Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia Road Trip: The Sierra Nevada Loop

Three of California's National Parks sit in a row along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada: Yosemite in the north, then Kings Canyon and Sequoia, which share a border and a single entrance fee. There's no road across the mountains between them, so the drive drops down into the San Joaquin Valley and climbs back up, about 155 miles from Yosemite Valley to Grant Grove. As a loop from San Francisco, the whole trip runs about 700 miles.

This post covers the roads: the route, the miles, the seasonal closures, where to sleep, and how many days to give it. Each park gets a short plan as you get there, and the full days are in my guides.

Sierra Nevada Road Trip at a Glance

• Parks: Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia.
• Start and finish: San Francisco as a loop, or San Francisco to Los Angeles one way.
• Driving: about 700 miles as a loop from San Francisco, or about 660 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles, plus the driving inside the parks.
• Time behind the wheel: about 13 to 15 hours over the whole trip, much of it on slow mountain roads.
• How many days: 6 at the least, 8 to enjoy it.
• Best seasons: late May through October, when every road on the route is open.
• Pass: one $35 vehicle pass covers Sequoia and Kings Canyon together for seven days in 2026; Yosemite charges its own $35. The $80 America the Beautiful pass covers all three.

Orientation sketch, not to scale. Check the official park maps for detail. Routes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); state lines from the U.S. Census Bureau.

How Many Days Do You Need?

Eight days is the right number, and six is the floor. Here's the math. Yosemite deserves three days, because Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, and the Mariposa Grove are spread out and the park is busy. Kings Canyon needs a full day just for the drive down into the canyon and back, plus time in Grant Grove. Sequoia needs at least one day for Giant Forest. The transfer from Yosemite to Kings Canyon takes most of a day, and you'll want an arrival and departure day.

With six days, give Yosemite two and Sequoia and Kings Canyon two together, and skip the Cedar Grove drive. With four, pick one: Yosemite on its own, or Sequoia and Kings Canyon together. They're too far apart to do both well in a long weekend.

Which Direction to Drive It

From San Francisco, go north to south: Yosemite first, then Kings Canyon, then Sequoia, and either return to the Bay Area on California 99 or carry on to Los Angeles. From Los Angeles, flip it. Either way, Sequoia and Kings Canyon end up in the middle, and you drive the Generals Highway between them only once.

One-way rentals between San Francisco and Los Angeles are common, and drop fees on that pair are often modest, but check before you book. Fresno's airport sits in the middle of the route, about 1.25 hours from Kings Canyon and about 2 hours from Yosemite's South Entrance, and it's a sensible place to start or finish a shorter version.

The Route, Leg By Leg

San Francisco to Yosemite: About 195 Miles, 4 to 5 Hours

Interstate 580 and Interstate 205 east to Manteca, then California 120 through Oakdale and Groveland to the Big Oak Flat Entrance. California 140 through Merced and Mariposa to the Arch Rock Entrance is the lower-elevation alternative and the safer choice in winter. Both get you into Yosemite Valley. Yosemite didn't require an entry reservation in 2026, which takes a layer of planning off the trip, but the Valley is still crowded in summer, and parking is the real constraint. How to work around that, and which days to give to the Valley, Glacier Point, and Tuolumne Meadows, is what my Yosemite National Park guide lays out.

A short plan for Yosemite: Enter at Big Oak Flat or Arch Rock and park once in the Valley, near Yosemite Village or Yosemite Falls. Walk to Lower Yosemite Fall, which peaks in spring and can be dry by August, then cross Cook's Meadow to Sentinel Bridge. Eat in the Valley, where food is sold all year, and drive out to Tunnel View, your turnaround. My Yosemite National Park guide has the full days.

Half Dome, at right, rising beyond a Yosemite Valley meadow in September 2004. Photo: Jon Sullivan, Wikimedia Commons. Public domain (released by the photographer).

The Tioga Road (California 120 east over Tioga Pass) is the only road across the park, and it's open only from late spring to fall. In 2026, overnight parking along it ended October 15, and the road usually closes for the winter sometime in November, depending on snow. Glacier Point Road closes for the winter too. Check Yosemite National Park alerts before you count on either.

Yosemite Valley from the Tunnel View overlook in June 2025: El Capitan at left, Half Dome far up the valley, and Bridalveil Fall on the right wall. Photo: EF5, Wikimedia Commons. CC0 (public-domain dedication).

