4 days at DLR - enough for a relaxed trip (Or stay 5 days and skip Yosemite?)

[bcla]

Certainly go see Giant Forest, but Redwood Mountain Grove is absolutely stunning. It's the largest sequoia grove anywhere and contains the tallest known giant sequoia tree. The crowds are lower and off trail is OK unlike much of Giant Forest. You could walk right up to a tree and touch it. I'd recommend the Redwood Saddle loop which is about 7 mostly gentle miles.

 

[rmom]

It was beautiful & my pictures are awesome.But,it was extremely crowded ... I mean unreal crowded!

Op, I think you are making the right decission. Yosemite is my childhood second home (2 weeks camping every summer atleast) and we love it. We go as often as we can BUT NEVER, NEVER in summer. Good luck findng a parking place and getting something to eat. It has gotten too crowded and most people go to the same area. They bring bus loads of people (tours) into the valley and there they stay. Go when you have time to spend there and when there are fewer people. It is amazing and there are a lot of areas to see.

For your future trip - while we love staying in Yosemite, there is a motel (yosemite view lodge) just outside the park that we really enjoyed. It is a short, easy drive into the valley if you can't get a reservation. It is on the river and has indoor and outdoor pools, plus a pizza place and restaurant on the premises.

 

[holcomb-mania]

We're going to Yosemite the last week of June and staying at the Ahwahnee for 3 nights (after 2 nights in SF, 2 days traveling PCH, and 4 nights in DLR).

If we catch a bus to Tuolomne early in the morning, can we beat the bus crowds?

 

[hsmamato2]

You have an ambitious trip...Yosemite is well worth seeing but in my opinion not the way you are doing it.

Jack

Yosemite is awesome, but in your plan it sounds like it's not worth it....I'd skip Kings canyon and do Yosemite if it were me.....actually it was me a couple of years ago,we had to decide what we could fit into 2 weeks, and it wasn't everything!