My wife and I will be in Southern California visiting my daughter around the third week of April. We've been wanting to get up to Sequoia for just a short visit. No hiking planned. Just want to see the Redwoods. Probably just an overnight stay. I realize weather can vary greatly but generally speaking, good, bad time ? Any input would be appreciated.
Gary
sum1sgrampa wrote:
My wife and I will be in Southern California visiting my daughter around the third week of April. We've been wanting to get up to Sequoia for just a short visit. No hiking planned. Just want to see the Redwoods. Probably just an overnight stay. I realize weather can vary greatly but generally speaking, good, bad time ? Any input would be appreciated.
Gary
I have not visited Sequoia in April, but I’m familiar with other areas of the Sierra Nevada at all times of the year including April. You should be able to get to the Sequoias at that point. While it isn’t impossible, it is unlikely that you’d encounter snow storms by the middle of April. And the groves are along or not far off of the main highway through the park.
April in that part of California is typically warm and dry but elevation makes a difference and you could get an oddball weather front and it could be cooler at times. Sequoias grow between 4000’ and 8000’ (I’d have to look up the elevations of the groves in the park) which should be accessible. Most likely you’d have cool temperatures but most likely sunny skies. Do expect cool to cold nights. It will also likely be a bit muddy still from winter rains and snowfall.
I have an old Yosemite PBase gallery fron late April one year. Although not in the shared pics, we had snow, some fresh at Mariposa Grove but had no trouble getting to the grove. The rangers had chains going on as we left Wawona going north but within a turnout or two, southbound rangers were lifting chain requirements.. We also had some nice spring bloom along the Merced River and over Tejon Pass on I5 - so, there's lots of anticipation of good flowers this year so something else to look forward to, as well.
Craig Gillette wrote:
I have an old Yosemite PBase gallery fron late April one year. Although not in the shared pics, we had snow, some fresh at Mariposa Grove but had no trouble getting to the grove. The rangers had chains going on as we left Wawona going north but within a turnout or two, southbound rangers were lifting chain requirements.. We also had some nice spring bloom along the Merced River and over Tejon Pass on I5 - so, there's lots of anticipation of good flowers this year so something else to look forward to, as well.
April is a weird month in the Sierra. While most of the time it will be nice…
… I distinctly recall a visit to Yosemite Valley one early April when we camped in falling snow. (Heck, I have encountered snow in April in… Death Valley… at Scotty’s Castle!)
That’s April in California: A time when conditions are leaning much more strongly towards spring and summer, but when you can be surprised by an echo of winter.
I just returned from another visit to Death Valley and surrounding desert areas this week, driving over Tehachapi Pass and then up/down the Central Valley to/from the SF Bay Area. The wildflower show is definitely beginning. There are already a lot of flowers in many low elevation places in Death Valley, and they are getting started along 14 and 395 in the desert. We saw some patches starting along 58 as we descended toward Bakersfield, and hills are “impossibly green” as you get closer to the mountains along the Great Valley. There’s quite a visible snow pack in the Sierra, as viewed from the Valley… but we’re starting a period of warmer-than-usual weather than is going to produce some real runoff soon.
Was there still water in Lake Manley? I'm in Flagstaff now on a prescheduled trip to the Grand Canyon for a few days. Some snow in patches on the ground in sheltered spots, old piles on parking lot edges, etc. As opposed to a first week of April trip years ago where we got well over a foot of snow overnight here in April, which hammered all the roads and our reservations, etc. Oh yeah, maybe under freezing last night but folks are in sun wear today.
But I would expect a variety of opportunities in April for a good trip.
gdanmitchell wrote:
I have not visited Sequoia in April, but I’m familiar with other areas of the Sierra Nevada at all times of the year including April. You should be able to get to the Sequoias at that point. While it isn’t impossible, it is unlikely that you’d encounter snow storms by the middle of April. And the groves are along or not far off of the main highway through the park.
April in that part of California is typically warm and dry but elevation makes a difference and you could get an oddball weather front and it could be cooler at times. Sequoias grow between 4000’ and 8000’ (I’d have to look up the elevations of the groves in the park) which should be accessible. Most likely you’d have cool temperatures but most likely sunny skies. Do expect cool to cold nights. It will also likely be a bit muddy still from winter rains and snowfall. ...Show more →
---------------------------------------------
Craig Gillette wrote:
I have an old Yosemite PBase gallery fron late April one year. Although not in the shared pics, we had snow, some fresh at Mariposa Grove but had no trouble getting to the grove. The rangers had chains going on as we left Wawona going north but within a turnout or two, southbound rangers were lifting chain requirements.. We also had some nice spring bloom along the Merced River and over Tejon Pass on I5 - so, there's lots of anticipation of good flowers this year so something else to look forward to, as well.
Thanks very much for your responses. Still up in the air. I'd go in a heartbeat regardless of weather but my wife is not a fan of the cold and we've gotten more than enough this winter already
Craig Gillette wrote:
Was there still water in Lake Manley? I'm in Flagstaff now on a prescheduled trip to the Grand Canyon for a few days. Some snow in patches on the ground in sheltered spots, old piles on parking lot edges, etc. As opposed to a first week of April trip years ago where we got well over a foot of snow overnight here in April, which hammered all the roads and our reservations, etc. Oh yeah, maybe under freezing last night but folks are in sun wear today.
But I would expect a variety of opportunities in April for a good trip....Show more →
Craig, I missed this DEVA question, but I'll go ahead and answer here. (You might want to start a DEVA thread in this forum?)
