If you have decided to stay at The Pines Resort on vacation, here are a few scenic drives you can take during your stay. We did all of these during our stay and loved every moment of it.
Here is our trip itinerary that we did.
Total days: 4
Total miles driven: 733
DAY 1
We arrived at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport at around 11:30am and headed to pick up our rental car. We decided to rent a convertible from Turo for this trip.
After picking up our rental car and having lunch, we decided to go to Sequoia National Park and King's Canyon National Park. Unfortunately, during our trip, there was a fire in the park and they had the entrance closed. We only were able to take pictures on the drive there, and although it was closed, our drive was still beautiful.
We found this cute place to take pictures in. It is located on E. Kings Canyon Road, Highway 180.
During our trip, I did change outfits several times, so if I loved a place, I would change outfits to take different pictures.
Here I am choosing my next outfit to take at the same spot.
Below is another outfit I chose to wear for pictures. Same location, different angle. Both of these dresses are from Shein. Check them out and see if you like anything. Use code ALESELLSGEORGIA to save 15% off your order on all your purchases.
Since the entrance to both Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks were closed, we headed back to drive straight to the resort. It honestly was getting late anyways. We took longer than we expected on lunch and at the end of the day, we were kind of glad the park was closed. We had been traveling already for 12+ hours from Atlanta and just wanted to get to the resort and rest.
On our way to the resort we got to see the most beautiful California sunset. We pulled over the side of the road to snap some pictures.
If you decide to do Sequoia and King's Canyon National park when arriving to the airport, I suggest you book your flight to arrive earlier than 11:30am so you can have more time to enjoy the parks.
I also recommend to buy the Annual National Park card instead of the daily entrance fee. This card/pass will allow you to go to other national parks for free for the whole year and it comes out to be cheaper! You can buy the annual pass at the entrance of the park.
Here is the drive from Fresno Yosemite International airport to Sequoia to King's Canyon to Pines Resort:
Total drive time 4-6 hours (depending how much time you are in the parks)
By the time we got to the hotel, it was already around 10:30pm. We went to sleep and woke up at 6am the next day to get ready for the day.
DAY 2
We woke up at 6am and took advantage of the morning sunrise to take a few pictures of the resort before heading out
After taking a few pictures, we headed off to Moss Landing. On our route, we stopped to eat breakfast at a café on the way and their sandwiches were AMAZING! We ordered the croissant sandwich with ham, cheese, bacon and avocado.
If you are staying at the resort and not planning to go to coast, I recommend you at least take the trip to eat breakfast at this spot. It's called Hotshot Coffee Shack and it's only about 15 minutes from the hotel.
Address: 33013 Rd 222, North Fork, CA 93643
(I realized I didn't take any pictures of the café but found these videos on stories so I took a screenshot to add them here to give you an idea of the place and the food. )
The drive from Hot Shot to Moss Landing was about 3.5 hours but the whole drive is beautiful and relaxing.
We decided to stop by Moss Landing Viewing Point because you are able to see sea otters and sea lions here. The wildlife and the ocean view is beautiful and relaxing.
We took a walk on the beach and rested on the sand for a few minutes before continuing.
ps. both the orange sweater dress that I wore in the morning and this dress, are both from Shein. You can use code alesellsgeorgia for 15% off all your orders.
Moss Landing to Carmel by the Sea.
If you drive straight on highway 1, you will pass through Monterrey and on the way to Big Sur, there is a small town called Carmel by the Sea. In this town, there is a very cute gas station on the left side of the road. I've been here several times and I always forget to ask the name of it. It's hard to miss because it has 2 red London style telephone booths in the front.
You can stop here to put gas, use the restrooms, buy souvenirs, take pictures, and get a bread and tea and sit outside and enjoy the view of the cutest house. (we did all of the above)
I love this gas station so much, I always make sure to stop here, so try to keep an eye out for it so you don't miss it.
After stopping at this gas station, the drive all the way to big sur has several stops that you can stop to take pictures. It's definitely one of the most beautiful scenic drives in America, and if you are up for the long day drive, it is a MUST do!
You can drive as far as you want through highway 1. As you go up the mountain, the views are different and each stop is worth stopping for.
Right about sunset, we decided to start heading back to the resort. On our way back, we stopped at the Panera Bread in Monterrey, California.
If you have been out driving all day, I definitely recommend stopping in Monterrey for dinner before continuing your drive to The Pines Resort. It is the biggest city you will pass by with the most variety of restaurants. You don't want to be hungry driving back to the resort with no restaurants in view.
We arrived at the hotel at around 12am and went straight to bed.
Total drive time to Big Sur is only 3.5 hours but if you want to stop at Moss Landing, it increases 1 hour to it.
Total drive time to Moss Landing, Big Sur and back to the hotel is 9 hours.
Try to plan to leave as early as possible to get a head start.
DAY 3
We planned on getting up at sunrise this day but we were truly tired from the trip the night before so we ended up getting up at 7am.
At around 8am, we headed to the closest town of the resort to have breakfast. We ate at Denny's and the wait for the food here took for ever!
At around 10am, we started our drive to Yosemite National Park, which is only 18 miles from the resort. The whole drive through the park was beautiful. We decided to drive the whole park around and back to the resort. We had planned on doing a hike to see waterfalls, but we wanted to get back to the resort early, and honestly, the best time to hike in California is early in the morning.
To enter the park, you can use your annual pass for the entry fee. At the time of me writing this blog (September 2021), there is a limited capacity of cars being allowed to enter the park. Therefore, you must get a permit online before you plan to travel to The Pines Resort.
(We booked the reservation for the park 2 months in advance without a problem)
You can check here if you need a reservation, if so, you can get it from their website.
After driving the whole park and stopping at some places for pictures, we headed back to the hotel.
We spent a few hours getting ready and pampering ourselves before having dinner at the resort's restaurant, Ducey's on the Lake. You can read more about the restaurant on the blog I did for the hotel here.
We had a relaxing evening watching the sunset from the restaurant and afterwards decided to head to the resort's hot tub to relax for the night until they closed the pool at 10pm.
After long days of driving, it was nice to be able to take some time to relax and pack.
Total drive time around Yosemite and back to the resort was 4 hours.
DAY 4
We woke up at 6:30am to start getting ready to leave, finish packing and check out. When we left the resort, we decided to eat breakfast at the Hot Shot Coffee Shack one more time on our way to Fresno, CA.
We dropped off the rental car, got a Lyft, and headed to the airport to catch our flight.
Conclusion
Our trip was definitely tiring with late nights and early wake ups. But every single drive, every stop, every memory, all the views, and every picture we took was worth it.
If you are all about exploring the most amount of places in the least amount of time, we totally recommend these drives.
If you are more about relaxing, you can stay at the resort and head to Yosemite. There are plenty of hikes and trails to do there without having to travel far. Check out the blog of the resort here to see a few other activities you can do in and around the hotel.
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