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Has anyone visited Sequoia Nat’l. Park while staying at DSV?

Quilter

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we have a November stay upcoming. My nephew wants to see the giant trees. Google maps says it’s 6 hours away.

Can anyone give me ideas?

Would they fly DEN/FAT and then drive down?
 

mjm1

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Flying into FAT (Fresno) would be the closest “big” airport. It would be a long drive down to Palm Desert as you mentioned, but would be worth seeing if that is of special interest. The weather in November can be rainy, but if they get a nice day they would enjoy it.

One downside would be if they get to the Los Angeles area during commute time, the drive from there to Palm Desert would be terrible. Depending on the timing, I would consider taking 99 to 58 over the Tehachapi Pass to Victorville and then the back way to Palm Desert. Again, it depends on timing.

Best regards.

Mike
 

klpca

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we have a November stay upcoming. My nephew wants to see the giant trees. Google maps says it’s 6 hours away.

Can anyone give me ideas?

Would they fly DEN/FAT and then drive down?
Closest airport is definitely Fresno, but it's more of a regional airport and there aren't a lot of flights. (From SD to FAT, I can usually choose between early morning or late at night). If it were me, I would drive, but the traffic through LA is always something that you just have to deal with. I agree with the alternate route suggested by Mike.

Here is a site that I use frequently to figure out how to get from "here-to-there": https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Palm-Desert/Sequoia-National-Park It lists lots of route choices, and shows them on a map as well, so I find it very helpful especially when it is an area with which I am unfamiliar. (Edit - maybe they changed their format - self driving used to be an option, I'm not sure why it's not there now, but still provides a good overview of the routes available).

I love Sequoia and highly recommend a visit, but another alternative to see some big trees would be Muir Woods near San Francisco. Easy to fly there and rent a car. Here's a nice list of places to see the big trees: https://www.visitcalifornia.com/feature/places-see-big-trees
 
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vacationtime1

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Sequoia NP is awesome. That said, visiting it will add at least a day to your trip. Don't even think about flying into Fresno, driving to Sequoia, looking around (and there are multiple places within the park to look around), and then driving to Palm Springs the same day. (To the OP: would you fly into Lansing, visit Greenfield Village, and then drive to Milwaukee the same day?)

The giant sequoias are different from the coastal redwoods found in Muir Woods and up the California coast. The coastal redwoods are taller; the giant sequoias are far more massive.
 
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klpca

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The giant sequoias are different from the coastal redwoods found in Muir Woods and up the California coast. The coastal redwoods are taller; the giant sequoias are far more massive.
Agree - but a much easier trip if the nephew isn't discerning, lol.

When we go to Sequoia, it's for a week. An overnight visit seems much too short (although we did an overnight trip to Monument Valley and thoroughly enjoyed it) so I suppose I should just zip-it! :D
 

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I am a lifelong Californian and have never even thought of going to S.N.P. I suppose the redwoods in my backyard have been enough for me.
 

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Sequoia is amazing but I don’t think I would do it on a day trip from Palm Springs. Joshua Tree is right there.
 

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I am a lifelong Californian and have never even thought of going to S.N.P. I suppose the redwoods in my backyard have been enough for me.
I was born and raised in southern California and never went to SNP. However, I went to college at Humboldt State right in the midst of them, and when we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area made several trips to Muir Woods.
 

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If they have never been to Yosemite N.P., then I would recommend that they go a few days early and visit it as well. Being that close (Fresno airport) and not also seeing Yosemite would be missing something wonderful. Yosemite also has some Giant Sequoias trees in the Mariposa Grove section of the park so they could actually see both there. The Grove does close to cars at the winter at the end of November, but you can walk in after that. If they have already been, then they can just do SNP.
 

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That sounds like an ideal solution if they haven’t booked the flights yet and are able to add on a few days.

Sequoia N.P is awesome but so is Yosemite but Joshua Tree N.P is too. California is a beautiful State and Quilter’s nephew may save it for another trip to CA. :)
 

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I just went to Yosemite 2 Saturday's ago. It's beautiful BUT it took 2 hours to drive 6 miles. Avoid the weekend at all costs. It was awesome but never again. It's downright dangerous how many people they allow in. If you have a heart attack or accident good luck surviving.
 

BJRSanDiego

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This seems kind of strange and poorly thought out. Your nephew is going to Southern Ca. and wants to see something that isn't in Southern Ca. Something that involves a 6 hour drive each way. That is like going to Palm Desert and wanting to visit Sedona, or Las Vegas, or Tucson, Albuquerque, Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, Cabo San Lucas, etc. All of those are less than 6 hours away. If your nephew wants to go to Sequoia or the Redwoods, perhaps schedule a second - - separate - - trip or fly there. If I go to England, I am not trying to fit in a side-trip to Paris (BTW, the side trip to Paris is less than 6 hours). Or vice-versa - - if I fly to Paris, I am not planning a side trip to see Big Ben.


