Itinerary: San Diego, CA to Yosemite
Yellow Route (405 miles): San Diego, CA to Yosemite (via Oceanside & Los Angeles)
Experience some of California’s most energetic coastal cities, including San Diego and Los Angeles, before heading up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains to one of the USA’s most incredible outdoor destinations, Yosemite National Park. On your way north to LA, take time to detour to the beach towns of northern San Diego County and Orange County. Other stops along this route include Oceanside, Bakersfield, Fresno, and Oakhurst. This 435-mile route takes you to Yosemite’s South Entrance near Wawona.
Explore San Diego County
Start off in sunny coastal San Diego. Take the whole family to Balboa Park, full of kid-friendly museums and attractions, or explore California’s multicultural history in Old Town. The head for the gorgeous coast, stretching from Coronado Island’s Silver Strand and the Point Loma lighthouse at Cabrillo National Monument all the way north past bohemian surfer beach towns. At La Jolla, drop by the Birch Aquarium at Scripps or go snorkeling at La Jolla Cove. Cruise past Torrey Pines State Reserve on Highway 1, which slowly winds past North County beach towns such as Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad (home of Legoland California) and Oceanside.
Orange County Beaches & LA
Entering Orange County, you can speed north on I-5 to LA. As you head inland, tour Mission San Juan Capistrano, one of California’s best preserved Spanish colonial missions. If you’d rather not just jump on the interstate, then keep following the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) north, stopping off in arty, bohemian Laguna Beach, ritzy Newport Beach, or hang-loose Huntington Beach, aka “Surf City USA.”
In LA County, Long Beach has a famous aquarium and the Queen Mary, an art-deco ocean liner that you can still step aboard. Farther north of LAX airport, wander the chic Santa Monica and funky Venice Beach neighborhoods, cruise the restored movie palaces of Hollywood Boulevard, hit the museums of Mid-City, or get your arts and culture fix in downtown LA. Then get back to nature in Griffith Park, home of the hilltop Griffith Observatory, the Autry Museum of the American West, the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, and more family-friendly attractions.
California’s Central Valley & the Sierra Nevada Foothills
From LA, I-5 takes you north toward Bakersfield, a town with a Basque immigrant influence and a unique country-and-western musical twang. From Bakersfield, follow California’s historic Route 99 north through the agricultural Central Valley to Fresno, a good place to refuel and pick up any last-minute supplies. From Fresno, follow winding Highway 41 up through the Sierra Nevada foothills, past the gateway towns of Oakhurst and Fish Camp before arriving at Yosemite National Park’s South Entrance, near the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees.
