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California Natty Parks

Anonymous Thu 30 Apr 2026 20:13:30 No.2867546 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>2867606 >>2869042 >>2869051

Finally making it to California for 2 weeks next month to do some of their national parks. I've done 28/63 parks so far so I've been to a few, anything that's a must see/do? I already booked a ferry for the Channel Islands but that's all I've got so far.

I planned on hitting up Channel islands, Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Kings Canyon and Sequoia. Any advice appreciated!

Pic is a photo of Bryce Canyon I took last year

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 01 May 2026 02:34:45 No.2867584 Report

Quoted By: >>2867604 >>2869051

Why aren't you going to Yosemite?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 01 May 2026 05:11:47 No.2867598 Report

Quoted By: >>2867600 >>2867603

Buddy Death Valley is gonna be outrageously hot by then, and Joshua Tree will be pushing it. If you ain’t from round here, your gonna melt.

Worth visiting, just not great timing. Also it’s been unseasonably hot down here so far this year, I would not trust the forecasts with certitude.

Go see them redwoods up Eureka way

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 01 May 2026 05:43:17 No.2867600 Report

Quoted By:

>>2867598
Remind me of german boi, said his sandals done melted from walkin ina sand in death Valley

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 01 May 2026 07:25:50 No.2867603 Report

Quoted By: >>2867615

>>2867598
Honestly I'm only going because I found a flight from Buffalo to La for 150$ and I have a lot of vacation time so the timing works out.

As far as I understand death valley is more or less a drive through/go there and look at it park unless you're going during the spring bloom but yeah i know it's gonna be hot as hell lol.

Hard agree that Joshua tree is gonna be mildy miserable I was debating on doing a horse back trail to minimize the suffering

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 01 May 2026 07:40:31 No.2867604 Report

Quoted By: >>2867686

>>2867584
I try to spend a few days at each park I go to instead of just breezing through it and missing some of the sights so I planned on doing Yosemite, Pinnacles, Redwoods and Lassen Volcanic as a second trip in the future.

California has more parks than any other state and even outside the parks there's some awesome stuff so my approach has always been to have extra time to explore rather than not enough.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 01 May 2026 08:36:48 No.2867606 Report

Quoted By:

>>2867546
Californian who moved to israel here, I speak for every one their when I tell you
Fuck off were full
>>2866074

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 01 May 2026 13:49:41 No.2867615 Report

Quoted By:

>>2867603
>flight from Buffalo to La for 150$
lol... good luck

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 01 May 2026 16:56:57 No.2867628 Report

Quoted By: >>2867637

Which channel island are you going to? And if you're renting a car, it's technically not a national park but I always recommend that people drive through Big Sur on PCH. Beautiful scenery any time of the year.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 01 May 2026 18:19:17 No.2867637 Report

Quoted By: >>2867688

>>2867628
I'll add Big Spur to my itinerary for Pinnacles thanks for the suggestion

I'm going to do a day pass to Santa Cruz Island though, I figured start with the biggest one first lol

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 02 May 2026 04:50:58 No.2867686 Report

Quoted By:

>>2867604
you goofed, that time of year is great for Yosemite, the waterfalls are incredible, though there's no snow this year so they'll probably dry out soon, and awful for Death Valley and Joshua Tree. You should really save those for a winter trip, you can do Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce too, they're all great in winter. Some nice areas near Vegas also.

Channel Islands you should camp overnight if you can, probably too late to book though. The kayak tours are expensive but I thought it was worth it. Snorkeling was nice too, but frigid.
In Sequoia the Giant Forest area is great but gets busy, start as early as possible, and go beyond the paved paths, there's a pretty extensive trail network to design your own loops out of. I also recommend Muir Grove, it's not the best grove but it's pretty good and because the campground is closed it will probably be empty.
Even if you somehow get lucky and it's "only" in the 70s or 80s in the desert, the midday sun will still bake you alive. If it's 90s or higher, forget it, just do shorter hikes right around sunrise or sunset.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 02 May 2026 05:11:25 No.2867688 Report

Quoted By: >>2869021

>>2867637
If you booked Scorpion on Santa Cruz change it to Prisoners which is much less busy and has more vegetation, prettier views, etc. Unless you really want beach access or to look at historic buildings.
Wear an /out/ themed patch if you have one I work for the boat

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 18 May 2026 19:49:18 No.2869021 Report

Quoted By:

>>2867688
Dude right on thanks for the advice I switched my booking to prisoners that sounds much more inline with what I'm looking for I'll put my /out/ patch on my backpack! Your a real one bud cheers

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 19 May 2026 01:29:34 No.2869042 Report

Quoted By:

>>2867546
It all depends on what you like to do. There’s a difference from walking around between the gift shops and museums and never leaving the 8ft wide trails, and hiking, climbing, backpacking and exploring. Like, how many miles can you hike in a day? At elevation? Up steep terrain? All pertinent information.

I’ve been just about everywhere.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 19 May 2026 03:36:33 No.2869051 Report

Quoted By: >>2869128 >>2869613 >>2869929

>>2867546
>Joshua Tree
Boring
>Death Valley
Mostly Boring
>Kings Canyon
Actually enjoyable and fun
>Sequoia
It's fine, but overpacked for most of the good trails
>>2867584
>Yosemite
One of the most overrated parks

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 19 May 2026 18:49:02 No.2869128 Report

Quoted By:

>>2869051
Yosemite by far is the most impressive park in the US. I sp calls if you go outside the valley and visit other areas inside the park like Tuolumne meadows.

If you’re a rock climber, it is literally Mecca!

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 24 May 2026 16:28:10 No.2869613 Report

Quoted By:

>>2869051
yosemite mogs those other ones, let's be real. I'd rather go to yosemite by itself than all the other parks combined.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 27 May 2026 07:42:48 No.2869929 Report

Quoted By:

>>2869051
You are a massive faggot fr fr

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 27 May 2026 13:31:56 No.2869941 Report

Quoted By:

Why would you go to Death Valley all the blooms are over and its just a flat barren wasteland.
Go to Yosemite instead.

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