adam1972

My partner and I have just short of 3 weeks in california (from australia). We'll be starting at San Fran. We have a basic plan to head to yosemite and camp (probably at a no reservations camp) for about 4-5 days, then out of park via east exit and down to death valley for a few days. From there we're heading back west. We're thinking it would be good to go in and see sequoia and king canyon for a few days, and then head across to big sur and do highway 1 heading north and back to san fran. Some tips on driving times and routes would be good, and any accommodation tips would be good as well.
we plan on a mix of camping and motel accommodation.
Thanks very much

sludick

When are you planning to do this? Death Valley is no place to be in the summer, certainly. Others can advise you on the campgrounds, but I didn't think there were "no reservations" campgrounds at Yosemite -- we have normally had to make reservations well in advance.

adam1972

sorry about that - should've noted its first 3 weeks in sept. The reading we've done on camping yosemite so far is a bit confusing,but it seems like there's some grounds where you can make a reservation - ondeed the advice seems to be make sure you reserve if you want one, and then there's a few other grounds where its apparently a 'first come first served' situation where you actually can't make a reservation. This is how we've read the info so far....
and re death valley - just seemed like to good an opportunity while there not to check it out - we know it'll be hot...i think the average temp for sept in the valley was still 40c hot!
thanks

gigib

You will certainly see some beautiful areas!

Are you renting camping gear while you are here? I am asking this because the Death Valley campgrounds are a bit bleak and have very little shade -- you could see if you could make a reservation at the Furnace Creek Ranch or the F. Creek Inn, their summer rates are a little lower than cooler times of the year. The website for res. is xanterra.com. It could be hot enough that you will welcome something other than a tent to escape to! It is a lovely park, you will be impressed. Also, when you exit Yosemite thru the east gate, you will drive down hwy. 395 and have a gorgeous view of the steep granite escarpment of the Sierras. When you turn off at Lone Pine, don't forget to look for the summit of Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the continental US.

Camping weather at Yosemite and Sequoia will be excellent. The drive down into Kings Canyon/Cedar Grove is LONG...

mlgb

You know that you have to come into Kings/Sequoia from the west side, right? You can't get in from Hwy 395 (big mountains in the way).

So if you take Tioga pass out from Yosemite, you really have to go way out of your way to get to DV and then back to Kings etc.

boom_boom

As migb says above, the trip from Death Valley back to Sequoia is a long one. From DV the best bet to Route 190 to Panamint Valley Road then into Trona and Ridgecrest, crossing the Sierra into Bakersfield on Route 178 and then north to Visalia to access to Sequoia. It's about 2.5 hours from Furance Creek to Ridgecrest, 2 more hours to Bakersfield, 1.5 to Visalia and at least 1.5 to the park.
It's likely to be 100 degrees F or better still in DV, but it cools off nicely when the sun goes down. DV will still be uncrowded at that point with most European tourists visiting.

adam1972

Thanks for the advice! Seems a better idea might be for us to check out kings canyon/sequoia first, and then head back up to yosemite (which may actually be better as it would prob mean getting to yosemite at beginning of week rather than a weekend).
We figured the drive down hwy395 was longish but would be impressive scenery.
We did realise the western entry for kings/sequoia - but thank - it's sounding like the driving time would be significant.
Thanks for the DV accomm link - will look into it.
I'll post a revised route once we've considered everythng a bit further
Thanks to everyone for the help! Fantastic.
Any advice on hwy 1 par of trip anyone?

all the best

sludick

If you do decide to go out of Yosemite through Tioga pass and down 395, do try to plan a stop at Devils Postpile. We've been there at that time of year, and it is just beautiful. It does close at the end of October, as it starts snowing then. But the camping should be really good when you are there: http://www.nps.gov/depo/

Hwy 1: Allow more time than you think, mileage wise. The road is scenic and winding, so you will go slower -- but you will also want to get out and enjoy the scenery. Others will advise you here. Wonder if you might want to camp at Big Basin for a night (south of San Francisco)? But that's a state park, and California may have those closed due to budget woes. Here is a link: http://www.bigbasin.org/

mlgb

If you visit DV last, then cut across the Central Valley by exiting at Ridgecrest, via Lake Isabella (Hwy 178) and then from Bakersfield Hwy 46 to the coast (Paso Robles Templeton Cambria)

Supercilious

If you have three weeks, you may want to venture over to US 395 even if you don't go to Death Valley. There is awesome scenery over there and there are interesting volcanic and geologic sites you can visit. Mono Lake and the ghost town of Bodie are worth the drive just by themselves.

Death Valley is still quite hot in September but is less lethal than June or July when the days are long and the sun is most intense. There are also some higher elevation areas in the Park and surrounding region that are interesting and worth visiting.

Then, there's Las Vegas. If you're here for 3 weeks and in the neighborhood, you may want to visit it. Everyone should go at least once.

MichelleY

You should throw in Lake Tahoe.

MY

utahtea

Yosemite still has some first come, first serve campgrounds. http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/campground.htm

I think your itinerary is great. I'd exit Yosemite over Tioga pass and take 395 down to Death Valley.

Utahtea

adam1972

Thanks for the advice! still working on it....

dbdurand

I agree with utahtea, whether you go clockwise or counter clockwise. I checked out something close to this route for another post and Yosemite to Death Valley is about 7 hrs. From there back through Bakersfield to Sequoia is about 8, and then to Yosemite about 4.

Death Valley is open all year. Furnace Creek Ranch, sort of a motel complex with several eating places, is air conditioned.

Yesterday Death Valley got to 117F, highest in the 48 contiguous states. Baghdad, Iraq was 114F. And we have soldiers running around there in full combat gear.

y_p_w

I've been to Death Valley in Late June. Peak visitation in Death Valley is during the winter and early spring for obvious reasons. Staying in Death Valley during the summer for more than a day is crazy. Every year a few intrepid hikers die from heat stroke trying to hike during the summer. I went in and out without venturing too far from my car. It's so hot and dry that most people don't sweat. Water just comes out of the pores and vaporizes immediately.

Furnace Creek Inn is closed for the summer. The Furnace Creek Ranch has motel-style accommodations with air conditioning. The important thing to have in Death Valley is plenty of water - both for yourselves and your vehicle. There are sections where there's an emergency water tank every mile. These are placed just in case the cooling system leaks and one needs an emergency fill. Definitely carry extra water.

As for Yosemite and SEKI, learn more about bears and food storage. Their bears know how to break into cars and they have stringent food storage regulations at night (when the bears are more active).

bellhouse

We went to Death Valley two years ago in July. Yes, it was hot - but we're from Florida and used to high humidity plus heat, so the dry heat didn't seem all that bad. We did make sure we drank plenty of water - we stopped before we got into the park and bought a couple of gallons per person, plus some for the car. We didn't do any real hiking - too hot for that - but we did walk around at each stop for 1/2 and hour to 45 minutes. I thought it was going to be deserted and was sort of worried about what would happen if the car broke down, but there were enough other people (Europeans and one Canadian - no other Americans) that it was fine. We stayed at Stovepipe Wells Village in the park, which had a wonderful spring fed COLD pool. We would get up, go look at some sights, come back for lunch and a swim in the middle of the day, them go back out. It seems like we got to the park about 1PM one day, had the whole day the next day, and most of the next day - and could have spent more time there. Maybe if we had gotten to the park earlier and done more sightseeing on the way in, I would have been ok with the two nights - but as it was we had to backtrack quite a bit. I would love to go back, but then I feel that way about practically every where we go - Moscow is the only exception!