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California

Four Jewels: Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite & Death Valley

Program No. 4352RJ
Witness awe-inspiring nature, grand artifacts of geography, ancient flora and unique fauna as you immerse yourself in four of California’s most stunning National Parks.

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Select your type of room
Price will update based on selection
Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Filling Fast!
May 17 - May 25, 2024
Starting at
4,199
Itinerary Note

This date includes two nights at The Ahwahnee, the historic grand hotel in Yosemite.

May 24 - Jun 1, 2024
Starting at
3,399
Jun 7 - Jun 15, 2024
Starting at
3,399
Sep 6 - Sep 14, 2024
Starting at
3,649
Sep 13 - Sep 21, 2024
Starting at
3,649
Sep 20 - Sep 28, 2024
Starting at
4,199
Itinerary Note

This date includes two nights at The Ahwahnee, the historic grand hotel in Yosemite.

Oct 4 - Oct 12, 2024
Starting at
4,199
Itinerary Note

This date includes two nights at The Ahwahnee, the historic grand hotel in Yosemite.

Oct 11 - Oct 19, 2024
Starting at
3,599
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
May 17 - May 25, 2024
Starting at
5,599
Itinerary Note

This date includes two nights at The Ahwahnee, the historic grand hotel in Yosemite.

May 24 - Jun 1, 2024
Starting at
4,269
Jun 7 - Jun 15, 2024
Starting at
4,269
Filling Fast!
Sep 6 - Sep 14, 2024
Starting at
4,569
Filling Fast!
Sep 13 - Sep 21, 2024
Starting at
4,569
Filling Fast!
Sep 20 - Sep 28, 2024
Starting at
5,599
Itinerary Note

This date includes two nights at The Ahwahnee, the historic grand hotel in Yosemite.

Oct 4 - Oct 12, 2024
Starting at
5,599
Itinerary Note

This date includes two nights at The Ahwahnee, the historic grand hotel in Yosemite.

Filling Fast!
Oct 11 - Oct 19, 2024
Starting at
4,469
9 days
8 nights
21 meals
8B 7L 6D
1
Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Welcome Dinner
Sierra Nevada Mountains - Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park
2
Sequoia National Park, General Sherman Tree
Sierra Nevada Mountains - Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park
3
Kings Canyon National Park, Roaring Falls, Zumwalt Meadows
Sierra Nevada Mountains - Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park
4
Wawona, Pioneer Village Center
Sierra Nevada Mountains - Yosemite National Park
5
Full-Day Yosemite National Park Field Trip
Sierra Nevada Mountains - Yosemite National Park
7
Manzanar Historic Site, Alabama Hills
Owens Valley - Death Valley National Park
8
Zabriskie Point, Badwater, Death Valley Visitor Center
Owens Valley - Death Valley National Park
View Full Itinerary

At a Glance

Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Death Valley: four spectacular American National Parks. Explore them from the mighty Sierra Nevada range to the stark allure of the Mojave Desert as on-site presentations delve into their geologic, human and natural histories.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walking up to two miles on uneven terrain on paved and unpaved paths. Long distances by large motorcoach. Elevations range from 4,000-8,000 feet.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Study the magnificent forest ecosystem of Sequoia, named for giant trees that can live for more than 2,000 years.
  • Admire granite monuments like El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridalveil Fall as you learn how Pleistocene glaciers carved the wonders of Yosemite Valley.
  • Cross the Sierra Nevada to Mono Lake and Owens Valley and explore forbidding, dramatic, beautiful Death Valley.

General Notes

Includes long bus rides to reach rural site. Max of 35 participants.
Featured Expert
All Experts
Profile Image
Frank Helling
Frank Helling is an active adventurer and naturalist who has spent much of his life “sauntering” in the footsteps of the great mountaineer, philosopher, and nature writer John Muir. He has backpacked, hiked, and climbed in the Sierras, Rockies, Cascades, Alps, Alaska, Hawaii, and the deserts of the American Southwest. A former high school science teacher, Frank has also worked as a ranger and naturalist in Kings Canyon National Park and as a professional wilderness instructor.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Frank Helling
Frank Helling View biography
Frank Helling is an active adventurer and naturalist who has spent much of his life “sauntering” in the footsteps of the great mountaineer, philosopher, and nature writer John Muir. He has backpacked, hiked, and climbed in the Sierras, Rockies, Cascades, Alps, Alaska, Hawaii, and the deserts of the American Southwest. A former high school science teacher, Frank has also worked as a ranger and naturalist in Kings Canyon National Park and as a professional wilderness instructor.
Profile Image of Renee Rusler
Renee Rusler View biography
Renee Rusler was born in the Southwest. She earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in ecology from the University of Arizona. Renee spent 20 years as an interpretive park ranger for the National Park Service, working in arid land parks such as Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon and Death Valley. She is now the death valley field institute director for the Death Valley Natural History Association (DVNHA), which is the official non-profit partner of Death Valley National Park and Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Sierra Nevada Natural History
by David Lukas, Tracy I. Storer, Robert L. Usinger
First published forty years ago, this handbook has become an enduring natural history classic, used by thousands to learn more about virtually every aspect of this spectacular mountain range--from its superb flora and fauna to its rugged topography. Comprehensive yet concise and portable, the book describes hundreds of species: trees and shrubs, flowering plants and ferns, fungi and lichens, insects and fish, amphibians and reptiles, and birds and mammals.
Men to Match My Mountains
by Irving Stone
An engaging history of the West
Land of Little Rain
by Mary Austin
This is a 1904 classic about the Eastern Sierra.
Water and Power
by William L. Kahrl
The author covers the politics, personalities, construction, opposition, and events leading up to the present situation in the Owens Valley.
Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne Wakatsuki
This is a moving account of a family interned in Manzanar during WW II.
Basin and Range
by John McPhee
This is a complex but fascinating explanation of basin-range geology.
Cadillac Desert
by Marc Reisner
In this stunning work of history and investigative journalism, Reisner tells the story of conflicts over water policy in the West and the resulting damage to the land, wildlife and Indians.
Mountains of California
by John Muir
Enjoy these lyrical 1894 vignettes by John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club.
Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Eastern California: Second Edition
by Robert P. Sharp
This volume provides an on-the-ground look at the processes sculpting the terrain of this region of extremes. Illustrated with photographs, maps, and diagrams, each geological vignette weaves the tale of a particular scene, feature, or relationship in the landscape.
John Muir, Son of the Wilderness
by Linnie Marsh Wolfe
Pulitizer Prize-winning biography of the great naturalist, John Muir





Important registration tip:
If you want to attend the live lecture, please do not wait until the last minute to enroll.
If you enroll after a lecture is complete, we’ll send you a recording of the event.