Family Travel: Visiting 3 US National Parks in 3 Days

Having loved our trip to Zion National Park last year and Volcanoes National Park this year, my family and I had been wanting to hit up a few more national parks before my daughter’s free Every Kid Outdoors pass expired.

Looking for something a bit different, we decided on visiting Sequoia National Park to see the giant sequoias. Then, since Yosemite and Kings Valley National Parks were also nearby, we decided to visit them as well. From there, we headed to San Diego for several days, a trip I’ll cover in another post in the near future.

Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks

Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks are in relatively close proximity to one another, so they can be easily visited in a single trip.

Sequoia National Park is famous for its namesake, the giant sequoias, Earth’s largest trees. These trees only grow in a narrow band of land between 1,500 to 2,100 metres in elevation and are found most densely along the western slopes of California’s rugged Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Sequoias can reach a height of over 96 metres (over 300 feet) and a width of over 9 feet. The largest sequoia found in Sequoia National Park weighs a massive 1.2 million pounds, equivalent to the weight of 107 elephants! Seeing these massive beauties in real life truly instils a sense of awe.

Kings Canyon National Park is right next door to Sequoia National Park and features terrain that is similar to Yosemite. It also has the largest grove of sequoias. You don’t need to spend a lot of time here if visiting Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks, but it does have some shorter kid-friendly hikes if that’s something you’re after.

Yosemite National Park is a 2.5-hour drive from Sequoia National Park and features some of the most stunning and diverse natural landscapes, from granite domes and cliffs to waterfalls, valleys, streams, and even some small groves of giant sequoia.

Yosemite is a very large park, and if you want to do it justice, it requires at least a few days. However, if you’re just wanting to get a taste of it and hike a few smaller trails with the kids, it can totally be done in a day or two.

Getting to Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks

The closest airport to the parks is Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT), located 1.5 hours from both Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks. It is a small airport that is served by a limited number of American airlines.

Unfortunately, there are no direct flights from Canada to this airport, but you can connect through a number of cities like Chicago, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, and others.

If you’re hoping to redeem points for your flights, you can book a flight with British Airways Avios, American Airlines AAdvantage, Air Canada Aeroplan, and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.

Here is the breakdown of our flights and how I booked them:

• Toronto to Los Angeles on Air Canada for 14,000 Aeroplan points and $107.20 (CAD) in taxes and fees per passenger
• Fresno to San Diego on Alaska Airlines for $93 (USD) × three passengers, booked using travel credits from my Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
• Fresno to San Diego on Alaska Airlines for 8,250 Avios and $7.60 (CAD) in taxes and fees × two passengers
• San Diego to Toronto on Air Canada for 12,400 Aeroplan points and $76.30 (CAD) in taxes and fees per passenger

My original plan was to fly from Los Angeles to Fresno. Then at Fresno, we’d rent a car and drive to the parks. The only downside to this was that the departure time for our connecting flight to Fresno wasn’t optimal, resulting in a long layover that would end up costing us a large part of the day.

Given this, rather than fly from Los Angeles to Fresno, I opted to drive it and booked a one-way car rental. Often there is a hefty surcharge for a one-way rental, but in this particular case, the difference was less than 10% of the total cost, and it came to $356 (CAD) for our four-day rental with Thrifty Car Rental, which I offset using my TD Rewards Points from my TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card at 0.4 cents (CAD) per point.

Booking through Expedia® For TD would have given a better value for my TD Rewards Points, but the rental rates were higher, so I opted for the lower value redemption on the lower price.

The cost of the flights to Fresno would have cost more than our four-day car rental did, at $109 (CAD) per person for the five of us. For the savings, I’ll take the four-hour drive from Los Angeles to Fresno over the flights any day.

Tips for Visiting the National Parks

The busiest time at the National Parks is during the summer. If you can visit during the shoulder season or off-season, the crowds will be better and parking will be much easier to find.

As a general note, we found that during our visits, Yosemite National Park was significantly busier than Sequoia National Park and Kings Valley National Park.

Weather-wise, we found it very pleasant in Sequoia and Kings Valley, with temperatures in the low-to-mid 20s (Celsius). In Yosemite, the temperature in the valley was significantly warmer (landing in the 30s) than in the highlands, where it was more like in Sequoia.

Although entrance reservations aren’t needed for Sequoia or Kings Valley at any time, they are needed for Yosemite during peak season. Check out the official website to find out when reservations are needed.

Park passes are good for 72 hours, so if you have more time to spare for visiting the parks than we did, I recommend you take advantage of it.

Before visiting any of the parks, be sure to gas up and bring enough drinks and snacks for the hikes. Once in the park, there are several food and drink stations, but ordering cooked food in the parks can take a long time depending on the crowds. Also, gas is hard to come by in the parks and more expensive as well.

Internet connection is also spotty, so download park information and maps beforehand on the NPS (US National Park Service) app.

When visiting the parks with kids, stop by the welcome centre early on to pick up a Junior Ranger activity book. Your kids can complete several activities in the book, return it to a park ranger, take an oath to protect the parks, and earn a Junior Ranger badge! These badges make great souvenirs, and my daughters love collecting them.

Visiting Sequoia National Park and Kings Valley National Park

The first day we arrived, we picked up our rental car and drove 4.5 hours to Three Rivers, a small town just outside of Sequoia National Park. We were planning for an early morning start the next day, so we opted to stay here since it was close to the park.

Accommodations

We rented an Airbnb since we were travelling as a group of eight, and this was the most cost effective option closest to the park at $700 (CAD) for the night, including taxes. If you prefer this style of accommodation over hotels, there are quite a few options ranging on average from $400–500 (CAD) per night that can accommodate four to six guests.