I'd suggest that he (the nephew) consider checking out some of the local to Palm Desert attractions such as the water flowing out of the ground (via the San Andreas Fault) in Thousand Palms (an oasis). Or hike the Joshua tree National Park where there are lots of abandoned gold mines, lots of impressive rock features, a view of the San Andreas fault, etc. Or hike the Bump-and-grind trail. Also, he might find the tram up to Mt. San Jacinto to be interesting.
 

BJRSanDiego

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BTW, what your nephew is interested in is like flying in to Atlanta and hoping to go to Disneyworld.
 

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I posted late at night and wasn’t quite clear with my thoughts.

If my sister and her adult son flew DEN/FAT I would have thought they would for sure stay a night or 2 on the way to Palm Desert, tour parks on the way. I thought we may drive north and spend a night and return next day.

I was wondering what sights were on the road between Palm Desert and Sequioa National Park. I’d rather just go 3 hrs. Max to meet them.
 

klpca

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I was wondering what sights were on the road between Palm Desert and Sequioa National Park. I’d rather just go 3 hrs. Max to meet them.

Not much to see between those two places along the freeways. Driving along the coast is beautiful. Driving on interstate 5 or 99 in the central valley to get to the NP, not so much. Of course LA is full of things to do and that's only 2 hours away. Have you visited Palm Desert before? The area at the top of the tram is lovely with a lot of Ponderosa Pines and nice flat hiking, and as it was suggested upthread, Joshua Tree is very close and absolutely beautiful in a desert way. In November, Joshua Tree would be perfect.

Now I understand where the Denver stop came in. :) It's *your* trip so you can do whatever works for you. I know that we have taken weird detours during a trip to see something on our bucket list, so nothing is out of the question. If your nephew just needs to see any-old big tree, I think he and your sister could fly from Denver to SFO and check out Muir woods for a day, then fly into Palm Springs or Ontario. If he specifically wants to see the Sequoias, then maybe flying into LAX and driving 3-4 hours to Sequoia would work, then driving to Palm Desert afterwards. Either choice involves quite a bit of driving which is the rub. In LA it will be very busy urban freeway driving, once out of LA it will be easy, just flat and in the middle of farm land, until you head into the sierras where it is typical mountain driving.
 

PcflEZFlng

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This seems kind of strange and poorly thought out. Your nephew is going to Southern Ca. and wants to see something that isn't in Southern Ca. Something that involves a 6 hour drive each way. That is like going to Palm Desert and wanting to visit Sedona, or Las Vegas, or Tucson, Albuquerque, Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, Cabo San Lucas, etc. All of those are less than 6 hours away.

Wow, did they build hyperlinks to Albuquerque and Cabo? o_O
 

Quilter

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Thanks everyone for your input. It was very helpful. I have sent a message to my sister and nephew explaining that if they want to join us in Palm Desert there are lots of nice things to do locally but if they want to visit Yosemite area we should get them a room at the Worldmark Bass Lake. The Worldmark property also looks like someplace I'd like to visit.

I think so narrowly with the Marriott system and forget to look outside the box.
 

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Sequoia is amazing but I don’t think I would do it on a day trip from Palm Springs. Joshua Tree is right there.
Apples and oranges. And if you've never seen an apple or orange then you should do so.

BTW, what your nephew is interested in is like flying in to Atlanta and hoping to go to Disneyworld.

Fly into ATL and hoping to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Which I would recommend if you've never visited the GSMNP.
 

Quilter

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we have a November stay upcoming. My nephew wants to see the giant trees. Google maps says it’s 6 hours away.

Can anyone give me ideas?

Would they fly DEN/FAT and then drive down?

I never meant to give the idea it would be a one day into FAT and drive to Palm Desert. It was late and I posted the briefest of thoughts about the trip.

My thinking was more like sending them into FAT and out of PSP when we were all done at Palm Desert. I was wondering how many days (hotel stops) to make this road trip and what were the sights along the way. My husband and I already have our flights arranged in and out of PSP so I thought if there was someplace wonderful 3ish hours in between we'd drive up to meet them there and then all of us would return to Palm Desert.

Just to be sure everyone knows. . . .I don't like 6 hour road trips and I wouldn't drive to Sequoia National Park and return in 1 day. Or even 2. :)

Details were lacking in my original post.
 
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