My sister and I lover our first campervan trip so much, we followed it up with another one—this time through 6 National Parks in southern California.

Death Valley

We lucked out by catching the first weekend Death Valley had opened back up after roads were destroyed by flooding from a hurricane. We enjoyed a sunset hike at Zabriskie Point, gazing at what were by far the most captivating stars on our trip in Furnace Creek campground, and spent the following morning roaming through the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.

Zabriskie Point

The short walk up the lookout is worth the stop—especially if you make it at sunset. We also walked a bit along the trail that took us down in between the canyons.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

We hiked a couple miles over the sand dunes until we reached the highest dune, at which point all dunes started looking alike and unused muscles protested our going any further.

We of course had to make a stop along a random road to see the park’s famous mud cracks.

The road through California west of the park was surprisingly scenic and eventful—between the single lane closures due to the cliffside beneath the road washing away, and dodging giant tarantulas boldly crossing the pavement.

Sequoia

We had no idea what to expect at Sequoia, but it turned out to be our favorite park of the trip. The unbelievably massive trees and windy roads building up to some of the most incredible views we’ve ever seen probably had something to do with it.

Crescent Meadow

We wandered a couple miles through the very serene Crescent Meadow, and marveled from the inside of the massive trees.

Moro Rock

The 350 steps up Moro Rock were a small price to pay for the views that rendered us speechless at sunset.

General Sherman Tree

Despite having to walk over 6 miles instead of the 4 miles we estimated using our thumb as a guide on the map, the hike to the largest tree either of us have ever seen was surprisingly quiet and took us through a variety of imposing trees and calming creeks.

Tokopah Falls

The 4 miles to Tokopah Falls took us through some idyllic scenery through pines, between boulders, and along a creek that looked quite tempting in the midday warmth.

Kings Canyon

General Grant Tree

Due to winter storm damage that closed off the scenic road, and our eagerness to get to Yosemite, the General Grant Tree was our only stop in Kings Canyon—besides the gift shop, of course.

Yosemite

Nevada Falls

By far the toughest hike either of us has ever done, the 9.7 miles and over 2,900-foot elevation gain up the Mist Trail that unfortunately wrecked my sister’s knee were worth the views looking down into the valley where we camped—and worth discovering a creature called a pika exists.

Tunnel View

Having arrived at Yosemite at night, we unfortunately missed this iconic view coming out of the tunnel—but were lucky enough to catch it at sunset, cozied up with some hot cocoa.

We also did some of our best culinary work at Yosemite.

Camping on the beach

After Yosemite, we camped at Thornhill Broome campground that was just off the Pacific Coast highway. Although more primitive, with only a port a potty for facilities, the campsites were right on the beach and made for a beautiful sunset.

Channel Islands

Ferrying

The ferry over to Santa Cruz island was surprisingly entertaining, between the whale tail sightings and baby dolphins playing in the ferry’s wake.

Kayaking sea caves

We booked a tour through Santa Barbara Adventure Company to kayak a couple of hours around the island coast and into a few sea caves—one of which was rather intense, between the surging tide and inexperience of the duo whose kayak was being thrown near ours.

Potato Harbor

After kayaking, we hiked a little over 5 miles along the island’s cliffs to Potato Harbor and back to Cavern Point. We loved the varied landscape—from brown grasses barely surviving to a patchwork of hearty shrubs whose colors coordinated enviably well—and at the tiny island foxes that brazenly walked by us along the trail.

Camping in the hills

After Channel Islands, we camped at Malibu Creek campground, which was surrounded by beautiful red hills that made for a stunning breakfast backdrop.

Joshua Tree

While camping solo at Joshua Tree was rewarding, it was monumentally more fun exploring with my sister. We quickly checked out the funky Coyote Corner in the city of Joshua Tree before heading into the park to wander between deceptively fuzzy-looking trees and chollas and scramble over deceptively smooth-looking boulders.

We also got some pretty incredible sunset views right at our campsite.