Yosemite and Sequia

[poloace]

We are planning our summer trip. We want to go to both Sequia and Yosemite park. Any recommendations on places to camp near there?
Last year the recommendations up to Glacier really helped.
We are in Arizona, and thought leaving either late May or early June. Thought maybe go up through Lake Tahoe, or something like that.
Any recommendations or tips? We have plenty of time.

[Bill and Jan]

If you belong to the Escapees, stay at Park Sierra. It's right in the middle. Can't beat the price or the park.

[Bill and Jan]

Oops. Park Sierra is in Coarsegold.

[twindman]

Take snowshoes! May and June is very early for mountains.
We went in June, I think to Sequoia and Crater Lake. Pretty heavy snow coming down and Crater lake had around 6 feet of snow at the lodge.

[rohrmann]

Yosemite is north of Fresno, CA. Sequoia is east of Fresno, CA. Not sure why Crater Lake was mentioned, it is in Oregon. From Fresno, you are looking at maybe 1 1/2 to 2 hours just to get to the south gate of Yosemite, at least another hour to get to the valley. For Sequoia Park, it is at least 2 hours east of Fresno. To see either one, one day is no where enough time, so locating close to the parks will give you more time in each. I would start researching RV parks close to or in both of them. Hopefully the drought will ease up a bit before you go, the Sierras are still bone dry, even though they did get some snow.

[twindman]

Just threw in Crater Lake because it is similar terrain in mountains and thought maybe you were continuing farther north.
We stayed at Yosemite-Mariposa KOA one time. It was nice with a 30-60 minute drive into park.

[JandC]

We were through Yosemite the end of last May. Weather was great, didn't see any evidence of snow. Park was crowded. It really takes two days to experience everything there. We stayed about 2 hours away, which was a huge mistake.

[Art-n-Marge]

First, from AZ, Sequoia is first, then Yosemite, then Lake Tahoe is way north.

I belong to 1000 Trails and stay at "Yosemite Lakes" which is only 5 miles from the park entrance off hwy 120 and about 25 miles from the valley floor which is pretty much where all the familiar scenery is located. I believe that 1000 Trails RV Park allows non-member reservations but they probably fill up fast. Unfortunately it's a long drive to Sequoia. I've only tent camped around Sequoia so I can't help there other than to note the many attractions there require driving to each one.

I would highly recommend trying to locate a place close to Sequoia for a few days, then move to someplace closer to Yosemite for another few days for that area. Trying to traverse to either place from a central location would be wasted in a lot of slow curvy, fuel-sucking, time-wasting driving and leave little time to visit a particular attraction.

Reserve early! These places fill up FAST no matter what the quality! You'd be surprised what you might end up with and with a large trailer you'll find lots of places that CANNOT accommodate you (and they'll say they can). I'll warn you that they are mostly interested with filling their campgrounds and since many campground employees (especially those that take reservations) aren't familiar with RV parking and driving, they'll think you know what to do in all cases and I can't tell you how many were surprised when they got there.

Note! I'll re-emphasize that maps might make things look close and easy, but these two locations are hours and miles apart from each other in the real world. Then add the potential crowds and traffic and you should get the idea. Getting past that, the scenery, the wonderment and those memories will last a lifetime. Then there's the long drive to Lake Tahoe.

[offroad71]

Stayed at Gold Course KOA last year before going into Yosemite last year. The camp ground was very tight even with a pull thru site. Had to back out of the site, no way was I able to go out the front way.

[mtheo]

If you make reservation early you can stay in Yosemite.