California National Parks Itinerary: How Many Days, Plus Two Easy Days in Yosemite

California has more National Parks than any other state, and they couldn't be more different from one another. My California National Parks Collection puts nine guides in one download, all planned at an easy pace: short walks, overlooks, scenic drives, and visitor centers, whether you're seeing one park or all nine.

The nine parks

• Channel Islands
• Death Valley
• Joshua Tree
• Kings Canyon
• Lassen Volcanic
• Pinnacles
• Redwood
• Sequoia
• Yosemite

Each park also has its own full guide with easy, moderate, and strenuous plans, linked above, if you want more than the easy pace.

Why a collection

The range is the point. Death Valley's Badwater Basin, at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in North America, according to the National Park Service. A few hours away, Yosemite covers nearly 1,200 square miles of cliffs, waterfalls, and giant sequoias, and runs a free Valley shuttle, per the park's transportation page. In between are islands reached only by boat, volcanic steam vents, and the tallest trees on Earth.

This collection is for travelers who want to enjoy all of that without long or difficult hikes: relaxed days built around the sights you can reach easily.

How many days do you need for California's National Parks?

Plan park by park. The nine parks couldn't be more different, so the collection gives each one its own easy plans for one, two, and three days: 27 itineraries in all, each day with a backup plan for weather or closures. At Yosemite, for example, one day covers the Valley floor, and a second day lets you leave the Valley for Glacier Point, Wawona, and the Mariposa Grove. The seasonal catch: Glacier Point Road closes for the winter, usually sometime in November, and the Mariposa Grove shuttle stops by November 30. Every plan in this collection is easy-pace; each park's own full guide adds moderate and strenuous plans.

Sample itinerary: two easy days in Yosemite

Here's a shortened version of one of the 27 easy itineraries in the collection, Yosemite's two-day plan: the Valley floor on the first day, then Glacier Point, Wawona, and the Mariposa Grove on the second. It's about 3 to 4 miles of walking each day, mostly flat or on paved paths, with an optional 2-mile loop to the Grizzly Giant. Stay in Yosemite Valley or on Highway 140 both nights.

Day 1: waterfalls, meadows, and the museum

Park at Yosemite Village before 8 a.m. and walk the Lower Yosemite Fall loop, then be at the Welcome Center when it opens at 9. Spend an hour in the Yosemite Museum and the Indian Village of Ahwahnee behind it. At midday, walk the Cook's Meadow loop to Sentinel Bridge and back, about a mile, watching for mule deer in the meadow, and eat lunch in Yosemite Village. In the afternoon, take the two-hour Valley Floor Tour from Yosemite Valley Lodge, or ride the shuttle to Mirror Lake and walk the paved mile to the lake. In the evening, drive out Northside Drive past El Capitan Meadow and Valley View, walk to Bridalveil Fall, and end at Tunnel View.

Backup plan: in rain, spend more time in the museum and the Welcome Center and take the Valley Floor Tour, which runs all year. In winter, carry chains and expect icy paths at the falls.

Day 2: Glacier Point, Wawona, and the Mariposa Grove

Leave the Valley by 8 and be at Glacier Point by 9, when the park says the lot starts to fill. Walk the short paved path to the overlook, stop at Washburn Point on the way back, and allow an hour and a half. Then drive south to Wawona, where there's gas and a small store, walk through the covered bridge at the Yosemite History Center, and eat a packed lunch at the picnic area there; there's no food at the Mariposa Grove. Next, take the free shuttle from the Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza to the Arrival Area and walk the wheelchair-accessible 0.3-mile Big Trees Loop. If you're up for more, the 2-mile Grizzly Giant Loop climbs 300 feet; allow 1.5 to 2 hours. The drive back to the Valley takes about an hour and a quarter.

Backup plan: when Glacier Point Road is closed for the season, go straight to Wawona and the Mariposa Grove and spend the extra time at the History Center. When the grove shuttle isn't running (December through at least mid-April), the walk in is two miles each way with about 500 feet of gain, which is more than an easy day, so spend the time in the Valley instead.

The full version in the California National Parks Collection adds maps, meals, and wildlife to watch for, along with the other 26 easy itineraries. If you want harder hikes, the single-park Yosemite guide adds moderate and strenuous plans.

What's inside

• Nine guides, each with its own cover art, seven chapters, maps, photographs, and indexes.
• 27 easy itineraries: three per park, for one, two, and three days, each day with a backup plan for weather or closures.
• History and highlights for every park, from Inspiration Point and Zabriskie Point to the General Sherman Tree, Bumpass Hell, and Glacier Point.
• Nine wildlife chapters with 126 animal profiles, each with a photograph and notes on where and when to look.
• Trip planning for seasons, getting there, fees and reservations, lodging, food and water, accessibility, and safety.
• 308 photographs and 51 orientation maps.

Formats

You get an EPUB for Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books, and most e-reader apps (Kindle readers can use Amazon's Send to Kindle), and a 755-page PDF that opens on the illustrated cover, with bookmarks that jump to each park and chapter. The download link arrives by email right after purchase.

This is the first edition of the collection, gathering the October 2026 editions of all nine guides, with research completed in October 2026. Pick a park, take your time, and let California do the rest.

Get the California National Parks Collection

Before you go: check the alerts and current conditions page for each park, checked daily, for current closures and what they mean for your trip: Channel Islands, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Pinnacles, Redwood, Sequoia, and Yosemite.

This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Conditions change; check the park's current alerts before you go.