Total Yosemite experience with giant sequoias tour

This one-day combination of Yosemite National Park and the Giant Sequoias tour from San Francisco is a great way to get the most out of your Yosemite Tour. The tour spends more time in the park (4-5 hours) than any other one-day Yosemite tour available.

In the Yosemite Valley leg, you'll generally stop to see El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Falls and Inspiration Point (aka Tunnel View). Unlike most tours, you will also drive to a higher altitude and a lesser traveled part of Yosemite National Park, for a chance to hike in the evergreen forest to see a grove of Giant Sequoia trees, the world's largest living things. Winter clothes, especially shoes or boots with rubber soles and treads, are recommended during winter from October to May.

The tour operator will always do what they can to make the trip enjoyable, but safety is the number one priority. Therefore, the route and itinerary may be changed due to snow depth, road conditions, construction projects and detours. The Giant Sequoias hike is dependent on snow levels and trail conditions from October through May.

Sample Itinerary (times are approximate):

• 6:00am-7.00am
  • Pick up for your Yosemite tour at your hotel in downtown San Francisco or Fisherman's Wharf area.
• 7.00am-9.00am
  • Continuing east, see the windmills and descend into the San Joaquin valley and stop for a break and a snack
• 9.15am-11.00am
  • Begin the climb into the foothills, through gold country, and up into the Sierra Nevada range and Yosemite National Park
• 11.00am-1.00pm
  • Explore Yosemite's many amazing sights with an informative narrated valley tour from your guide. OR weather permitting* drive to the trail for a hike (two mile roundtrip hike) to the Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoias. – This stop is dependent on snow levels and trail conditions from October to May. See Winter Tour Itinerary. Pick up a to go lunch or snacks at the grocery/deli stop in the morning for you to enjoy a snack after your hike. Alternatively you can wait for a hot meal from one of the restaurants available near the Yosemite Lodge later in the afternoon
• 1.00pm-1.30pm
  • Be amazed by Bridalveil Falls, El Capitan, Inspiration Point, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls and more! Enjoy a mini-hike and plenty of photo stops around the Yosemite Valley
• 1.30pm-2.30pm
  • Begin your free time in the Yosemite Valley. Here you can visit the gift shops, have a relaxing hot meal, or get food to go and GO! Walk to the middle of the valley, up to the river banks, or get up close to the tallest waterfall in North America, Yosemite Falls
• 2.30pm-5.00pm
  • Start the return trip, descending from the Sierras, with more great scenery as we follow the sun to the west
• 5.00pm-5.30pm
  • Stop for a break, a stretch, and a bite to eat
• 5.30pm-7.30pm
  • Continue back to San Francisco, enjoying views of the sunset over the East Bay hills, or the Peninsula and the city lights
• 7.30pm-8.30pm
  • The Yosemite tour ends at your San Francisco Hotel front door

*Times are approximate