To bypass Yosemite during California road trip?

[PissyDressingGown]

I know some of you are knowledgable on USA so I'm hoping to put forward my idea and ask if I'm being unreasonable to Miss off something that everyone raves on about.

We're flying to San Francisco in August. That's the only bit we have booked, the rest is still to organise.

Original idea was 4 nights in SF, 3 nights in Yosemite and then down to LA.

However I'm thinking now of scrapping Yosemite and just doing a straight line down - so it would be 3 nights in SF, 2 nights in Monterey, 2 nights in Big Sur and then on to LA.

I'm worried I'll be missing out if I don't do Yosemite though?!

Yes, stay in the park - although you might struggle to get a tent now for the summer. We booked in January for a July visit & couldn't get a cabin, only tents. We tried to add another family member in April & it was fully booked. It will take you at least an hour to get in & out every day, even if you do it early. Also bear in mind it will be very hot in the summer.

I'm thinking of cutting down the LA part as it really is a shit hole isn't it and there is only a handful of things we want to do there

If doing LA, I would recommend the drive down to San Diego along the Pacific Coast Highway to Orange County (Newport Beach and Laguna beach).

Are you flying out of LA?

We flew in and out of San Fran so did SF, Monterey area, Las Vegas, Death Valley then Yosemite. Would not have missed Death Valley or Yosemite but was a bit meh about both before we went. Las Vegas was just a base to visit Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.

Check that the Pacific coast Highway is open at the areas you want to access. When we were there parts were closed due to last years landslides and you couldn't drive down to LA via Big sur.

Stay in Yosemite if you can. The drive in and out each day takes ages due to traffic. We stayed at Evergreen Lodge but I even found that a faff and that is relatively close to the park.

I drove from Las Vegas to San Fran via Yosemite. We stayed in Mammoth Lakes the night before driving through Yosemite and the most stunning views were all the wrong side of Yosemite that you probably wouldn't see if you were not driving right through! What I saw at the tourist stop offs on the other side of Yosemite was nice but nothing spectacular if I'm honest!
I'm still glad I went and would go again more for the road trip than anything! From San Fran we went down Big Sur and to LA but I find the road trip between Las Vegas and San Fran to be the one I daydream about constantly!

We stayed one night in Mammoth too. I forgot about that. Entered Yosemite via Tioga Pass which was due to close any day due to snow. That was in October.

Yosemite was the best part of my Cali trip.

I wouldn't spend too much time in L.A. it's not great.

We drove east out of San Fran (via a baseball game in Oakland.) and drove all the way to Groveland (west of the park). We stayed at the Hotel Charlotte which is in a proper little cowboy town in the middle of nowhere. Excellent restaurant. We then got up early, drove into the park and spent the day and then drove back out that night, and stayed back at the hotel. We then headed back towards route 1 to do the drive down the coast. We're not massive hikers or campers, so that worked for us. If you wanted to spend several days there, I would stay in the park if possible. It's so big and in the middle of nowhere, and travelling will eat into your time there.

LA is Blackpool on steroids, we went as I wanted to visit the Queen Mary. Stayed opposite Mann's Chinese Theatre, but I really didn't like it. Went to Universal, but LA itself is vile. San Francisco and San Diego are far, far nicer.

Yosemite is great, worth seeing. I think we stayed in white wolf camp the first time in one of their tent things. It was not like camping though (which I hate) much nicer.
Big Sur was incredible too. Stayed in a log cabin ( Ripple wood something) and we had deers wandering around our cabin, beautiful. Think it was near Julia Pfeiffer beach, very reasonable for Big Sur prices.
I hope you have a lovely time, I'm jealous now!

I don’t think you can travel through Big Sur at the moment anyway, due to the various land slips over the last year.

Another vote for missing out LA and heading for San Diego instead. A (small) city by the sea with a lovely relaxed Californian vibe. Pacific Beach, La Jolla. Better weather than LA, too.

I loved Yosemite. If your OH loves a good tree you should really try and visit Sequoia national park too (just south of yosemite). It has the largest trees by volume in the world - really amazing to see, would highly recommend it. We didn't see bears in Yosemite or sequoia (had to wait a few years for a trip to Big Bend national park in Texas to see that!) But we did see a mountain lion in the lowlands of sequoia which was pretty awesome.

We've been twice and I certainly wouldn't have missed out Yosemite and we did see bears on the last day in the middle of the road its amazing so beautiful. The second time we did miss out LA but did a whale watching tour in Monterey which was fantastic. The highlight the first visit was Yosemite, the highlight the second visit was an overnight camping/kayaking trip on lake powell.

We did San Francisco to L.A. and Yosemite was amazing I would love to go again.

I’d cut down the time in SF and LA to fit in more national park and beach time. How about whale watching in Monterey?

Don't skip Yosemite.

I notice you're skipping Napa and Sonoma too which are fabulous, especially if you're into wine.

Incidentally, if you're doing Big Sur, there is a gorgeous inn just outside Carmel called Post Ranch inn, definitely worth a look. Can be a bit pricey but is stunning.

I was in Yosemite 6 months ago, 3 nights camping. Several big hikes.
We hiked up to one of the main points (everyone takes the bus up instead, usually). First time as an adult.

The only bear I saw this trip was during a 2 hr trip at a state Redwood park, instead (Calaveras).

Yosemite was ok but I have seen plenty of places in Europe that I liked as much or maybe better, like High in Scotland, Polish Tatries, Austrian alps. No biggie to miss Yosemite. I rate Kings Canyon over Yosemite, too. If you want to see something different, I'd suggest Joshua Tree but NOT in summer.

Yosemite is the best bit (and Mammoth, Mono Lake , Bodie, Death Valley..) Be sure to go to Glacier Point.
Skip LA

Another one here who adored Yosemite. LA was not what I expected at all and I wouldn't rush back. I could easily spend a fortnight in Yosemite. And I'm not particularly outdoorsy. Enjoy your trip!

I've been to CA several times and never bothered with LA.

Always try to fit in Yosemite if possible. We once did SF, Yosemite, Death valley, Vegas & Grand Canyon, back to Rte 1 then SF.

Another trip was SF, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Vegas/death valley, SF.

both trips done in 2 weeks, just with a tent in the back of the car. One was in March (we skied in Yosemite), the other in mid-summer. We just went to really cheap motels or found somewhere we could pitch the tent.

Stay IN Yosemite if you can afford
DON'T do Monterey it was awful. Carmel is a million times nicer and do the scenic drive. But just stay ONE night.
Skip LA and do Santa Monica or Newport Beach.

Skip Yosemite? Are you insane????

We did SF to LA. Enjoyed Yosemite and pleased we did it. Spent a day and night there. L.A. ok, but we're not into all the Hollywood and studio stuff. SF fab.