Northern California

Dates: May 18-22

4 nights 5 days

States: California
Parks: Yosemite and Sequoia, and the northern coast of California
Adventures: boat ride to Alcatraz & cave tour
Accommodations: hotel

Fly into and out of the San Francisco airport (SFO)

Cost:

Shared room with 3 queens $1600

Double occupancy $1900

Private room $2300

Trip Overview

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California is a huge state with terrain that is vast and incredibly varied! On this trip, you will view the towering cliffs of Yosemite and its waterfalls overflowing with snowmelt, green meadows, giant magnificent sequoia trees, craggy coasts and more! You will visit Yosemite National Park, King's Canyon/Sequoia National Park and a number of coastal state parks along the Pacific Ocean. In addition to hiking and sightseeing, you will take a boat ride Alcatraz Island where you will take a tour of the famous prison, and visit a cave.

Trip Details

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Arrive in the San Francisco airport by noon, and then take advantage of the afternoon with a boat ride to Alcatraz Island and a tour of the famous prison. Then embark on a long bus ride across California as we head to Oakhurst, our gateway to Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks.

On our first day in Yosemite National Park, we will explore Yosemite Valley, the most iconic region of the park. Known for gorgeous meadows, towering waterfalls and sheer rock faces, you will be able to witness some of the most popular sites in the park such as Half Dome and El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls and Yosemite Falls. We will hike the Mist Trail, and many other shorter trails as well.

Then on to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, where we will head straight for General Grant, one of the world's largest living trees, as well as many other famous trees and landmarks. Hike through groves of giant Sequoias, to Moro Rock, and other sites that will be determined by the degree of snow melt! Then in a completely different change of pace, we will take a private tour of Boyden Cave and explore this marble cavern featuring stalagtites, stalagmites, flowstone and more.

Back to Yosemite on Wednesday! If we are lucky enough that the weather and snowmelt permit, we will head for the Tioga Pass road where we will have the opportunity to hike in spectacular alpine terrain. If the roads remain closed, we will instead visit the sites on Glacier Road or Mariposa Groves. Whatever option we end up with, the view and hikes are out of this world!

Day 5

On our final day of the trip, we will head back to the Pacific Coast, and once we reach the ocean, we will spend the afternoon driving up the Pacific Coast Highway with multiple stops, viewpoints and hikes along the way. We plan to visit Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, view elephant seals at Ano Neuvo State Park, and marvel at the gorgeous azure coast. We finish our trip with dinner in San Francisco before heading home.