Another sorta last minute idea. We have to be in LA for a wedding later in August and H wants to try and squeeze in a couple of national parks. Thinking of one day at the Channel Islands National Park and then maybe 3-4 days in Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park. Anyone have any advice for these parks?
Most likely, we will drive up from LA and then continue onto the Bay area to visit friends before coming back home.
I love Sequoia! I prefer it over Yosemite because it’s a little less congested, at times, and the trees are amazing!
I think if you’re planning on doing the national parks, along with a wedding, along with the number of hours it takes to get in and out to the parks, it will be physically taxing and draining.
If you’re accustomed to driving in California, then you have to know that it’s really congested on the 5 and the 99. Just getting around LA, and getting out to the 5 and the 99 will take time.
You need to prep for those long, winding, hilly roads, behind tour buses, and RVs, going up into the parks, which means a small cooler, lots of water, lots of snacks, patience and a full tank of gas.
The company store has a good variety of supplies for food, and for campers, but it gets really busy. It’ll be hot in August.
I also love Sequoia, especially if we spend a few nights there so we can drink in the beauty & majesty. Driving and driving gets tiring so it’s nice to take a break and really enjoy the trees. When we were there in 2010, snack bar in park was decent and we ate meals there.
I would be a little less discouraging about driving from LA! We have done the drive from LA north many times, generally to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe and then onto the Bay Area. You have to time it right, but only about 4 hour drive.
We stayed in the Grant Grove cabins a number of years ago and they were great for our family. I recall some nice hikes and of course the big trees.
We are very used to driving. And this won’t be a quick drive by trip, we plan on staying inside the national parks for a couple of days, maybe three. Current plan is to drive up to Sequoia, stay there one night and then move to the Grant Grove area for another couple of nights. Thinking that this should give us enough time to explore all the popular spots plus get some short hikes in. August will be hot, but hopefully not too bad since this is at the end of August!
We were there in 2010 in May/June—it was great and we felt we had the whole place to ourselves! We stayed in the park.
One thing we hadn’t thought about—they did road work while we were there—road washes out so it was down to one road in places and you had to wait until your side of the road could go, so traffic in the park was much slower than you might expect. Due to nature of area, I’d expect they always do roadwork every year.
We were there one year in October and stayed in a lodge in the park. It was the only place with an open restaurant and the food choices weren’t great after a few days. We saw so many bear that I was freaking out. I remember on several trails signs to leave your day pack if it had any food inside in the bear box. I have a irrational fear of bear.
We are staying at the lodge in the park for two nights. H would love to see bears, but I’d rather stay far away!! Don’t mind seeing them as long as we are not close to them!
There are no irrational fears of bears… all fears of bears are rational!