Yosemite fire - may have to change travel plans

[Krolik]

Some of you may have heard that Yosemite has been closed till the end of this week due to Ferguson fire.
As luck would have it our family and our friends have upcoming reservation to stay in Yosemite next week. If the park stays closed and the smoke conditions don't improve we will be forced to change our plans.

My questions is: what would be a good place to visit instead ?
- we have 4 nights,
- flying to San Francisco and another family flying to Fresno
- 4 adults / 3  young children (4, 6, 7 years old)
- preferably somewhere between San Francisco and Fresno

Any advice appreciated,
Thank you!

[patchyfacialhair]

Camping and activities on the coast: Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, Santa Cruz?

[FIRE@50]

Tahoe is beautiful. There are also some other National Parks in the area I think. Sequoia maybe?

[Mikila]

I would go to Murphys (area).  See Mercer Caverns or Moaning Caverns, Calaveras Big Trees, Hike into Natural Bridges swimming hole-nevermind, might run across some nudists there, ha ha. That would scar the kids.  Well, hike into Candy Rock Swimming hole then and if there was time, drive up highway 108 towards Sonora Pass.  There are a couple spots past Strawberry, CA that are drop dead gorgeous and some neat hikes in there, too.  That should get you the Sierra Nevada experience, not quite as fantastic as Yosemite, but a lot of family fun nevertheless.


Source: I grew up near Yosemite

[Mikila]

Some links for your sight-seeing pleasure
Donnell Vista https://www.google.com/maps/place/Donnell+Vista/@38.3136931,-119.8383359,12z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x8097484f525f4355:0x558dba3ef8bb51e8!2sStrawberry,+CA+95375!3b1!8m2!3d38.19825!4d-120.009351!3m4!1s0x809744d78511aa79:0x46d0c78c42cdc7fc!8m2!3d38.3411176!4d-119.9249554
Carson Wilderness
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Carson-Iceberg+Wilderness/@38.4504653,-119.7490659,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipPSHPqebfuv4fexKzRe0DN5_6Dd6oAUMb8ztFFl!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPSHPqebfuv4fexKzRe0DN5_6Dd6oAUMb8ztFFl%3Dw156-h117-k-no!7i4320!8i3240!4m5!3m4!1s0x8097671b656fdbcf:0x1a6d3c2b55c744d0!8m2!3d38.4504653!4d-119.7490659
Moaning Caverns is well worth seeing, as well.

[mm1970]

Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP. Although it might be impossible to find camping or lodging in the area this time of year. Plus its extremely hot there right now. Central coast anywhere from Pismo Beach/Morro Bay to Montery/Santa Cruz would be great but again will be hard to find affordable lodging or camping.

Also will both families be getting rental cars or just one? That will make a big difference in where you can go. If one of the couples has to drive to get the other then you are much more limited. Can you change your plans? Maybe go somewhere that's not in the middle of a huge heat wave or fire? Cancel them for another time?  Can the people flying into Fresno fly into San Fran instead? TBH the Central Valley of Cali is pretty much a hellhole in summer outside of the Nat or State Parks and 100 plus degrees so a trip to the Bay area would be much better but a long drive from Fresno and back  for just 4 days.

This!

I have friends who are camping in Sequoia right now.

Might be able to find places to stay (camping or otherwise) on the central coast - Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande, San Simeon, Morro Bay.

We are looking to go somewhere for a long weekend in August, and yeah - basically central CA inland is hot as fuck.  In order to get cooler weather, have to go further, and I don't wanna drive that far.

[FireHiker]

Dang, I didn't realize they had actually closed Yosemite Valley. That's brutal this time of year. I see that Hetch Hetchy and Tuolumne Meadows are still open. We like the Tuolumne Meadows side of the park (gets less crowded and there are some awesome hikes, like Cathedral Lakes). You may consider staying in Mammoth? Lodging is a little more reasonable there in the summer vs. the winter, and there's a lot of great hiking there too. It's an easy shot over the Tioga Pass to Tuolumne Meadows. Tahoe is also nice this time of year; we like the area of the Desolation Wilderness near Wright's Lake but I don't know how hard it is to get campsites last minute (if you were planning to camp). I just had my Mt. Whitney plans impacted by a fire earlier in the month so I feel for you. It's been a bad summer for it so far.

[John Galt incarnate!]

Some of you may have heard that Yosemite has been closed till the end of this week due to Ferguson fire.
As luck would have it our family and our friends have upcoming reservation to stay in Yosemite next week. If the park stays closed and the smoke conditions don't improve we will be forced to change our plans.

My questions is: what would be a good place to visit instead ?
- we have 4 nights,
- flying to San Francisco and another family flying to Fresno
- 4 adults / 3  young children (4, 6, 7 years old)
- preferably somewhere between San Francisco and Fresno

Any advice appreciated,
Thank you!

Relative to my property Ferguson Fire started ~20-25 miles away @ ~30 degrees azimuth.

My property  is  @ ~180 degrees azimuth.

 ~3 hours ago I took these pics that show fire moved to east and south and is now @ ~75 degrees azimuth.

Fire is also moving northeast.

Fire is ~43,000 acres and only ~27% contained.

Smoke is and has been blowing to south and east for days so it may be smoky in Fresno region  and Sequoia National Forest.