It has now been a week since we returned, so some things have probably evolved a bit. I know that the temperatures had risen after we left — we saw highs in the mid to low 70s, but I have seen reports that things are edging well into the 80s now.
There was still quite a bit of water in Lake Manly, actually. IT has receded from its peak back nearly 2025, but 2025 fall and winter storms replenished it. While it has probably declined a little in the week since we were there, I'm pretty sure it is still doing OK... but I would not wait too long.
As a friend noted, right now the two (temporary) stars of the show in DEVA are Lake Manly and the wildflowers. The wildflowers were going strong when we were there, and I suspect that they still are even in the lower Valley elevations. In places the desert fold flowers covered some of the gravel fans, there was a ton of sand verbena in the usual places, phacelia was turning ares purple, and small flowers and plants were underfoot everywhere. Judging by the number of green plants that had not yet flowered, there's still a lot of potential going forward, especially in canyons and eventually at higher elevations.
gdanmitchell wrote:
Craig, I missed this DEVA question, but I'll go ahead and answer here. (You might want to start a DEVA thread in this forum?)
It has now been a week since we returned, so some things have probably evolved a bit. I know that the temperatures had risen after we left — we saw highs in the mid to low 70s, but I have seen reports that things are edging well into the 80s now.
There was still quite a bit of water in Lake Manly, actually. IT has receded from its peak back nearly 2025, but 2025 fall and winter storms replenished it. While it has probably declined a little in the week since we were there, I'm pretty sure it is still doing OK... but I would not wait too long.
As a friend noted, right now the two (temporary) stars of the show in DEVA are Lake Manly and the wildflowers. The wildflowers were going strong when we were there, and I suspect that they still are even in the lower Valley elevations. In places the desert fold flowers covered some of the gravel fans, there was a ton of sand verbena in the usual places, phacelia was turning ares purple, and small flowers and plants were underfoot everywhere. Judging by the number of green plants that had not yet flowered, there's still a lot of potential going forward, especially in canyons and eventually at higher elevations.
I've as yet to get to Death Valley so on my list, but with no interest in the "hot" times, so some timing involved. I spent some time at Grand Canyon and really don't like the drive. So I thought about splitting the drive home and going to Death Valley for a day or so. But too much going on at home to try at this time.
There was a lot of bloom along the highway margins but not farther out away from the highways, mostly yellows, brittlebush? and some other low smaller plants, some lupine. The ocotillo hadn't started blooming between Kingman and the river.
Craig Gillette wrote:
I've as yet to get to Death Valley so on my list, but with no interest in the "hot" times, so some timing involved. I spent some time at Grand Canyon and really don't like the drive. So I thought about splitting the drive home and going to Death Valley for a day or so. But too much going on at home to try at this time.
There was a lot of bloom along the highway margins but not farther out away from the highways, mostly yellows, brittlebush? and some other low smaller plants, some lupine. The ocotillo hadn't started blooming between Kingman and the river. ...Show more →
There are definitively good and bad times to go to DEVA!
I have never gone in the summer season, and I really have no interest in doing so.
(I have European relatives who _chose_ to go in the July/August time frame. Lots of international tourists do. This always puzzled me, so I asked them why. They told me that Death Valley is known to them for being the hottest place on earth, and that is what they wanted to experience!)
My visits are typically between December and the first week of April. The earlier parts of December are very good since it is not really a crowded time. There’s a decent chance of getting interesting clouds at that time of year. (And continuing into the spring.) Right around Christmas and New Years there is a jump in visitors, so it isn’t quite as wonderfully lonely, but it is still a good time to go. Things are similar after New Year’s, though again with smaller numbers of visitors. (I’ve never had a problem just showing up and getting a campsite at places other than the popular Furnace Creek campground at this time of year.)
Sometime later, depending on the amount of and timing of any preceding rainfall, green plants start to appear. (We saw them before Christmas this past season.) That’s a sign of the coming wildflower season and its potential. Some years it doesn’t amount to much, but in others (like THIS year!) the wildflowers can be spectacular, perhaps staring in the second half of February or so and continuing into March in low country and gradually rising in elevation. I’ve photographed wildflowers high in the Panamint Range in the first part of April.
By the middle of April the climate is getting hotter than I’m up for, especially since other locations in California and the West are starting to look pretty good by then.
If you are in a position to drop everything and go to DEVA on a moment’s notice, I’d recommend going right now. There’s water in Lake Manly (a somewhat rare occurrence) and it is really a great wildflower year. I don’t know what the strict definition of “superbloom” is, but it is at least darned close.
I’ll close by looping back to our OP’s original question about Sequoia. Another option could be to visit Yosemite Valley at about the same time. It is lower than the sequoia tree areas in Sequoia National Park, but you can drive from the Valley to somewhat higher elevations to see sequoias in Yosemite, too. One easy access point — but check on conditions first — is the grove by the south entrance from Oakhurst.
Ah, unfortunately I've probably used up my available time, too many things going on at home. I was able to slip my stay at the canyon back a day so I could attend a funeral, and maybe should have extended to Pahrump instead of Flagstaff. Ah well.
For the OP, I'm not familiar enough to suggest groves south of the national parks but there are several, I believe, somewhat near Porterville? Calaveras Big Trees may be a possibility, farther north on Highway 4 Ebbets Pass, near Angel's Camp. It's not open all the way across maybe at their time frame but I believe the highway is kept open if possible for one of the ski areas farther up the road.
