San Francisco to Anaheim

Good Afternoon RTA! I am traveling to San Francisco for business (working 1.5 days) and decided to extend the trip and bring my husband and 6 year old son. We are arriving in SFO Monday at 11:00am until early Thursday AM total of 3 full days. We would like to see:
Fisherman's Wharf
Muir Forest
Exploratorium
California Academy of Sciences
Baseball Game

We are then flying to Anaheim Thursday AM and flying out of LAX on Sunday AM. While in Anaheim we will do Disney for 1 perhaps 2 days. Here's my question:

We really want to see the trees. Do we do Muir Forest from San Francisco(tour) and do something else around Anaheim/LA, or do we drive Friday afternoon to Sequoia National Park, visit the park Friday and stay in a hotel in Sequoia Friday night, drive back to LA on Saturday late afternoon leisurely to fly out of LAX the next morning (Sunday)?

What else is great for parents to see that a 6 year old would love within driving distance from Anaheim?

Rebecca

Welcome to the RTA forum!

The first thing you should probably understand is that the Coastal Redwoods are a completely different tree than the Giant Sequoias you'll find at Sequoia NP. This old thread has a good breakdown of the differences, and some options for seeing them.

Now having said that, considering your timeline, I think Muir woods really would be your best bet, as you don't really have time for Sequoia on this timeline. Flying to LA and then trying to Disney the same day (so you could go to Sequoia on Friday) sounds beyond exhausting - especially noting that getting from LAX to Disney is likely going to take you at least an hour, and probably more since you're flying early in the morning and would likely be getting on the road still in the peak of rush hours.

If you were going to do Sequoia, I'd probably skip the flight from SF to LA and just drive there, stopping at Sequoia along the way. Sequoia is actually a bit closer to SF than LA, especially if you're talking about being in Anaheim/Disney, so at the very least you'd be saving the time needed flying between the two cities.

Michael,

We are flying from SFO into SNA on Thursday AM acutally but were just talking about cancelling that leg, leaving Wednesday night and spend 2 days driving through Yosemite/Sequoia on the way to Anaheim and only doing Disney on Saturday. Is two days enough to drive through Yosemite and/or Sequoia? Which is better for a 6 year old?

Rebecca

Trying to do both Yosemite and Sequoia and drive from SF to LA in 2 days is too much - it just wouldn't leave any time to actually see anything in either park. With 2 days, you could certainly do one or the other, but I wouldn't try to do both.

As far as which one is better, that's also really a matter of personal preference - they're both great. Yosemite has a bit more diversity in terms of different things to see and do (including some groves of Sequoias) but it is also generally going to be more busy and crowded.


Flying into John Wayne will save you some driving vs. flying into LAX and getting to Disney, but still, Getting up early for a flight, dealing with the hassle of the airport, and then trying to do Disney the same day still is way more than I'd want to do, especially with a 6 year old.