California is the size of a country, and most first trips try to see too much of it. The classic route links four places: San Francisco, Yosemite in the Sierra Nevada, the Big Sur coast on Highway 1, and Los Angeles. Each has its own page, and the USA page covers the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Half Dome, the Big Sur drive, the Napa Valley wineries and the giant sequoias of Sequoia National Park.
This page helps you choose between them and combine them, and adds three trips beyond the loop: the boulders and Joshua trees of Joshua Tree National Park, east of Los Angeles; the salt flats of Death Valley, the lowest point in North America; and Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe, high in the Sierra.
Walk among the boulders and Joshua trees of Joshua Tree
Joshua Tree National Park, east of Los Angeles
A full day from Los Angeles or Palm SpringsNo booking needed
Short walks through a high desert of Joshua trees and heaped granite boulders, ending with a view over the San Andreas Fault.
What it is
Joshua Tree National Park, about 140 miles east of Los Angeles and closest to the airport at Palm Springs, is a high desert of Joshua trees and heaped granite boulders. The short walks are the best of it: the 1-mile Hidden Valley loop through a rock-walled valley once rumoured to hide cattle rustlers, the 1.1-mile Barker Dam loop, the 1.7-mile Skull Rock loop, and the short paved path at Keys View, looking over the San Andreas Fault to the Salton Sea.
How to do it
Enter at the West Entrance, five miles south of Highway 62 at Joshua Tree village, and follow Park Boulevard. Entry is $30 per vehicle for seven days, with no nonresident surcharge.
Good to know
There is no water, fuel or food inside the park and phone signal is weak. Summer heat is dangerous, so come between autumn and spring.
Walk onto the salt flats of Badwater Basin in Death Valley
Death Valley National Park
One or two daysNo booking needed
Walk out onto salt flats at the lowest point in North America, 282 feet below sea level, beneath the Black Mountains.
What it is
Death Valley holds the lowest point in North America: Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level, where salt flats spread across nearly 200 square miles beneath the Black Mountains. Walk out onto the salt from the Badwater car park, catch sunrise over the badlands at Zabriskie Point, and look down on the whole valley from Dante's View, 5,575 feet above Badwater and cooler than the floor.
How to do it
Furnace Creek, with the visitor centre, fuel and lodging, is the base; from Las Vegas it is about 120 miles and two hours via Pahrump. Entry is $30 per vehicle for seven days, paid by card only, with no nonresident surcharge.
Good to know
Come between November and March: in summer the park advises against hiking at low elevations, and nights often stay above 100°F. Scotty's Castle is closed for flood repairs, and most roads have no phone signal.
Hike down to Vikingsholm on Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe
Emerald Bay State Park, Lake Tahoe
2 to 3 hoursNo booking needed
A narrow bay of blue-green water with little Fannette Island in the middle, and a steep trail down to a Scandinavian-style castle.
What it is
Emerald Bay, on the west shore of Lake Tahoe, 22 miles south of Tahoe City on Highway 89, is the lake's postcard view: a narrow bay of blue-green water with little Fannette Island in the middle. On the shore stands Vikingsholm, a summer house built as a replica of a Scandinavian castle.
How to do it
From the Harvey West car park, a steep trail drops 500 feet in a mile to the shore and Vikingsholm; the climb back up is the hard part. Guided tours of the house usually run daily from Memorial Day weekend to 30 September. Parking costs $10 a day or $3 an hour, and vehicles over 18 feet and trailers are not allowed.
Good to know
The lots fill, so arrive before 9 am or after 3 pm, avoid weekends, and never park on Highway 89 itself. From October to May there are no services and winter makes the trail hazardous.
Three booked tastings in a day, linked by the calmer Silverado Trail, with a driver or the Napa Valley Wine Train doing the driving.
What it is
Most Napa wineries now expect a booking, and roughly two in three of those that receive visitors offer tastings or tours by appointment only. Highway 29, on the west side of the valley, carries many of the large, famous estates and most of the traffic; the Silverado Trail, the parallel road on the east side, is the calmer way between stops. Small producers such as Cakebread Cellars receive guests by appointment only.
How to do it
Plan the day before you arrive rather than driving up Highway 29 hoping for walk-ins. Three wineries in a day is a sensible ceiling once you add driving and lunch, since a seated tasting or tour usually lasts from 45 minutes to two hours. Book a driver, a tour or the Napa Valley Wine Train rather than driving yourself.
