Yosemite Vs Sequoia: Which Park Should You Visit?

Are you visiting California and feel like you only have time to visit 1 national park?

First of all… WOOHOO! You are going to have the best time no matter which park you pick because they are both so beautiful! You might even find that you can actually fit both Sequoia and Yosemite into your schedule as they are both so close to each other. Read on to find out more on this.

If you would prefer to stick to 1 national park, I’m here to let you know what the differences are between the 2 parks and which park is best for what.

Dave and I visited both Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park on our 15 Day California Summer Road Trip and we found them both so unique in their own way and different to each other. Now I can help you figure out which national park would be best for you!

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In a Snapshot: Yosemite vs Sequoia

Both Yosemite and Sequoia are absolutely incredible National Parks and you can’t go wrong with either, but they are actually quite different to each other. For those of you who don’t have time to read the entire blog post, here is a snapshot of things that stand for each park and a brief outline of which park is best for what.

Yosemite

Best time to go: late Spring / Summer / Fall
Top things to do: Hiking, sight seeing, photography, swimming, tubing
Ways to explore the park: by car, shuttle or day tour
Best places to stay: Yosemite Valley Lodge or The Ahwahnee
Best tours: Yosemite Valley Private Hiking Tour & Yosemite Highlights Small Group Tour
Permits required: America the Beautiful pass

Sequoia

Best time to go: Summer, Spring or Fall. Winter is also a magical time to visit!
Top things to do: Hiking, visit the Giant Forest Museum, walking tour, photography, cave tour
Ways to explore the park: by car, shuttle or day tour
Best places to stay: Wuksachi Lodge or The Gateway Lodge & Restaurant
Best tours: Sequoia NP Small Group Tour from 3 Rivers
Permits required: America the Beautiful pass

This National Park is best for…

📸 Best park for photography: Both

🍹 Best park for restaurants and bars: Yosemite

🚶‍♀️ Best park for hiking: Yosemite

⛺ Best park to do van life and camping: Both

🌲 Best park for forests: Sequoia

🥾 Next check out my 4 Day Yosemite Itinerary to help plan your trip!

OR My 2 Day Sequoia National Park Itinerary

girl standing at Taft Point at sunset — *Taft Point in Yosemite*

2 Giant Sequoias with a couple in between

Girl in Sequoia national park next to the Giant Sequoias

Things to consider when choosing which National Park to visit

How long do you have for your trip

If you have a shorter amount of time in the area (ie: 1-2 days, you might want to consider saving Yosemite for another time and seeing Sequoia this time around. If you have your heart set on Yosemite, it is doable to see it in 1 or 2 days. I actually have a 1 day itinerary here to help you plan so that you can get the most out of your 1 day in Yosemite.

How far is Sequoia from Yosemite

If you are in the area and have enough time, why not do both. 😉 We spent 4 days in Yosemite and 2 days in Sequoia. The driving distance is a bout 2 hours 40 minutes from 1 park to the other.

🌲 Have you decided to visit both parks in the same trip? Check out my 5 day Yosemite and Sequoia National Park Itinerary!

Girl standing in the middle of Giant Sequoia Trees in Sequoia National Park

Are you travelling with kids

If you are travelling with kids, you will definitely need to factor this into your decision. I think that both parks are a great experience for kids because Yosemite has SO much to see and do like swimming and tubing down the river and Sequoia is so unusual and magical with its giant trees but have a think about what your kids would prefer before deciding.

What time of the year are you going

If you are visiting in Winter, personally I would look at visiting Sequoia because it looks so so magical but make sure you do all the proper research with regards to road and trail closures as I know that some entrances in Yosemite close for the Winter.

Differences between Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks

Popularity and busyness

Yosemite National Park

Although both parks were pretty busy when we visited in the Summer, Yosemite was definitely the busier of the 2. It was so busy to the point where you need to get up super early and find a parking spot for the day and then either do a bunch of activities around that parking spot or utilise the park shuttles. If you are wanting to visit Yosemite in a bit of a quieter season, I would recommend going in Spring or even in Winter.

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park had the same issue with the parking situation when we were there in the Summer, however, the park also offers shuttles to get around so that you do not need to move your car. Yosemite being the larger of the 2 parks, had more people overall but Sequoia felt just as busy with less people within a smaller area.

Viewpoints

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park and its INCREDIBLE viewpoints. I could go on and on about how damn stunning some of the views are in Yosemite, especially when you drive up to Glacier Point. Oh my gosh I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Yosemite has viewpoints lower down in the valley and also lots of viewpoints up high look down into the valley and out to Half Dome.

girl sitting on hut at sunrise with half dome in the background

Sequoia National Park

Most of Sequoia National Park’s viewpoints are based down low in amongst the trees because they are views of the trees themselves. There are also a few viewpoints higher up such as Moro Rock which is one of the best sunset spots in Sequoia. If your main want out of your trip is stunning viewpoints and sunrises and sunsets, I would pick Yosemite.

Girl sitting at viewpoint at Moro Rock at sunset

Cost of visiting

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite is not exactly a cheap holiday. The park ticket itself is not too bad. You can get an America the Beautiful pass which covers most US National Parks for an entire year. The thing that you will spend your money on however, is the accommodation and food while you are there.

For example, you can book a glamping tent in the park for around USD$170 per night or a cabin for 4 people for USD1,000 a night. You do have the option of camping in the park which will save you quite a bit of money but you have to be ready to book as soon as the campsite permits are released for the season.

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park is pretty cheap to visit in comparison to Yosemite. You will need an America the Beautiful pass or just a day pass if you don’t plan on visiting any other national parks in the year-long period. There are no restaurant options in the park, meaning that you are forced to bring your own lunch and snacks, making the trip somewhat cheaper.

