls also crystal cave sounds cool.

> which hikes are must dos?
> we are in good shape so any day hike is acceptable.
> Especially want to see some waterfalls

The hike from Glacier Point down to the Valley is a half-day hike, during which you'll get right next to Vernal Falls & Nevada Falls.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4711f16ae7.jpg

What you'll see on the hike.

You'll have to either (1) take the shuttle up to Glacier Point
https://www.travelyosemite.com/thing...#collapse-5152
or (2) have someone drive down to the Valley instead of taking the hike.

If you can find availability inside SEKI, that would be better than staying in Three Rivers. Check Wuksachi, John Muir Lodge/Grant Grove or even Stony Creek. There are construction delays this season if entering from Three Rivers https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvis...nstruction.htm and it would be a really long drive to the bottom of Kings Canyon from Three Rivers. Highlights of SEKI are the sequoia groves and the drive down into the canyon.

ill check again about seki
for yosemite is oakhurst too far? its had too tell on a map (says its 12-16 miles??

>>for yosemite is oakhurst too far?<<.

Yes!

>>its had too tell on a map (says its 12-16 miles??<<

That is from the south entrance -- but it is nearly more than 45 miles from Yosemite Valley. An that 45+ miles is a 90 minute drive at the very best of times. (Yosemite is HUGE) Above I listed the only accommodations close to Yosemite Valley.

Janis gives great advice.

i saw tour previous post thats why i was checking..when i put in yosemote valley one websight stuck in places in oakhurst

Not quite sure what you mean - what website? Oakhurst is not at all near Yosemite Valley but is close to the park boundary.

Oakhurst only makes sense if you are coming from the south. A few years ago my wife and I caught a bus from Barstow to Bakersfield and got on the San Joaquin train to Fresno. We got a taxi from the train station to the Fresno airport to rent a car. We spent the night in Oakhurst before going in the south entrance. After entering we took the right and drove out to see Mariposa Grove. After the Grove, we headed for the valley. Immediately after going through the tunnel is a viewpoint that is one of the most spectacular anywhere with a view of the Yosemite Valley including Half Dome.
If you wanted to go to Sequoia first, you might want to take the San Joaquin south from San Francisco (via Oakland) to Fresno and renting a car there (at FAT).
There are flights from Fresno to Las Vegas on Allegiant Airlines. You really don't want to drive from Fresno to Las Vegas at any time of the year.

New to this thread and have some comments...

If you're landing in SF and then going to SEKI, then Yosemite, and THEN Las Vegas, you're sort of doing things a bit backward IMO. If you could start north and head south, you'd have fewer driving hours.

I don't have any words of wisdom on the Yosemite lodging/access issue. Staying outside the park and commuting in over two or three days is a recipe for frustration in my mind, but if I had to do it I'd probably look at some possible substitutions for your itinerary. For example, if you skipped SEKI you could swap the Calaveras Big Trees State Park, located on CA 4 a few miles east of the cool gold rush town of Murphys. The gold rush country and towns along CA 49 are terrific at that time of year. You could (traffic will still be lousy) stay in Mariposa and do a long day trip into Yosemite Valley. Yes, you'll spend more time on the road than you'd like, but you could see the waterfalls and vista points and still make it back by night; daylight hours will be really long in late June.

What's the overall plan? We see you flying into SF and traveling to Vegas, but what happens after that? You might do the math on just returning to SF after Yosemite and flying to Las Vegas; you might save a lot by not having a one-way rental car, and flights from SF to LV are quite cheap - around $60 one way.

Oh -- jeeze. I totally missed the order you laid things out. SF > Sequoia > Yosemite > Vegas makes absolutely no sense. None . . . Unless you drop the car in Fresno and fly to LV. But that still is a schlepp SF > S/KC > YNP > Fresno.

I had assumed the OP wanted to drive across Tioga Pass to head toward Vegas hence the south/north/south routing but after re-reading it sounds like s/he is trying to reach Vegas on Day 6?

The first post listed them SF, YNP, Sequoia, KC

But in the 'clarification' post the order was reversed - so I'm not really sure now . . .

Just a point about driving times.... The speed limit inside the mentioned parks is only 30 mph, and it's enforced. Also, in June, just getting through the entrances and into the parks can take some time, especially on weekends.

>>Also, in June, just getting through the entrances and into the parks can take some time, especially on weekends.<<

Second that - From the NPS website: >>Each year, Yosemite National Park welcomes over five million visitors. If you are planning to visit Yosemite, plan ahead and arrive early. In summer, expect extended traffic delays and extremely limited parking. Expect delays of an hour or more at entrance stations and two to three hours in Yosemite Valley.<<

I actually got a real map and see why this is a bad idea. Now thinking of flying into lax. Going to Yosemite for 2 days. (3 nights) ( staying either in park or where Janis recommended) then going to mammoth lake for one day /night then just going to kings canyon for a day/night ( mostly to see Canyon )Then go back to lax. ( we need to fly from somewhere southwest goes)
does that make more sense ?


also so if you get to Yosemite early are we still gonna have a long line getting in?

Also going to look into big tree state park
To see how that could fit in.
Open to all advice thanks

Check out the YARTS bus routes and avoid driving a vehicle into Yosemite. The YARTS bus drives right past all the cars waiting to get into the park and has a designated spot to drop off and pick up passengers. There is a free bus service within the park once you get there.
There is YARTS bus service from Merced and from Fresno (Google it). Does Southwest have service to Sacramento? That would be the easiest airport to get to Merced with a rental car.
After seeing Yosemite and Sequoia, you will have seen your fill of huge trees without seeking a State park.

