Planning a road trip through California

California isn’t too far from us, and we have access to all sorts of fun things like Disneyland and Universal Studios Resort. While we love visiting places like that – our favorite thing to do is visit places like beaches and national parks. I recently found out that California has nine national parks. It sparked my interest so I have been researching what the best national parks in California are because I am now planning a trip through California.

I have been to California a lot, and even went with my parents when I was younger and still remember most of the trip. My favorite memories are stopping at places like the Redwood National Park. That has influenced how I have been planning this trip I plan to take with my family. We will fly in and get a rental car to drive north up the coast, starting at Joshua Tree National Park. Taking a scenic route (click for more vacation planning inspiration straight from Alamo’s Scenic Route website) is always the way to go – you see more and get to enjoy the natural beauty around you.

There are so many great places to stop and visit and I am looking forward to every minute of it. Some of the top places on our list were mentioned in the article 6 Must-See National and State Parks in California – straight from Alamo’s Scenic Route. This list gave me some great information and even more ideas. If you are working on planning a road trip through California, here are some tips:

Figure out what time of year you are going and plan according to the weather
Make a list of all of the places you want to visit and put them in order of most important to least important and map them out
Decide how much time you can spend, including flying time, driving time, adventuring time, etc.
Be sure to plan a lot of fun activities, but to also plan some down time so that your family can rejuvenate and not feel overwhelmed
Once you have a general idea of where you want to travel, and when you will be there, start planning all of the in-between things and spots that you will hit.

I hope these tips help you get started on planning a California trip to check out the spectacular national parks. If you have been to California or live there, what are your favorite places and recommendations?