Are you RV'ing, tent camping, or hoteling?

Are your plans set in stone? If not, I'd recommend taking a day trip to Columbia State Park...

https://en.wikipedia.org/..._State_Historic_Park

http://www.visitcolumbiacalifornia.com/

It's not too far north of Yosemite and kids of that age love it. It's a very interactive place, pan for gold, ride stagecoaches.

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Chris
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“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”
― Hunter S. Thompson,

Are you staying in or near Yosemite Valley? Do the hike to Vernal Falls (the Mist Trail), and if your kids are solid hikers, to Nevada Falls (Mist Trail all the way up and back on John Muir Trail). That's a solid 8 miles round trip with 2,000 feet of elevation gain, but very epic.

There's a giant sequoia grove in Yosemite, so you could skip Sequoia NP if you were primarily going there for the trees. The Valley will be extremely hot in July, so given that and the crowds, it may only be worth a day there. Tuolumne is much better that time of year. Lots of good hikes. One to some soda springs, where you can make soda with powdered Gatorade or something similar. You could also book a one or two day climbing class for the kids in Tuolumne (or the Valley), but you might get a better deal if you go outside the park to Bishop or Tahoe.

Do you have a planned route yet?.If not, I'd highly recommend leaving exiting Yosemite through Tioga Pass. In Lee Vining, there's the Whoa Nelly Deli -- probably some of the best gas station food there is. You can also visit Mono Lake, and heading up north, there's Bodie, a fairly well preserved ghost town.

If I were to plan a route, I'd go from San Jose to Yosemite, skipping Sequoia. If this is around July 27-29, I'd first go south to Gilroy for the garlic festival and then east to Yosemite. After Yosemite, east to Lee Vining/Mono Lake/Bodie, then north to Tahoe. From Tahoe, I'd take the 89 up through the northern Sierras, stopping to climb the fire lookout tower on top of Sierra Buttes, just outside of Sierra City. I'd spend the night in Graeagle -- good fishing, swimming, restaurants, horse riding, golfing, etc. Continue to Lassen, then perhaps up to Trinity Alps.

It'd be pretty easy to fits in one or two short but fun and memorable things for the kids to do each day once you have your route mapped out.

There are multiple groves in Yosemite ;) .

July might be dry. Yosemite falls is the only one that doesn't dry up. Usually that doesn't happen till August though.

If you exit the valley on 120, then get onto 49, take that north. You'll pass some cool towns, and finally end up at Marshall Gold Discovery park between Placerville and Auburn (btwn US 50 and I80). Cool little place, but not much.
Auburn SRA is where 49 gets into Auburn and crosses I80. It's based on the confluence of the North and Middle fork of the American River.



McArthur-Burney Falls near Shasta is pretty cool too. Right off 89. Mossbrae falls are very interesting. Right off I5 in Dunsmuir

Maybe try high country, or one of the passes to the eastern sierra. Yosemite is going to be paaaackkkked in July.

Wife and I spent a few days in yosemite while she was 6 months pregnant. It was April so most of the high elevation trails were closed but:

Vernal Falls, Yosemite Falls and Half Dome (as far as we could go) were awesome trails. I'd recommend them. Also the Sequoia grove was nice.

I was so impressed she would do 8-10 miles of hiking a day that pregnant.

If you can fit it in a night in Crater Lake Lodge(elevation 7100') in Oregon would be well worth it.

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I miss YaHey

You’ll have a blast in Yosemite!! We took our slightly younger kids there about 3 years ago. We stayed in the park in early May so the visitor numbers were MUCH less than what you’ll experience in July, but there is a great free shuttle bus that you can jump on and off all over the valley floor so you don’t have to worry about driving.

Walk the Mist Trail. You have an option of a 3 mike round trip hike or 7 miler depending on how far you want to go. Vernal and Nevada Falls.

Walk to the bottom of Yosemite Falls. It’s super short, but sweet. You can also go to the top of both upper and lower falls, but those are long long hikes that would probably knock the kids out of wanting to do any more!

Walk to the base of Bridalveil Falls. It’s just over a mile round trip but it’s pretty.

Make a reservation NOW to eat either breakfast or dinner (dinner is very pricey) at the Ahwahnee Hotel. Get there at least an hour before your reservation to hang out and walk the grounds, check out the monstrous fireplaces, etc. The architecture in the great room/dining room are phenomenal and you just might see bears walking by the giant floor to ceiling windows. (One of my favorite memories as a kid after walking there with my dad for hot chocolate one morning. Something I’ll never forget). And the food is amazing. (Edit: There is a dress code for dinner. If you go that route make sure you have proper attire - totally worth it).

Get ice cream at Curry Village. Go swimming. Play in the river (in a safe spot of course), have a picnic in the meadow in the middle of the park. Bring binoculars so you can try to spot climbers on El Cap.

And lastly, drive up to Glacier Point. Or if you are very adventurous, plan ahead, book your seats on a tour bus, and hike the 4 Mile Trail either from the bottom or the top (then you shuttle it the reverse direction). We wanted to do that but the weather was bad and kids a bit too young.

Here’s a good website that describes a lot of Yosemite hikes.
https://www.yosemitehikes.com

You’ll find with the kids that there are a lot of shorter hikes you can do and plenty to keep them occupied when not hiking. There are also tons of trails on the valley floor that have nothing to do with “hiking”. Just walking.

Do the horseback ride tour. We did that when I was a kid a few times. Super fun even for youngsters with zero riding experience.

Rent bikes at Curry Village to skip the bus or driving.

Have them become Junior Rangers (ask at the first Ranger Station you see for info). They will learn a lot about the park, get sworn in and get a badge if they can complete the required info. My boys are obsessed with this at all the NP’s and Monuments we go to.

Have a blast! Yosemite is amazing - crowded or not. Just don’t be in a hurry to get anywhere because in July it isn’t going to happen!

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Harry: "I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this."
Loyd: "I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of shit, man."