Yosemite Gateways Attractions
Sierra Vista Scenic Byway
- Critic's rating
- LAT
"In most tourists' rush to get to Yosemite National Park, they overlook this beautiful drive that takes you through this gorgeous route just south of Yosemite," writes reader Susanne Waite of Coarsegold, Calif.
There's no way you've ever been on the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway because, quite frankly, almost no one has. OK, maybe Susanne. And the family of four, whom I saw only once (and fleetingly, as if they were on the lam from the Blair Witch), during this six-hour, deep-forest massage in the western Sierra.
So where is this drive? The seasonal loop swings within 20 miles of the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park -- which, admittedly, has more spectacular natural formations -- but you feel eons away from the hordes at Half Dome.
wherever it appears.