Death Valley to sequoia (king) to yosemite

Would like to know if possible to do and what to see in DV, and what road to take. Family of 5 with child 5, 6, 8 from Quebec and are use to travel long distance by car. Will have a trailblazer.

here is what we want to do: LA 23 june 2pm to Barstow night. 24 june Calico Ghost town.(how long to visit?) 25 DV. 26 s茅quoia. 27 yosemith. 28 head for san francisco.

Death Valley to sequoia (king) to yosemite

Calico Ghost Town doesn%26#39;t seem to get much attention here; in addition, it will be hotter than blazes. The same goes for Death Valley, and with three children you need to be careful because of the extreme heat. Quite frankly, I would bypass them.

There is no eastern entrance to Sequoia. You either backtrack to Bakersfield, or take Hwy 395 to Hwy 120 - Tioga Pass to Yosemite.

Perhaps Los Angeles to Sequoia to Yosemite would be easier. From Yosemite you can go to Monterey on the coast or go through the Gold Country (pan for gold, etc) and then on to San Francisco.

Death Valley to sequoia (king) to yosemite

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

I%26#39;m a big Death Valley NP fan but I have to agree with Mere on this. You%26#39;ll be driving most of the time esp. between Death Valley and Sequoia NP. In this amount of time I also would recommend to go to Sequoia directly from Barstow (or LA). If your visit to DV is set in stone maybe follow this route:

Barstow to Baker via I15. Take 127 to Soshone. From Soshone take 178 into Death Valley NP. Stop at Badwater, see Devils Golf Course and drive via Artist Drive to Furnace Creek visitor center. Visit Zabriskie Point and drive to Stove Pipe wells village for the night stopping at Devils Cornfield and Stove Pipe Wells dunes at sunset. Next day drive from SPW to Lone Pine. 395 north to Bishop and Lee Vining. Visit Mono Lake and Tioga Pass Road to Yosemite NP. You probably miss Sequoia now. Always carry lots of water in the car.

Tet

I haven%26#39;t been to Calico in long time, but from what I hear now and see on the website, it is more touristy than it was when I was a youngster. However, it was indeed an old mining town and has old preserved buildings. It has many events and activities that are fun for kids to get an idea of life in an old Western mining town. Just so you recognize that it is not an authentic original town. :)

http://www.calicotown.com/

If you are heading up 395 for Yosemite, a REAL gold mining ghost town, Bodie, is in the mountains east of Bridgeport, CA. It%26#39;s a slight northern detour from your direct route to Yosemite, but if you have time, it%26#39;s worth an afternoon. Bodie was not a Mother Lode (1849 Gold Rush) town, but a late 19th century hard-rock mining region. (Most of the Mother Lode is placer mining country, that is, ore washed out of the mountains by erosion and found loose in watercourses or low aeras).

Columbia is not ';touristified,'; but preserved in ';arrested decay,'; that is, in the condition it was in when the people walked away around 1900. The stores, undertaker%26#39;s parlor, saloons, etc. have the old curtains, furniture, etc. There are no curio shops, cute ice cream parlors, or other services except for some postcards, snacks, and souvenirs sold at the visitor center.

Bodie is a CA state historic park.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509

http://www.bodie.com/

On the west side of the Sierra is Columbia. It has many old preserved buildings, and the main street and several surrounding ones are a state historic park. Unlike Bodie, businesses operate in the historic area, and you can see a blacksmith shop, printer, or candle maker, ride a stagecoach, or pan for gold. You can also dine or lodge in the historic town and go to live stage shows at the historic Fallon Theatre. Columbia is in the heart of the Mother Lode, near Angel%26#39;s Camp, Murphy%26#39;s, Sonora, and other Gold Rush towns.

www.parks.ca.gov/DEFAULT.ASP?page_id=552

www.columbiacalifornia.com/cclinks.html

Naturally, as a Death Valley enthusiast, I encourage everyone to enjoy that park if their itinerary allows. Whether or not it is too hot for your family in summer, only you know. It is much toastier than Quebec! If this is your only chance to see it, a short tour would be well worthwhile. If you are entering DV thru Barstow, Calico is right on the way. If I were to choose my personal favs, I%26#39;d pick Bodie and Columbia because they are more historically authentic. Also, they are at higher elevations and will be much cooler in summer than Calico.

Tanks everyone for your information, it will be useful to my family.

How much time does it take to visit DV if we want to see (bad water, dante%26#39;s view, sand dunes, artist , scottys castle etc.. Can this be done in 1 long day.

Is most thing to see in a small walking distance at each place where we park the car or many miles of walking.

If cell phone doesnt work can we reach ranger with a CB.

Your cellphone won%26#39;t work in DV but you can hire a car with an On-Star system on board. You always can call for emergency then (it%26#39;s not a gps system though but you don%26#39;t need a gps system in DV)..

Do you mean visiting DV for a full day staying 2 nights in DV or from Barstow? If coming from Barstow try Badwater, Devils Golfcourse, Artist Palette, Zabriskie Point, maybe Dante%26#39;s View, Devils Cornfield, Stovepipe Wells sanddunes and Mosaic Canyon. You can walk into Mosaic Canyon (3 miles drive from Stovepipe Wells village) as long as you wish. The other places can be seen almost from the car. Scotty%26#39;s Castle and Ubehebe Crater will take half a day from Furnace Creek if you take the Scotty%26#39;s Castle tour so my advice it to skip that on a short visit.

Tet

* Columbia is not ';touristified,'; but preserved in ';arrested decay,'; *

Oooops!1! My bad...very, very bad. :(

I meant to say BODIE is not ';touristified.'; I had Columbia on the brain and jumped the gun.

Columbia is more touristy than Bodie but still very enjoyable. Kids can go there and not realize they are learning about history. :) One cool thing is that since Columbia is a functioning town as well as a historic park, it%26#39;s open 24/7. It%26#39;s fun to walk around the streets after everything is closed and pretend you%26#39;re in an old Western movie. You can imagine yourself as Joaquin Murrieta, the Wells Fargo stagecoach driver trying to get his load of gold past the bandits, or the town madam closing up after the last patrons have stumbled out into the night, drunk, broke, but presumably happy. It is perfectly safe to walk around Columbia at night, partly because two historic hotels operate right in the center of town.

Death Valley is heaven on earth Jack Jack but as the other folks said, please realize that sometime around the 23 of June it can seem like HELL, especially if you imagine Hell as an INFERNO. So you might check the temperature at Badwater this time of year to give you an idea....but I would bet you are talking around 115 or so F, maybe 40 or better C, so the idea is it is really hot. Not too hot to drive through in a car, but pretty hot if you are really considering hiking during the day. People have died and do die in DV in the summer months, people who do not realize a plastic water bottle will not last 20 minutes and there is no shade. So if you do go, be prepared for extreme conditions, carry many gallons of water in your car, and with you every time you leave it. Carry hats, sunscreen, long sleeve shirts, and do not count on your cell phone and do not expect a lot of company on the roads. Have fun!