>>then going to mammoth lake for one day /night then just going to kings canyon for a day/night ( mostly to see Canyon )Then go back to lax. ( we need to fly from somewhere southwest goes) does that make more sense ?<<

No :( Simply not doable. You can't get from the east side of the Sierra (Mammoth) to the west side (Seq/KC) There are no through roads. So you would have to drive all the way around through Bakersfield, and that is nearly 400 miles. . . . UNLESS you go back north and across Tioga Pass through YNP and south to Seq/KC -- which is about 300 miles and more than 6 hours driving and is totally back tracking.

Southwest flies in to SMF, OAK, SJC and SFO so you can fly into northern CA, do Yosemite, then Seq/KC and fly home from LAX or BUR or ONT.

No, you do not want to take YARTS from Merced or Fresno - that would take FOREVER -- you can though take YARTS directly from the stop in front of Yosemite View Lodgein El Portal.

day one-drive from sacramento or lax to yosemite,
day 2 and 3 yosemite
day 4 drive early ro SEK and do long day thereand either stay in three rivers or drive s few hours to be closer to next stop
looking for recomendations. rather then go back to SEK in traffic (no lodging in SEK that meets our needs) what should we do next on day 5/6
need to be somewhere in california by friday afternoon.

did not book anything yet so could also do something before Yosemite. thanls for all your help

I would do Mammoth or SEKI but not both with the amount of time you have. Either location has enough to fill 2 nights. I don't think you have time to drive to SEKI (4 hours from Yosemite), drive to the bottom of the canyon, see the sequoia groves and tour Crystal Cave in one day. What's your lodging criteria?

I thought yosemite was closer to SEKI but if we went just for a day I would have to miss crystal cave (you have to book in advance in person anyway)
If i go to mammoth would it make the most sense to fly back from vegas? basing that question off the earlier reply about the ways the roads go so guessing would be very long to get back to california is that correct?

as far as lodgong we really need a place with a fridge since we will be bringing our food due to special dietary needs.
(I know I should have booked all of this months ago) thanks again

Our room at Wuksachi had a mini fridge. I believe the rooms at John Muir Lodge do as well.

Mammoth is still in California and Vegas isn't really any closer than LA or the Bay Area. I thought you were going to Vegas for some other reason (other than just to fly back). Reno may be the closest airport that Southwest serves. When in June are you going? Last year Tioga Pass didn't open until June 29th https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htm but that was a big snow year and we haven't had as much snow so far this year. There are other routes across the Sierras as well.

>>but if we went just for a day I would have to miss crystal cave (you have to book in advance in person anyway)<<

Sequoia is not a day trip from almost anywhere. Neither is Mammoth.

Yosemite View Lodge has kitchenettes.

Cedar Lodge (also in El Portal) has fridges.

i already booked Yosemite view lodge. my lodging concerns were for SEKI because i was told not to book in 3 rivers due to traffic and there is no availability inside park. later tonite i am going to look more closely at mammouth may just decide to go there two days instead of SEKI. any recommendations of nice lodging there? also just curious where all you guys live? we seem to be in different time zones, I am on eat coast and love that I wake up to your helpful advice. thanks again.

In addition to Mammoth, look at June Lake for lodging.

We we are locals.

Have you said when in June? If the beginning of the month, it is more possible that Tioga Pass won't be open. If that's the case you can't get to Mammoth from Yosemite except going north all the way to Tahoe and south to Mammoth OR south to Bakersfield -- both are a looooong slog.

If Tioga is open, sure you could visit Mammoth -- but we won't know until late April or early May how much progress they are making clearing/repairing the road, and when it will open. This year's snow season started out very light . . . but there were big storms a couple of weeks ago and and a LOT of new snow is expected this week. Tioga has opened as late as early July but that is exceptional. Most years it opens late May or early June. But with late spring storms a late opening is pretty normal.

So you will have more certainty doing SE/KC . . . and if accommodations in the park is unavailable, there is nothing at all wrong with staying in Three Rivers.

The downside of Three Rivers is the construction this season but you could try to time your drives to avoid lengthy delays. Book a back up and keep checking for in park cancellations as they happen often.

I stay with friends in Mammoth but there's no shortage of accommodations there. There are a lot of condos which might work well for your needs. Friends who stayed at Juniper Springs recently liked it. We do seem to be getting more precipitation late this season.

>>We do seem to be getting more precipitation late this season.<<

They are predicting up to eight feet of new snow this week . . . with another series of cold storms next week.

>>Book a back up and keep checking for in park cancellations as they happen often.<<

I agree. Three Rivers isn't perfect - but it is convenient to the parks and if you book something refundable/cancelable there and keep trying there is a great chance you'll get a place in the park.

>> They are predicting up to eight feet of new snow this week<<

Holy @#$%! I didn't realize it's that big of a storm.

not going til mid june-right now i am booked in yosemete view lodge for first three nighyts then in three rivers and mammath for next two nights so i guess i can decide at a later point and keep checking in park for SEK. thanks

What are the cancellation policies at Mammoth and Three Rivers? If generous, you could keep both until nearly the last minute . . .

BUT Mammoth and Three Rivers make a difference where you fly home from (and rental car drop off too).

Three Rivers is about 3 hours closer to LAX than to Vegas. Its only about 3.5 hours to LAX (longer in heavy traffic) and about 6.5 hours to LV. While Mammoth is about a 5.5 hour drive to either one. (if you fly out of Ontario

If it was me I'd bite the bullet and do Seq/KC and forget about Mammoth.