Yosemite to Kings Canyon: About 155 Miles, 3.5 to 4 Hours

Leave Yosemite Valley south on California 41 (the Wawona Road), through the Wawona Tunnel and past Wawona to the South Entrance, where the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias sits just inside the gate. Then drop down through Oakhurst to Fresno, about 95 miles and 2.5 hours from the Valley. From Fresno, California 180 climbs east about 60 miles to the Big Stump Entrance and Grant Grove.

Fresno is the place for gas, groceries, and anything you forgot. Oakhurst has gas too. Once you climb California 180, services are limited to the villages in the parks. The parks' own advice is worth repeating: if your GPS suggests a back way into Kings Canyon or Sequoia that skips the entrance stations, ignore it. Those routes can lead onto rough, closed, or four-wheel-drive roads.

Grant Grove to Cedar Grove on the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway: 29 Miles, About 1 Hour Each Way

California 180 continues past Grant Grove and down into the canyon of the South Fork of the Kings River, one of the deepest in North America, to Cedar Grove and Road's End. It's a dead end, so it's an out-and-back, and it's seasonal: the stretch past Hume Lake Road usually closes for the winter in early to mid-November and reopens in late April or May (April 24 in 2026). There's no gas on the byway, so fill up before you go. What to do in Grant Grove and at the bottom of the canyon is what my Kings Canyon National Park guide covers.

A short plan for Kings Canyon: Use the Big Stump Entrance on California 180 and walk the General Grant Tree loop. Stop at the Kings Canyon Visitor Center in Grant Grove, eat at the Grant Grove Restaurant, and drive up to Panoramic Point, your turnaround; its road usually stays closed from winter until late May. Save Cedar Grove for its own day. My Kings Canyon National Park guide has the full days.

Kings Canyon National Park. Highway 180 winding between granite walls on its way down to Cedar Grove, October 2017. Photo: Dsdugan, Wikimedia Commons. CC0 (public-domain dedication).

Kings Canyon to Sequoia on the Generals Highway: About 30 Miles, 1 Hour or More

The Generals Highway runs south from the Highway 180 junction through national forest to Lodgepole and Giant Forest. In fall 2026, hazard tree removal was causing weekday delays: up to 30 minutes between Montecito Sequoia Lodge and the Highway 180 junction, and more delays from Wuksachi Lodge to Montecito, on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with no delays on federal holidays. Budget the extra time if you're driving on a weekday.

Giant Forest is home to the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree on Earth by volume, and the park's lodge, Wuksachi, is just north of it. My Sequoia National Park guide sorts out the groves, Moro Rock, and the Crescent Meadow Road for one to three days.

A short plan for Sequoia: Coming from Kings Canyon, you enter on the Generals Highway from the north. Park at the General Sherman Tree's main lot off Wolverton Road, or ride the summer shuttle from Wolverton, and walk the paved trail to the tree. Giant Forest has no food service, so eat what you packed, then drive to the Giant Forest Museum, your last stop before the road down. My Sequoia National Park guide has the full days.

Kings Canyon from Junction View on Highway 180, which lies in Sequoia National Forest between the park's two sections, October 2017. Photo: Dsdugan, Wikimedia Commons. CC0 (public-domain dedication).

Sequoia to Visalia: About 50 Miles, 1.5 Hours

California 198 drops from Giant Forest to the Ash Mountain Entrance and Three Rivers through a long run of hairpin turns, losing about 5,000 feet. The park doesn't recommend vehicles longer than 22 feet on the stretch between Hospital Rock and the Wolverton Road junction; longer rigs should enter and leave by Highway 180 instead. From Three Rivers it's an easy run into Visalia. From there, Los Angeles is about 200 miles and 3.5 hours south by California 99 and Interstate 5, and San Francisco is about 230 miles and 4 hours north.

Sequoia National Park. The fenced viewing area at the top of Moro Rock's stairway, July 2010. Photo: James St. John, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/).

A Sample 8-Day Driving Schedule

This is the driving skeleton only. The park days themselves are in the guides.

Day	Drive	Driving Time	Overnight Town
Day 1	San Francisco to Yosemite, about 195 miles	4 to 5 hours	Yosemite Valley or Groveland
Day 2	Yosemite, driving from the Valley or a gateway town	Local driving	Yosemite Valley or Groveland
Day 3	Yosemite, driving from the Valley or a gateway town	Local driving	Yosemite Valley or Groveland
Day 4	Yosemite to Grant Grove by way of Wawona and Fresno, about 155 miles	3.5 to 4 hours	Grant Grove
Day 5	The Kings Canyon Scenic Byway to Cedar Grove and back, about 58 miles round trip	About 2 hours round trip	Grant Grove
Day 6	The Generals Highway to Giant Forest, about 30 miles	1 hour or more	Wuksachi, Lodgepole, or Three Rivers
Day 7	Sequoia, driving from Wuksachi, Lodgepole, or Three Rivers	Local driving	Wuksachi, Lodgepole, or Three Rivers
Day 8	Down to Visalia and on to Los Angeles, about 250 miles, or back to San Francisco, about 280 miles	About 5 to 5.5 hours	Home from Los Angeles or San Francisco

