How to Strategically Plan Lodging Around America’s Top National Parks
There are 63 congressionally designated national parks in the United States. They’re managed by the National Park Service, and all of them are absolutely incredible. They’re literally cultural treasures, spanning acres upon acres of the most incredibly diverse landscapes.
The views are always spectacular, and you’ll find yourself wandering through forests and canyons, stumbling upon waterfalls and wildlife, and having an all-round life-changing experience.
If you’re planning a tour or road trip around multiple National Parks but don’t know which ones to do or where to stay, our comprehensive guide has all the answers you need. Ideally, you need 10 days to complete this National Parks tour.
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite has to be the most famous national park in the US. It’s a globally renowned wilderness area located in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, spanning nearly 1,200 square miles. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you’ll find soaring granite cliffs, colossal waterfalls, giant sequoia groves, and deeply sculpted alpine valleys. There’s so much to explore.
Mariposa or the El Portal area are great areas to stay in, with Mariposa putting you 45 minutes away from Yosemite, and El Portal is right on the doorstep, only a 5-minute drive away.
Securing a spot inside park borders can be incredibly difficult due to seasonal surges and limited infrastructure. Fortunately, setting up a base camp in an adjacent gateway town often provides more flexibility, better amenities, and lower costs for families. By using an all-inclusive meta-search platform like cozy cozy, travelers can cross-reference everything from rustic cabins near Yosemite to modern rental homes outside the Great Smoky Mountains, ensuring a comfortable place to recharge after a long day on the trails.
Pinnacles National Park
It takes around 3 hours and 20 minutes to drive from Yosemite to Pinnacles National Park, and it’s so worth it.
Pinnacles National Park is a massive 107.67 km2 landscape forged by volcanoes over 23 million years ago. The dramatic volcanic spires and unique talus caves are so mesmerizing. And if you’re ever to stop the critically endangered California condor in the wild, it’s here.
The nearest city is Soledad, which is only an 18-minute drive. Hollister is another great area that puts you closer to the coast, but it is a 50-minute drive to Pinnacles.
Note: Pinnacles has two separate sides, and you can’t drive through the park from one side to the other, so choose your base carefully. For most first-time visitors, we recommend staying near Hollister and using the East Entrance. From there, you have better access to Bear Gulch, the caves, and the main visitor facilities.
Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park
Again, it takes around 3 hours and 20 minutes to reach King Canyon National Park from Pinnacles, and the drive is really easy.
Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park are jointly managed, so you’re getting a two-for-one package deal here. Both are located in California’s Sierra Nevada, which, if you haven’t guessed by now, is absolutely massive, considering all of the National Parks we’ve mentioned are located here.
Kings Canyon is famous for having the deepest river canyon in the United States and towering giant sequoia groves, and Sequoia is famous for being home to the world’s largest living trees—the giant sequoias. The General Sherman tree is a must-see. It’s the largest known living single-stem tree on Earth by volume, holding approximately 52,500 cubic feet of wood and weighing nearly 2.7 million pounds.
Considering they’re essentially the same National Park, you can stay in the nearby Dunlap area, which is around a 55-minute drive, but accommodation does book up far in advance. Fresno and Clovis are around a 1-hour 20-minute drive away, but you’re more likely to find accommodation.
