Yosemite, Sequioa, Kings Canyon & Death Valley

**Shell** · 02-20-2012, 11:17 PM

Hi Everyone,

We are just putting our trip together, but I would like to know where would be the best place to base ourselves to visit the above places?
We are looking at Motel accomodation for end of June 2012 we will have about 4 days to do this - is that long enough?

We are booked into Vegas for after this part of our trip.

Thankyou,
Shell

**Midwest Michael** · 02-21-2012, 04:36 AM

I guess I'm not sure of what your question is? These places are all too far apart to base yourself out of a single place. If you can, its always nicer to stay right in the parks, although more budget friendly places are typically available outside the park gates if you are willing to drive in and drive out.

Are you starting out of San Francisco? 4 days should be ok, however, keep in mind the tricky thing about visiting all 3 of these parks is that since there is no road across the Sierras through Sequoia National Park, you have to make a choice. You either skip Tioga Pass through Yosemite and go around the south end of the Sierras via Bakersfield and/or Lake Isabella or you could go to Sequoia first and backtrack to Yosemite.

**Shell** · 02-21-2012, 03:12 PM

Hi Michael,
Thankyou for your reply.
We will be coming down from Yellowstone. the 4 days ( We can work on this) i mentioned is what I have allowed once we get to Yosemite.
Our original plan was to see Yosemite then Death Valley & on to Vegas. But I have Just seen some Magnificent photo's of Kings Canyon & Sequoia that I feel we just have to include them as well.
I will have to get my maps out on the weekend and have a closer look.
Thanks,
Shell

**Midwest Michael** · 02-21-2012, 03:18 PM

Well if you are coming from Yellowstone, then what you can do is come down through Lake Tahoe and enter Yosemite via Tioga, then head south out to Sequoia, and down and around to Death Valley.

4 days might be a bit rushed, as you've got at least a full day of driving in there, but you can certainly make it work.

**Shell** · 02-21-2012, 03:21 PM

Thankyou,
Will look into that. I also think we will allow more days to do this, we have a few up our sleeve.
Thanks again
shell

**Shell** · 06-13-2012, 07:45 AM

Hi everyone,
we are visiting from Australia, & next week we will be going to yellowstone from Denver. We are spending 3 days there & then heading down towards Yosemite. We would like to find out which would be the best route to take, if anyone could give some advice it woould be greatly appreciated.
We are travelling in a hire car - V6
Thankyou,
Shell

Moderator Note: Please keep all questions about the same trip in the same thread.

**Southwest Dave** · 06-13-2012, 09:11 AM

Hi Shell, good to see you here !

There is never one 'best' route, yet there are many great options ! How long will you have to get from Denver to Yosemite ? Would you have been to the GC or are planning to do so after Yosemite ? Have you planned for time in Rocky mountain NP ? More details would help us to give you the best response.

Moab [Arches and Canyonlands] down through Monument Valley to Grand canyon to Vegas and through Death Valley would be popular. From Moab you could head to Capitol Reef, Bryce canyon, Zion NP and take the ET Highway to Tonopah and across to Yosemite.

**Lifemagician** · 06-13-2012, 10:09 AM

Shell, As Dave said, there are many choices. Do you still have any maps or your atlas from your trip last year? If you do, check them out. All the scenic routes and roads are marked, usually with a dotted line. I'd start by looking at that.

Lifey

**Midwest Michael** · 06-13-2012, 10:34 AM

Based on your previous responses, I'm guessing you want to get from Yellowstone to Tahoe reasonably quickly.

The fastest route would be to take I-15/I-86 to Twin Falls ID, then US-93 to I-80 to Tahoe. It is about a 750 mile trip, so an overnight stop would be needed before Tahoe, with Winnemucca NV being one good possible chioce.

If you have at least 2 full days, you could take I-15 down past Salt Lake City, then take US-50 across Nevada. That route goes past Great Basin NP and is known as "the lonliest road."

But as Dave mentioned, there could be a lot of other options that could be better, depending on what your total trip looks like.

**Shell** · 06-13-2012, 11:25 AM

hi Everyone,
Thanks for your input.
When we leave Yellowstone we have 9 Days to get to Vegas & we would like to see: Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia NP & Death Valley on the way - if posibble with time limit.
After our week in Vegas we wish to do Zion, Bryce, Glen Canyon, Canyonlands Moab - etc on way back to Denver - we have 3 weeks for that part & we have seen the Grand Canyon on last years trip.
Thanks Shell