New York to California Trip

[potterhead2]

10 years to make it happen and we're finally going on our first cross country trip. Starting in New York on April 24th, we plan to head out to Yosemite, taking I80 most of the way. Looking for suggestions of places to stay or things to see along the way. Our plan is to drive no more than 300 miles per day with plenty of days off along the way. We're budgeting 10-12 weeks for the whole round trip.

We heard that Yosemite gets crazy busy in summer so we're shooting for May 20th arrival and staying for 4 nights. We have a 37' 5th wheel, so too big to stay in the parks. We read that Yosemite Pines is a good place outside the park and they do have openings for those dates. Anyone have reviews or even an alternate place to stay? We don't know anything about the area.

After Yosemite we'd like to visit Sequoia and then go to Southern California and into Arizona to visit family. Then we'll head into Utah for Zion, and several other National Parks, then maybe head up north to Grand Teton.

We want to use a trip planner like The Dyrt or RV Trip Wizard or Roadtrippers. Any thoughts on these?

We don't want to make reservations along the way ahead of time so we can have flexibility in our travel (except for Yosemite and maybe Sequoia). Lots of people here say they just call the day before arriving or even the day of arriving someplace and they don't have a problem. It sure make me nervous!

All thoughts and suggestions are welcome!

 

[DonTom]

10 years to make it happen and we're finally going on our first cross country trip. Starting in New York on April 24th, we plan to head out to Yosemite, taking I80 most of the way. Looking for suggestions of places to stay or things to see along the way. Our plan is to drive no more than 300 miles per day with plenty of days off along the way. We're budgeting 10-12 weeks for the whole round trip.

We heard that Yosemite gets crazy busy in summer so we're shooting for May 20th arrival and staying for 4 nights. We have a 37' 5th wheel, so too big to stay in the parks. We read that Yosemite Pines is a good place outside the park and they do have openings for those dates. Anyone have reviews or even an alternate place to stay? We don't know anything about the area.

After Yosemite we'd like to visit Sequoia and then go to Southern California and into Arizona to visit family. Then we'll head into Utah for Zion, and several other National Parks, then maybe head up north to Grand Teton.

We want to use a trip planner like The Dyrt or RV Trip Wizard or Roadtrippers. Any thoughts on these?

We don't want to make reservations along the way ahead of time so we can have flexibility in our travel (except for Yosemite and maybe Sequoia). Lots of people here say they just call the day before arriving or even the day of arriving someplace and they don't have a problem. It sure make me nervous!

All thoughts and suggestions are welcome!

On thing nice about NV and CA on I-80 is that there are plenty of rest stops that allow overnight parking.

I avoid making reservations as much as possible, but there are many places that need long reservations in advance, such as in or even near Yosemite and I assume the same goes for Sequoia & King's Canyon. But it has been many years since I have been to either--but you can bet it gets even more crowded these days.

What part of AZ are you going to? I RV a lot in AZ, but I avoid the Phoenix area by as far as possible. AZ is probably my favorite state to RV in. Say north in late spring and summer, stay south in winter. Flagstaff is usually very nice that time of year and there are plenty of things to see there. Especially Walnut Canyon.

BTW, Hwy 120 from the east to Yosemite on Hwy 395 can still be closed even in late May. Sometimes not open until June or so.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Domo]

Make your reservations for the focus places NOW!
Test the rig in your driveway - then do a weekend in a nearby campground.
Don't overpack!
Make sure you tires are good.

Plan on short travel days (we do less than 200 miles or might do 300 but then spend an extra night where we stop).

Meet people and don't be afraid to ask you neighbors for help if you don't know how to start/stop/run/drain/fill something.

Oh, and smile - you're on the road and have a house - all the folks buzzing around you are jealous and if traffic get's to bad - turn in the other direction - it's a vacation!

 

[jackiemac]

We stayed at Bass Lake for Yosemite and at Lemon Cove for Sequoia and Kings Canyon.

We reserved a few days in advance but that was in 2017 for Yosemite and 2017 for other 2.

Note you need permit for Yosemite if you're not aware.

Anza Borrego is lovely if you're in Socal.

 

[NMDriver]

I would write or go on line to each states tourist bureau and see what free stuff-maps, attraction, parks, events ect.- they will send you. It is a lot of over hyped stuff but some gems are to be found in the info.

 

[DonTom]

Note you need permit for Yosemite if you're not aware.

Depends on when. See here.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Ex-Calif]

For the first trans continent I personally would do Philly, Indianapolis and Ok City. Picking up Route 66 in Missouri. We did Route 66 10 years ago and there was a ton of stuff to see and do.

We didn't get "fanatical" about covering the route but I got this great coffee table book at the first stop (Wagon Wheel Motel) and used it as a guide for things we wanted to see for sure.

I would say that getting off to see "Historic Route 66" in most towns resulted in a disappointing route through a usually ruin down area of town with a couple of souvenir shops. Better to pick the things you are interested in and aim for those.

