Renting an RV and hitting the open road is a dream for a lot of people. Why not make this the year you act on your dream and rent an RV from Los Angeles or San Francisco. California has lots of great places to visit, but if you want to get away from the hustle of everyday life try a road trip to one of the California National Parks.

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is located in the Sierra Nevada and became protected land in 1864. In the park, you can see the power of the glaciers as they smoothed and shaped the granite rock. The drive to Glacier Point is almost as spectacular as Glacier Point itself. Take your RV rental to the Point or park at Badger Pass and take a shuttle to the top. Other must-sees in Yosemite are Tioga Pass, Yosemite Falls, and Halfe Dome.

Sequoia National Park

Located south of Yosemite is Sequoia National Park.  Here you will see the giant sequoia trees including General Sherman, the largest tree on earth (by volume). While there take a tour through Crystal Cave, visit the Giant Forest Museum, and stop for pictures at Tunnel Log.

Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park in southeastern California is the meeting place of the Mohave and the Colorado deserts. Along with the Joshua Trees themselves, you can see the wonder of nature as water has eroded the rocks in this park. Must see locations are Skull Rock, Barker Dam, Mecca Hills, and Cholla Cactus Garden.

Joshua Tree National Park is the place where the low-lying Colorado Desert meets the higher more moist and slightly cooler Mojave desert. Joshua Tree National Park is where the small pretty yellow flowers of the Creosote Bush of the Colorado desert contrast against the twisted, spikey, Dr. Seuss like trees of the Mojave Desert.

Camping in Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree Lake Campground is a great place to stay while you are enjoying the national park. The lake itself offers catch and release Catfish, Bluegill, and Bass. There is a fee for the fishing, but it goes towards the stocking and maintenance of the lake. If catch and release is not your thing there are boat and equipment rentals available in the park or go with Big Bear Fishing Carter and try your luck at catching that record-breaker.

While in Joshua Tree a hike through the Cholla Cactus Garden. The hiking difficulty of this trail is rated easy. Just watch out for the Teddy Bear Cholla Cactus. These beautiful white cactus will drive into your skin if you brush again or step on one of these alluring beauties.

A quick trip in to see the rock formations known as Skull Rock is a must. This is a short hike from the parking lot with a little geology lesson on the power of erosion.

If you are used to living in the city you may never have experienced the glory of sitting beneath the night sky staring up to the billions of glittery, twinkly lights above. Joshua Tree is one of the best places to sit and stargaze as it is far away from all those artificial lights.

Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon National Park is located next to and connected to Sequoia National Park. This park is one of the least visited parks due to its lack of roads, it was decided to leave this park as untouched as possible. Most of the park can only be access by overnight backcountry hiking. There are things that you can see without an overnight pack, like Boyden Cavern, Grant Gove, and Kings Canyon Scenic Byway that follows along Kings Canyon.

Death Valley

Death Valley National Park unlike its name sounds is a beautiful desert filled with surprisingly beautiful and vibrate places. Visiting this park in the offseason is much more enjoyable than the heat of the summer. October through May is the perfect time to visit Death Valley and the temperatures are much more tolerable. Besides RV rental companies will not let you take their RVs into Death Valley in the summer months.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Lassen Volcanic National Park is located 50 miles east of Redding California. The world’s largest volcanic dome lies here. Discover the earth’s healing powers as you see the devastation that occurred in the 1915 volcanic eruption. And see how now the flora and fauna flourish between the rocks of the hardened lava. There are 150 miles of trails to explore through this park for all skill levels.

For more information about the park, including how to get to there, things to do, a park map and more, check out this comprehensive guide to Lassen Volcanic National Park.

There are many more national parks to visit in the area, so get out your calendar and start planning your next family RV rental vacation in California. Or be spontaneous and rent an RV for this weekend and see where the road takes you.