where to buy the park passes

On our last visit 8 or so years ago I seem to remember we bought an annual pass that allowed us to visit all the National parks. Can we purchase them at any park? Our first stop in an R V is Brannan State park - do state parks apply and could we purchase one there?

We have also booked our Yosemite pitches (thanks again for the info) and our last three nights in San Francisco as it covers Memorial weekend - is it really neccessary to book the rest of the trip ahead or can we just see what takes our fancy. We are travelling from 13th May to 27th May.

Cheers!

where to buy the park passes

You can purchase national park passes in any national park. They do not include any state parks, those need to be purchased separately at a state park.

In terms of reservations, you are entering the busy season but it depends on your location. You%26#39;ve been wise to book Yosemite and San Fran. I would think you would be OK if you%26#39;re willing to be flexible on the rest of the time.

Have fun.

where to buy the park passes

The former Golden Eagle National Park pass is now America the Beautiful multi-agency pass. It costs more but includes more places. This is a description: http://store.usgs.gov/pass/index.html This site has answers to many questions, including yours: http://store.usgs.gov/pass/general.html I agree with tkellytravel; just buy one at your first National Park.

Note ~ I don%26#39;t remember how many Parks you are visiting, but you might want to check the total cost to be sure you are getting a deal. One week entry fees range from $10 to $25, depending on the Park.

Hi Brenda, have you booked your night in Brannon SP already? As far as other RV parks and campgrounds, whether or not to book ahead depends somewhat on where you are going? I remember you, but cannot recall your itinerary :-)

The high-tourist, popular places will be busy even in May. Calif State Parks are often booked far in advance, particularly along the ocean. Your best chance at just dropping in to an RV park will be with private parks, as they usually do not book far ahead.

Have I given you the three useful websites to locate RV parks and campgrounds? If not, let me know and I will! Even if you%26#39;ll not have a laptop with you, you can make lists and/or copies of possible stopping places, rather than just driving around an area trying to find a park.

State Parks are separate from National Parks.

There are federal parks and state parks - both use different passes. For California park pass, see:

http://store.parks.ca.gov/passes.aspx

You need to spend 12 or more days in the California state parks to make it worth the value of buying an annual pass. We usually do but then we are locals and love the outdoors, so we do get our value worth.

For Yosemite, the national park pass can be of value (however, we usually go in the fall and always find the ranger stations closed and thus get in the park and exit for free for the late hours that we usually enter and leave the park.)

Thanks again for all the useful information. Our itinerary is quite flexible - starting off from San Francisco we want to stay somewhere halfway between there and Yosemite where we will be spending 3 nights.

From Yosemite we thought of heading to Coloma and spend 2 nights there then on to Lake Tahoe - we are not sure if 2 nights there will be too much? From Lake Tahoe, heading to Fort Bragg spending 2 nights, hopefully with a trip on the %26#39;skunk railway?%26#39; Fort Bragg to Calistoga where we have booked 1 night and then back to San Francisco again with 3 nights booked - the last 4 nights pre booked due to memorial weekend - again thanks to all who mentioned this holiday as we didn%26#39;t know about it.

If anyone has any thoughts/R V pitches/detours we would love to hear from you as we are just planning this from a book and not through any prior knowledge.

cheers!

Here are three main guides to locating RV parks:

http://www.rv-clubs.us/rv_campgrounds.html

http://www.rvparkhunter.com/page2.asp

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/index.html

The term ';pitches'; isn%26#39;t used here and nobody will know what you are talking about! They are called RV sites or campsites.

If you are thinking of staying anywhere along the coast, you should book ahead, as even in May it will be busy.

* ';From Yosemite we thought of heading to Coloma and spend 2 nights there '; *

You don%26#39;t actually need two nights at Coloma. It is an interesting historic site (where the 1849 California Gold Rush began) and scenic, but you can see it in a few hours.

From Yosemite Valley to Coloma is about 150 mi/240 km. From Coloma to South Lake Tahoe is only about 75 mi/110 km. So you could stop at Coloma, have dinner and stay over, and spend a few hours sightseeing in the morning before going on to Tahoe. Or if you have more stamina and want to spend more time in either Yosemite or Tahoe, you could do the entire trip in one long day.

There are limited options for lodging at Coloma, which is a very small town. There are more choices at Placerville, which is right on the highway to Tahoe, but some of them are pretty overpriced, especially those right in town. At the eastern edge of town are a few older motels that will cost less and also be in a quieter area.

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