another Calif. NP request for help in 24 ft class c

[popshumphrey]

I have been reading some of the other posts. Here is our deal:
Traveling to see kids in Portland. I am wanting to at least drive through Yosemite, sequoia, etc. in September first of October

Our Facts: 24 ft class C, Sunseeker on a Chevy gasser 4500. Mid 60's with a dog that we won't leave behind. Driving from Dallas area.

I am wanting to go i 40 west to somewhere in Ca and then North. I am looking for camping info for a 24', no tow vehicle, routes I can take and any other help as I plan this thing out.

I have driven this 2012 RV for 50k miles so I am comfortable with driving yet grades that are too steep I want to plan ahead for.

In the last year we have done Yellowstone, Crater lake, Death Valley, Spring Training in AZ, and around the great lakes. We have been busy. In every state west of the Mississippi in one year! But never to Yosemite.

[CurtPutnam]

Freeway route 40 to 15 to 99 to Visalia for Sequoia & Kings Canyon then 99 to 140 for Yosemite.

Scenic route 40 to 15 to 395 or 40 to 395 if they cross

Mono Lake is quite interesting but the descent into Yosemite is steep and loaded with switchbacks. Take in lower gears, stay off the brakes and pull over frequently to let others pass and you should be fine

[Scott V.]

Or look at CA 99 to Fresno and CA 41 into Yosemite. Your 24' should fit many campsites in Yosemite Valley or there are many private RV parks outside the National Park. Consider leaving Yosemite via CA 120 back to CA 99 and then north via I5 to Portland.

[popshumphrey]

Thanks and open to any other information

[bikendan]

Just realize that any private RV campground will not be close.

[farmerjeff]

All the suggestions are good routes. I like I40 to 58 and connect to 395. 395 is less crowded than 99 and the backside of the Sierra is incredible. Lots of National Forest campgrounds that will take a 24'. You could take 120 through Yosemite or continue on 395 to the Tahoe area.

Depending upon your schedule you could then take 89 north out of Tahoe and visit Lassen National Park, a somewhat quiet park compared to the more popular ones to the south.

This route will be a lot slower than 5 but great scenery.

[Hclarkx]

Do you have your Yosemite reservations? I hope so. I just checked one of the Valley campgrounds (Lower Pines) and it is booked solid through the booking window right now (May 28th). I suspect the others are too. Maybe Tuolumne Meadows as well. Tuolumne meadows is max 24' and the Valley CGs have few sites longer than 24 so you are golden in terms of length. The remainder of the reservation season will be released at 7:00 a.m. on June 15.

We've only once gotten reservations in the Valley (we are too long for Tuolumne Meadows and not many sites for us to choose from in the Valley) and did that by clicking reserve on a site one millisecond after the block was released at 7:00 a.m. PST (wife was backing me up on another available site and somebody beat her).

Alternatives are in El Portal to the SW (RV parks) and several dry-camp campgrounds on 120 between Lee Vining (on Hwy 395) and the east entrance near Tuolumne Meadows). However those campgrounds close for the season when a ranger so much as sees one snow flake (been there, saw it). We got there in early October 2017, weeks before the scheduled closures, and all were already closed.

September is fairly safe snow-wise. The risk of snow and Hwy 120 closure exists in October but is modest. Expect snow in November. Though the Park may be open chain laws are enforced.