National Parks, Utah and California

Skip Zion or cut it short. Go to Bryce.

So, we have learned a lot on here, #1 being book as early as possible! #2 good routes to take. #3 where to stay. So that being said. Most of our California, and Utah plans will wait for another time. We did get reservations at Silver Strand State Beach for the time we are in San Diego. So now just to finish making reservations for going to and from home. THANK you for all the great advice.

There is a nice KOA in Mariposa you can stay at to visit Yosemite. It is about an hour drive to the park from there. We left the campsite at 6 am and drove in to get a parking spot in the village. Kids woke up at 7:30 parked in the valley, it was pretty cool!

We have also gone in thru the Wawona Entrance but not sure about camping with hook ups there. It was all dry camping.

Have fun in San Diego in June!

2gypsies wrote:
If you will be in San Diego a week you'll only have 2 more weeks for this trip.

You'd probably take I-40 from Kansas so Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon would be on your route. Not too far from Petrified would be Canyon de Chelly Nat'l Monument. At Flagstaff is Sunset Crater Nat'l Mon and from there you could come into Grand Canyon from the east via AZ 89. Trailer Village inside the park has hookups. You could exit Grand Canyon to the south toward Williams.

From Flagstaff head south on AZ 95 to I-8 and west to San Diego.

From San Diego I'd suggest getting to I-15 and possibly pick up Zion Nat'l Park exiting to Hwy 9 then to I-70 east to return home. You'll get some nice views of the Colorado Mountains.

I wouldn't recommend heading to Oregon in this short time.

So our plans have changed and we will just be driving to and from San Diego, We are going to attempt a longer trip to California, later. So We are looking at your suggestions. My husband want to avoid the mountains on this trip, So we are looking at the best route options now, and places to stay in Zion or possibly Yosemite. THANKS

Jakessweetthing wrote:

4runnerguy wrote:

Jakessweetthing wrote:
So I checked and reservations can be made up to 6 months in advance, so I may have a little more time. fingers crossed. North of San Diego are some state beaches, some with hookups, my first two preferences would be San Elijo SB and South Carlsbad AB. the other one would be San Onefre SB.

Looks like San Elijo and South Carlsbad are already sold out for your time frame in June. San Onefre has openings, but I wouldn't wait too long. Don't know anything about any of these however. Maybe others will chime in.

YES, I saw that, thank you so much. (I am not liking the California reservation site. )

Yep it sucks. Reserve America was better than the new state run reservations system.

San Elijo SB is pretty much booked months in advance year-round because it's one of the few state parks with hookups and it's a state beach.
Snowbirds book it off-season and everyone else books up the remaining times, since you can camp year-round there.

It's harder to get a campsite there, than one at Yosemite.

By the way, welcome to the Nightmare that is summer camping in California. :M

4runnerguy wrote:

Jakessweetthing wrote:
So I checked and reservations can be made up to 6 months in advance, so I may have a little more time. fingers crossed. North of San Diego are some state beaches, some with hookups, my first two preferences would be San Elijo SB and South Carlsbad AB. the other one would be San Onefre SB.

Looks like San Elijo and South Carlsbad are already sold out for your time frame in June. San Onefre has openings, but I wouldn't wait too long. Don't know anything about any of these however. Maybe others will chime in.

YES, I saw that, thank you so much. (I am not liking the California reservation site. )

Jakessweetthing wrote:
So I checked and reservations can be made up to 6 months in advance, so I may have a little more time. fingers crossed. North of San Diego are some state beaches, some with hookups, my first two preferences would be San Elijo SB and South Carlsbad AB. the other one would be San Onefre SB.

Looks like San Elijo and South Carlsbad are already sold out for your time frame in June. San Onefre has openings, but I wouldn't wait too long. Don't know anything about any of these however. Maybe others will chime in.

OK, I need a little more help, I may start anew blog to get additional info;
So I checked and reservations can be made up to 6 months in advance, so I may have a little more time. fingers crossed. North of San Diego are some state beaches, some with hookups, my first two preferences would be San Elijo SB and South Carlsbad AB. the other one would be San Onefre SB. We would be there the middle of June after the 16th. Any other suggestions would be great. We will be killing time and relaxing while our granddaughter is at Sea Camp in San Diego. So we want to stay within easy driving distance. THANKS

We have already been to the Grand Canyon, So Arizona is not part of our plans. Thank you for all the great advice. I will look and see what if anything is still available in California. The ONE week in San Diego did not include our three week plan to see the parks. I guess my original post should have been more clear. Sorry. I think we will concentrate on Zion and The Redwoods in California. Thank you.

Jakessweetthing wrote:
Also we have not mapped out a route yet. And we have already beend to Yellowstone twice, and Glacier. So we want to hit the parks we,can on ths,way out. And up rhe coast of California. The Red Woods have been on my bucket list.

For June, if you haven't made reservations already, for the coast of California, it's too late.
except north of San Francisco.
San Diego spots are already booked for June.

this is from a former California resident, with 30+ years of California camping experience.