Good to know
On slow winter weekdays some appointment-only wineries will still take guests who turn up.
Walk to the General Sherman Tree in the Giant Forest
Sequoia National Park, California
Half a dayNo booking needed
A short paved walk down to the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree on Earth by volume, then more giants on the Congress Trail.
What it is
The Giant Forest holds the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree on Earth by volume, and the classic visit is short. After the tree, walk the Congress Trail loop among more giants, or climb the stone staircase up Moro Rock for the view over the Great Western Divide.
How to do it
From the main General Sherman lot it is a paved half-mile walk down to the tree, with stairs; only cars with disability placards may use the accessible lot about 500 feet away. In summer 2026 the free park shuttles ran from 22 May to 7 September, linking Wolverton, General Sherman and the museum, with a separate route to Moro Rock and Crescent Meadow.
Good to know
The General Sherman lots and the one at the Giant Forest Museum are usually full by mid-morning, so arrive early or park at Wolverton. Sequoia and Kings Canyon is on the $100 nonresident surcharge list.
For a first trip of 10 to 14 days, pick San Francisco, Yosemite, Big Sur and Los Angeles: a city, a mountain park, a coast road and a second city. With a week, take one city and its nearest nature: San Francisco with Yosemite, or Los Angeles with Joshua Tree. Wine lovers can add a day in Napa Valley north of San Francisco, and the giant sequoias of Sequoia National Park sit in the same Sierra Nevada as Yosemite. Death Valley is easier from Las Vegas than from the coast, and Lake Tahoe suits a separate summer trip.
How to combine them
Start in San Francisco. Yosemite is about 195 miles inland, four to five hours by car, so give it two or three nights. Then head back west to Monterey and Carmel and drive Highway 1 south through Big Sur, about 90 miles of slow, winding road that deserves two days. Hearst Castle, at the southern end, is roughly halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, four to six hours from either, so the last leg reaches Los Angeles in a day. Driving the coast north to south keeps you in the lane next to the ocean, with easier turns into the pull-outs. From Los Angeles, Joshua Tree is about 140 miles east.
Getting around
Rent a car for everything outside the two big cities; inside San Francisco you are better off without one. Without a car, Amtrak to Merced connects with the YARTS bus to Yosemite all year. National park fees are per vehicle for seven days: $35 at Yosemite and $30 at Joshua Tree and Death Valley. Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon also charge non-US residents aged 16 and over a $100 surcharge in 2026, which the $250 nonresident annual pass covers; Joshua Tree and Death Valley do not.
When to go
Late spring and early autumn suit the classic loop. Yosemite's waterfalls peak in spring and early summer, and its high roads to Glacier Point and over Tioga Pass open only from about late May to November. Summer fog can hide the Big Sur coast from June to August, and winter storms close Highway 1 more often. The deserts run the other way: Death Valley's hiking season is November to March and its summer heat is dangerous, while Joshua Tree is busiest in spring. Emerald Bay has no services from October to May.
Questions travellers ask
How many days do you need for a California road trip?
In must30's view, 10 to 14 days for the classic loop: three or four in San Francisco, two or three in Yosemite, two on the Big Sur coast and three or four in Los Angeles. With a week, choose one city and one park instead of rushing all four.
Which California national parks charge the $100 nonresident fee?
Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon are on the 2026 list of 11 parks where non-US residents aged 16 and over pay $100 on top of the entrance fee. Joshua Tree and Death Valley are not; they charge $30 per vehicle for seven days. The $250 nonresident annual pass covers the surcharge for everyone in one private vehicle.
Should you drive the California coast north to south?
Yes, if you can: driving Highway 1 south from Monterey puts you in the lane next to the ocean, and the gravel pull-outs are easier to turn into. Check Caltrans before you set off, because landslides and roadworks still close parts of Big Sur, especially after rain.
When is the best time to visit California?
For the San Francisco, Yosemite, Big Sur and Los Angeles loop, late spring and early autumn: the high Yosemite roads are open, the waterfalls run in spring, and the coast is less foggy than in high summer. For Death Valley and Joshua Tree, go between autumn and spring, never in summer heat.
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