Hotel accommodation ranges from USD$150-450 per night so is a bit more affordable than Yosemite. The price also depends on whether you want to stay in the park itself or just outside the park in the town of Three Rivers.

If you would prefer to stay inside the park, somewhere like the Wuksachi Lodge is around USD$420 per night but it is a NICE hotel with its own restaurant, surrounded by nature and located right next to one of the main trails in Sequoia, The Congress Trail.

Accommodation

Yosemite National Park

In Yosemite National Park, you can choose to camp or stay in hotel accommodation.

We camped at Wawona Campground which I actually wouldn’t recommend because it’s still quite a drive into the park to see all of the main sights. If you want to camp in Yosemite, you should try to get a permit for for Upper Pines, Lower Pines or North Pines.

Two hotels worth looking into in Yosemite, are Yosemite Valley Lodge and The Ahwahnee. These 2 hotels are located right in Yosemite Valley, which is the perfect place to be to see as much of Yosemite as possible.

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park coupled with Kings Canyon National Park, have 14 campgrounds between them! To book a campsite in Sequoia National Park, you will need to go through the National Park Service.

There are some great hotels in Sequoia National Park. If you are okay with splurging a little, I highly recommend the Wuksachi Lodge, which is located right next to one of Sequoia’s main trails, The Congress Trail.

Staying here will mean that you can get out onto the Congress Trail nice and early before anyone else!

A cheaper option is The Gateway Restaurant and Lodge, which is located outside of Sequoia in the town of Three Rivers. It is about a 50 minute drive to the Congress Trail in comparison to the Wuksachi Lodge with is right next door.

For a more in depth guide on where to stay in Sequoia

Where to Stay in Sequoia National Park: Best Areas + Lodges

General Sherman Trailhead in Sequoia National Park

Restaurants

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park has quite a few restaurants in the park to choose from. There is even a Starbucks! There are fast food options, fancier dining and even a small convenience store. Don’t fully rely on the convenience store if you are planning on cooking yourself though because they don’t have a lot. I remember there being ice cream, sandwiches, ham and possibly milk but don’t take my word for it.

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia is much more bare when it comes to restaurants and/or cafes or at least that’s what we though when we were there. We based ourselves around the Giant Forest Museum because we started our day with the Big Trees Trail. However, now that I am doing the research for this blog, I have found that there is a place where you can get hot food and snacks called the Lodgepole Market and Grill. I feel a little silly now but that’s okay. We had our own food packed for our time there anyway.

There is also the Peaks Restaurant which is more of a sit down restaurant that serves things like burgers and pizza.

Amount of driving when in the park

Yosemite National Park

I actually don’t want to think about how much petrol our car consumed when we were in Yosemite for 4 days and we didn’t even cover all of the park. Yosemite is MASSIVE. Even if you just want to see the Glacier Point area and the Yosemite Valley area, you will find yourself doing a lot of driving because it is about an hour or so just to get from Glacier Point to Yosemite Valley.

Then once you are in Yosemite Valley, the road is one way, so if you miss your turn off to an attraction, you will need to drive around the entire valley again which is around a 30 minute drive. We found this part of Yosemite very frustrating.

Sequoia National Park

You will find that you need to do a lot less driving in Sequoia National Park to get from attraction to attraction that Yosemite. Everything is pretty close together in Sequoia, making it easier to see more in a small amount of time.

Getting around the park

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite Valley is a little big of a nightmare to drive around but that is why they offer their shuttle service around Yosemite Valley. Getting from Yosemite Valley to other places in the park like Glacier Point is less of an issue and it’s easiest to take your own car.

infographic of Yosemite's shuttle service — *Credit: nps.gov*

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park only has a certain amount of parking which fills up very quickly, so like Yosemite Valley, it is best to park somewhere in the morning and leave your car whilst you take the free shuttles around the park. The shuttles do not run all-year-round, so make sure you check their website before you go.

Infographic showing Sequoia's shuttle routes — *Credit: nps.gov*

Commonly Asked Questions

Can I spend only 1 day in Yosemite National Park?

Yes! You can definitely spend only 1 day in Yosemite National Park if that’s all you have time for! The easiest way to spend 1 day in Yosemite in my opinion is to join a tour from San Francisco like this one.

The best thing about this tour is that you get to see some MUST SEE Yosemite spots like Half Dome, Yosemite Falls and Tunnel View (which is one of the best photography spots in the park), AND you also get to see Sequoia Trees!

👉 Make sure you book the tour ahead of time because it tends to sell out fast, especially in the Summer!

If you would prefer to explore the park yourself, I have written a 1 Day Yosemite Itinerary here that you can use to plan your trip. If you decide to do the 1 day trip yourself, I recommend spending a night either side in Yosemite Valley.

Can I spend only 1 day in Sequoia National Park?

Sequoia National Park is perfect for a 1 day trip, however, it is easier if you spend at least a night there. You can see most of the main attractions in one day if you wake up early and plan it right.

A much easier way of seeing Sequoia in 1 day, is to join a tour like this one! You will spend 6 hours exploring the park and seeing all of the must-sees like the incredible General Sherman Tree.

The best part of this particular tour is that the guide will take you to hidden gems and their personal favourite spots, which is a fantastic opportunity to get some really amazing and unique photos away from the crowds!

‼ Make sure you book this tour early so you don’t miss out because it is one of the best!

Which park I would choose if I could only pick 1

I would 100% choose Yosemite just because of how much variety there is in its views and things to see and do. One minute, you are standing on the top of Glacier Point, staring down into the Valley and the next you are swimming in the river to cool off.

It has become one of my favourite US National Parks. I spent 4 days with Dave there when we were on our California Road Trip in the Summer last year and I already want to go back. There is so much to see and do in Yosemite and I think it’s going to take a few more trips there before we feel like we are done.

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