Hello! I hope and very much appreciate if you could help me.
My parents and I are planing a trip to CA. We are going from LA to SF visiting the Parks and then back down to LA threw the Pacific Coast Highway.
A lady advised us to go to Lake Tahoe. I looked up for some pictures and it looks simply stunning! So that is definitely in our plans.
We are on a tight schedule and only have 5 days to do Yosemite or S/KC and Lake Tahoe. My parents want to go to both Y and S/KC but, I'm a little concerned about the timing. Is it worth driving into S/KC or is it better to just keep going up to Yosemite? ... since is a long drive north to Lake Tahoe.
Another main reason why I'm uncertain is the season. NPS website says many paths both in Yosemite and S/ KC are closed in winter. Which one is more enjoyable this time of the year?
If any writing mistake, I ask you to forgive me it has been while since I don't write in English.
Thank you very much in advance!!
Have a nice evening.
February trip, Yosemite or Sequoia/ Kings Canyon??
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So you have 5 days after visiting SF and before needing to be in LA? This visit is during the winter? Are you instead going LA to Yosemite & Tahoe & then SF?
If you have 5 days you could drive from SF to Tahoe via 80 or 50 depending on which end of the lake you will stay.
Then you can drive to Yosemite via the west side of the Sierra, perhaps take 49 for a fairly trouble free drive.
Then stay in Yosemite for a few days before you do what> drive to LA or down thw coast> Unclear on that part.
First of all, your English is better than that of most people who post on the internet -- you understand the concepts of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, sentences, paragraphs, and coherent thoughts.
Secondly, five days will be a rushed time from SF to LA if you visit just two of three places you mention (Yose, SKC, Tahoe). To try all three may result in more driving than visiting.
So which to eliminate? My choice would be Sequoia NP, unless you just HAVE to see a giant sequoia redwood. Do NOT eliminate Yosemite under ANY circumstances short of not being able to drive there.
Which leads to point three: pay VERY close attention to weather and road restrictions. February weather in the Sierra can get VERY bad, VERY quickly, and with VERY little warning. If, while living in Costa Rica, you've never driven in a lot of snow, the Sierra are NOT a place to learn how!!
Also note that Caltrans can institute chain controls
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/chcontrl.htm
without a lot of warning. Be aware that "required" means "required" and that "No exceptions" means "No exceptions." Check with your car rental agency on what to do if specific chain controls occur.
Skip King's Çanyon/Sequoia National Park. For giant sequoias, go to the Wawona Grove in Yosemite. One day to drive to Yosemite, two days in Yosemite (visiting the valley and going to Wawona Grove if snow conditions allow), and one day to go to SF. Enjoy the extra day in SF.
Having Snow Chains will probably be mandatory at that time.
<<<Having Snow Chains will probably be mandatory at that time.>>>
And they may not be permitted on the rental car.
Skip Tahoe.. too far. You try to do all 3 I think you won't enjoy anything because all you'll be doing is driving. California is huge.
Yosemite is wonderful and beautiful but you MUST check weather conditions. Your rental car may not permit chains and if you've never driven with chains it can be an alarming experience. So far this year there's not been a ton of snow and the roads are kept pretty clear but this can change at any minute. You also need to be aware of icy road conditions.
You are going to be doing a lot of driving in a very short amount of time. I drive regularly to Los Angeles from Fresno and its a good 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Yosemite is about 2 hours north of Fresno so you are looking at driving all day. You may want to overnight near Yosemite, spend the next day in Yosemite and then head to San Francisco(another 2 to 2 1/2 hour drive depending on conditions)
You could, if you take I-5 north out of LA go up highway 99 and visit Kings Canyon(since you are going past it anyway on your way to Yosemite), then head up to Yosemite, spend the night, visit Yosemite then go to San Francisco from there. I'd suggest a really early moring start.
You could, if you take I-5 north out of LA go up highway 99 and visit Kings Canyon(since you are going past it anyway on your way to Yosemite), then head up to Yosemite, spend the night,
That represent almost 9 hours of driving according to Google maps.
"You could, if you take I-5 north out of LA go up highway 99 and visit Kings Canyon(since you are going past it anyway on your way to Yosemite)"
No you aren't 'going right past it'. . . Unless going 'right past' means a 1.5 hour detour in and another 1.5 hour detour back out.
Thank you for all of your responses!
!
We decided skip S as well as KC seems like a too long detour, that we can't afford. Also really happy Yosemite has Sequoia trees as well
Before we head up down to the coast we have already saved one whole day for SF, without counting the night coming in and the morning coming out for realistic purposes, so we rather try to go all the way up north, maybe 3 days of trip and 2 days staying. One day from LA to Yosemite, one day in Yosemite, another day from Yosemite to Lake Tahoe, one day in Lake Tahoe and next day driving from Lake Tahoe to SF.
Regarding the car, we do are worried. We have made reservations with two car rentals in case we have problems getting ourselves a 4x4 since car rental assure size not desire wheel drive. About chains haven't figure out how to get them any suggestions would be greatly received.
Have a nice day!
On other note thank you for your input PaulRabe and Michael it was really helpful! As well as Whoknew.
The OP also has to think about highway closures. I drove to LAX this past Friday afternoon to pick up a friend and the I-5 closed just as I got to the bottom of the Grapevine on the north side. I'd been checking CALTRANS conditions on my phone and it had been reporting all lanes open...I ended up backtracking about 20 miles to highway 58 East and down through highway 14..an additional 2 hours extra (northbound lanes were still being diverted when I reconnected to I-5). My boss was headed NB from the San Diego area and he was one of the last few cars through and followed behind a snowplow at 25 mph for a large portion of the way on I-5 through the pass. So the OP has to be aware that weather conditions can change rapidly during that time of year on Interstate 5 that may affect their length of travel time.