When booking, don’t forget to go through British Airways’s Airbnb portal to earn Avios and offset the cost with your Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card’s Scene+ points.

If you don’t need the kitchenette and the washing machine, then I would recommend staying in the park at Wuksachi Lodge or John Muir Lodge, which can both be booked for a similar price.

With regards to food options, there are a few casual restaurants in Three Rivers, including River View Grill and Bar serving American food, Casa Mendoza serving Mexican eats, and Tony’s Taverna food truck serving Greek food.

There is also a grocery market and a couple of gas stations, making the town a great place to stop for a meal, drinks, and snacks, or to gas up before heading into the park.

If you find these accommodation options too expensive, or you would rather redeem points for a stay, then you can find several hotel chains including Marriott and Hilton in the city of Visalia, located 45 minutes away from Sequoia National Park.

What to See in a Day with Kids

The first thing you’ll see when entering Sequoia National Park is Tunnel Rock, which is exactly as it sounds – a small tunnel through a rock. Traffic is now diverted around it so you can no longer drive through it as you could in the past, but many people still stop here for a photo.

From Tunnel Rock, I would suggest you head to these attractions in the following order:

• Tunnel Log for a photo opportunity before the crowd hits
• Moro Rock Trail (1 km hike with a lot of stairs) to enjoy a great 360-degree view of the valley below
• Giant Forest Museum for information about the giant sequoias and the surrounding area
• General Sherman Tree (the largest tree on Earth at a height of 83.8 metres!)
• Congress Trail (4.3 km easy hike)

From Sequoia National Park, you can continue down Generals Highway to King’s Valley National Park. We found the scenery here similar to Sequoia, so we decided we didn’t need to spend too much time at this park.

While there, check out a couple of lookouts and, if there’s time for a trail, check out the Big Stump Trail (3.2 km) and the General Grant Tree Trail (0.5 km) before calling it a day.

Visiting Yosemite National Park

Accommodations

From Kings Valley National Park, we headed to Oakhurst to stay the night at the Hampton Inn Oakhurst, since the town is only 25–30 minutes from Yosemite National Park’s South Entrance. Our stay was at the end of June and the hotel was fully booked, so if you’re visiting during peak season, book early.

This hotel can be booked for 31,000–60,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

For our stay, we opted to pay $208 (USD) including taxes and fees for the night rather than 54,000 Hilton Honors points. Given our current valuation of Hilton Honors points at 0.5 cents per point (USD), paying cash made more sense for us.

The hotel provided a comfortable stay for the night, and offered complimentary parking and breakfast. The swimming pool was great for the kids, and there were also laundry facilities available on site.

Right next door to the Hampton Inn is a Fairfield Inn & Suites Oakhurst Yosemite, if you prefer a Marriott property.

If you don’t want to drive, the YARTS (Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System) has a bus stop directly in front of the hotel which will take you right into Yosemite. However, keep in mind that the travel time is significantly longer than if you drive yourself because of the number of stops the bus makes along the way.

For our second night in the area, we decided to stay close to Yosemite’s Arch Rock Entrance and experience glamping in an Airstream trailer at AutoCamp Yosemite.

It was a very enjoyable experience that kept us close to nature while allowing us to enjoy the comforts of a hotel with air conditioning and a large pool to cool off from the heat.

If you need gas, groceries, or dining options while staying at AutoCamp Yosemite, they’re all within a 10-minute drive. There is also a YARTS bus stop in front should you want that option.

For more details on our stay, check out my full review of our experience here. AutoCamp has a new partnership with Hilton, so this experience can now be booked on Hilton Honors points!

If you want to splurge and stay in the park, consider staying at The Ahwahnee, a rustic luxury lodge within the park boundaries that offers all the amenities of a high-end resort. For this experience, be prepared to pay upwards of $1,000 (CAD) per night.

What to See in Two Days with Kids

If your kids are older or if you have more time, you can fit in a lot more trails and sights than we did. Since we just wanted to sample Yosemite with the kids and take it leisurely, you’ll find our itinerary to be quite simple, and in fact, it won’t even take up one full day.

For the first day of a two-day visit, you can explore the south part of Yosemite National Park, up in the higher elevations, visiting these attractions in the following order from the South Entrance:

• Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, which is just inside the South Entrance of the park. My kids never grew tired of seeing these magnificent giants.
• Glacier Point Trail (0.8 km easy hike) for an amazing overlook of Yosemite Valley, with views of El Capitan, Half Dome, and several waterfalls.
• Sentinel Dome Trail (3 km moderate hike) is great for sunset views.

Since we were coming from AutoCamp Yosemite in Midpines on the second day, we entered through the Arch Rock Entrance to explore Yosemite Valley. From here, we visited the following:

• Tunnel View outlook to see most of the famous rock formations of Yosemite
• Bridalveil Fall Trail (1.3 km easy hike)
• Yosemite Valley Welcome Center to pick up the Junior Ranger activity book
• Cook’s Meadow Loop (1.6 km easy hike)
• Lower Yosemite Fall Trail (1.6 km easy hike). This trail is partially shaded and has some giant boulders that our kids enjoyed climbing on.
• Mirror Lake Loop (3.2 km to the lake and back)

Conclusion

We had an incredible three days exploring Sequoia, Kings Valley, and Yosemite National Parks.

Despite the brevity of our visit, it was just the right amount of time for our family to capture the essence of the natural wonders here, from towering giant sequoias that left us in awe to the breathtaking views of the granite formations and valley of Yosemite.

Plus, we were able to save money by leveraging our credit cards and points.