Where to Stay Along the Way

• Yosemite: inside the park, The Ahwahnee, Yosemite Valley Lodge, and Curry Village in the Valley, open all year; White Wolf Lodge and Tuolumne Meadows Lodge in summer. The Wawona Hotel was closed for repairs in 2026. Outside, Groveland on Highway 120, Mariposa and El Portal on Highway 140, and Oakhurst and Fish Camp on Highway 41.
• Kings Canyon: John Muir Lodge and the Grant Grove Cabins in Grant Grove, and Cedar Grove Lodge at the bottom of the canyon from spring through fall.
• Sequoia: Wuksachi Lodge, usually open all year. Three Rivers, just outside the Ash Mountain Entrance, and Visalia have more choice.

Lodging inside Yosemite books up to 366 days ahead, and summer campsites in all three parks need reservations, often months in advance.

Best Time of Year to Drive It

Late May through October is when the whole route works: Cedar Grove and Glacier Point Road are open, the lodges are running, and the high country is snow-free from about July. Summer is the busiest season and hot in the valley towns between the parks; spring is the best time for Yosemite's waterfalls.

November through April is a different trip. The Kings Canyon Scenic Byway, Tioga Road, and Glacier Point Road close; chains can be required on the mountain roads; and the Generals Highway can close briefly in storms. Yosemite Valley, Grant Grove, and Giant Forest stay reachable most of the winter, and the sequoias in snow are worth seeing. Check Sequoia National Park alerts and Kings Canyon National Park alerts before each leg.

Road Trip Tips for the Sierra Nevada

• Fill up in the valley. Fresno, Oakhurst, Three Rivers, and Visalia are your best gas stops. Prices inside the parks are higher, where there's gas at all.
• Carry chains from fall to spring. California can require them on any of these mountain roads during storms.
• Use the official routes, not GPS shortcuts. Both Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon warn that apps send drivers onto roads that aren't meant for them.
• Download maps and the guides. Cell service is weak or absent in most of all three parks.
• Store food properly. Bear boxes at campgrounds and trailheads are there for a reason, and leaving food in a car overnight is not allowed in these parks.

Plan Your Days Inside Each Park

This post gets you from park to park, with a short plan for each stop. The full days are what my guides are for: each one has nine itineraries for one, two, or three days at easy, moderate, and strenuous effort, each with a backup plan for bad weather or a closure, plus orientation maps, the park's history, and the animals you're likely to see. You get an EPUB and a printable PDF, so the day's plan can ride in the car with you.

• Yosemite National Park: nine itineraries, 14 animals to look for, 7 maps, and 36 photographs
• Sequoia National Park: nine itineraries, 14 animals to look for, 5 maps, and 33 photographs
• Kings Canyon National Park: nine itineraries, 14 animals to look for, 5 maps, and 34 photographs

For This Route

The California National Parks Collection covers all 3 parks on this route (Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon) in one download. It also includes Channel Islands, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Lassen Volcanic, Pinnacles, and Redwood, which this route doesn't reach.

Short on time at one stop? Just an Afternoon is my free four-hour plan for every U.S. National Park.

Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia Road Trip FAQ

Can you drive from Yosemite to Sequoia without going through Fresno? Not really. No road crosses the Sierra between them, so every route drops to the valley; through Fresno on Highways 41 and 180 is the shortest.

Do I need a reservation to enter Yosemite? Not in 2026. Yosemite dropped its entry reservation system for the year. Lodging and campsites still need reservations, and the rules could change for 2027, so check before you go.

Are Sequoia and Kings Canyon one park or two? Two parks, managed together, with one entrance fee. The Generals Highway connects them, and a single $35 vehicle pass covers both for seven days.

Can I do this trip in an RV? Yes, with care. Use Highway 180 rather than Highway 198 for anything longer than 22 feet, and remember that RVs and trailers aren't allowed on Panoramic Point Road in Kings Canyon.

Before you go: roads, campgrounds, and visitor centers close for snow, fire, and repairs, so check each park's alerts and current conditions, updated daily: Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon. For every park at a glance, see the park conditions dashboard.

Planning a different route? See all my National Park road trips.

This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Driving times are estimates without stops, and conditions change; check each park's current alerts before you go.