After hitting Flagstaff, southern rim, the easier drive is Bakersfield, Fresno, Yosemite. Once you reach the northern end of the central valley, homestead somewhere and do day trips to San Francisco and even Carmel/Monterey. Hearst castle is another wonderful tourist spot.

From there you can even head back on I80/northern route to get some variety. Not to dis the northern states but there is a lot of flat "not so much" between Salt Lake and Chicago - LOL...

 

[jackiemac]

Depends on when. See here.

-Don- Auburn, CA

Yes. They're going in May and getting there by 5am means a very early start.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

We took I80 heading back from Yosemite to WNY two years ago and it's a much better route than I70 and you'll enjoy the ride. We stayed at Yos. Pines and it is a really nice campground with good utilities, restrooms, pool. Narrow twisty roads to get to it and the CG roads are tight but we managed our 36' motorhome and toad on a dolly with no problem. There were several 40' MHs there also.

I would make sure you have an RV GPS, Garmin, or whatever for the journey. When we were planning the trip I casually used RV Trip Wizard but didn't bother with it at all once we were on the road. Just this month I did take advantage of a Roadtrippers 50% off deal for a one-year membership and so far looking at that vs RVTW I'd say the Roadtrippers was more in-depth with POIs, campgrounds, and overnight stays along a given route. I have also been using the free version of Wanderlog a lot in planning places to visit during our forthcoming Feb. Southern state trip.

I'm guessing May may still bring cold temps and possibly snow in the higher mountain elevations. When we visited Yellowstone on June 11, before Yosemite temps were in the low to mid-40s and Yellowstone Lake just lost its ice field on June 6. We were at YPines on June 25 and by then the temps were in the 90s.

Check out REC.GOV for what parks are now using a times entry pass to get into the parks. Going into Yosemite they had several checkpoints set up to check the entry pass date and time it seemed more like crossing the border going into Canada than a National Park.

The only places we had advanced reservations were National Parks, Napa, and two state parks near St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch, and in Kentucky to visit the ARK and the Bourbon Trail, Buffalo Trace Distillery. No problems finding CGs otherwise, some incredible, some just so-so.

Enjoy the trip, and the highest fuel prices in California you'll pay along the whole route.

 

[Larry N.]

We took I80 heading back from Yosemite to WNY two years ago and it's a much better route than I70

Generally that's true until somewhere before Chicago, but this time of year (Jan-May) you have to be careful to check weather, since either route can have road closures because of blizzards, blowing snow, etc. as you pass through the Rockies and some other areas.

 

[zulu]

We heard that Yosemite gets crazy busy in summer so we're shooting for May 20th arrival and staying for 4 nights. We have a 37' 5th wheel, so too big to stay in the parks. We read that Yosemite Pines is a good place outside the park and they do have openings for those dates. Anyone have reviews or even an alternate place to stay? We don't know anything about the area.

Late May means that the Eastern Yosemite entrance will probably be unavailable as Tioga Pass will be closed by snow.

So that leaves the Western Yosemite entrances: Hwy 120, Hwy 140, and Hwy 41.

If I were you, I'd take the bus (YARTS) into the park mainly because we live down Hwy 140 in Mariposa. However, since YARTS runs busses on all three highways, I'd look for a campground with a YARTS bus stop nearby. Note that though Yosemite Pines campground is on the Hwy 120 YARTS route, the busses don't start running on Hwy 120 until June.

We've been to Yosemite several times and I would strongly suggest against driving your truck into the park. Parking may be next to impossible and at the very least a hassle. I'd suggest taking a bus into Yosemite and/or signing up for a tour bus of the park.

Possible campgrounds:

Indian Flat Campground (Hwy 140) – in El Portal. YARTS bus stop a few hundred yards away. We stayed here in 2019.

Mariposa Fairgrounds (Hwy 140) – in Mariposa. This is a first-come-first-served campground with NO sewer hookups. YARTS bus stops in town.

High Sierra RV Resort (Hwy 41) – in Oakhurst.

We want to use a trip planner like The Dyrt or RV Trip Wizard or Roadtrippers. Any thoughts on these?

I use RV Trip Wizard along with a Garmin RV GPS.

We don't want to make reservations along the way ahead of time so we can have flexibility in our travel (except for Yosemite and maybe Sequoia). Lots of people here say they just call the day before arriving or even the day of arriving someplace and they don't have a problem. It sure make me nervous!

That should make you nervous.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

Good tips from Zulu. Even in good weather, I don't think their 37' 5'er and tow vehicle would be allowed over the Tioga Pass. When we stayed at Yos Pines there were open campsites. I think some campgrounds have a high turnover during the tourist season, every few days it seems the campground population has changed, which is the reason you can find campsites on the fly. Sure, a place may not have all the amenities desired and compromise is the key, but I have found them out there. But, I don't mean to include holiday weekends, or maybe some weekends in July and early August. If anything else maybe you'll have to do the Walmart or similar thing for a night to get into someplace, but that's not the worst thing that can happen.