California National Parks - in March?

Dear Jamie,

We need your advice. My husband and I are planning a road trip through California. The only time we can travel is in March. We are very interested in seeing the National Parks but we are a bit worried about the weather. We are going for four weeks. Either between mid Feb and mid March or the whole month of March. If need be we could include the first week of April if this made a huge change in temperature. Would you recommend California in March or would it be more clever to go to Florida, for example?

Greetings from Germany.


Nathalie and Jon

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Hallo Nathalie und Jon --

Sehr nett, von Ihnen zu hören! About your trip, don't worry -- March is a wonderful time of year to explore California! April is a little warmer, and maybe a little dryer, and you'd probably get to see more wildflowers -- but spring is definitely good for a road trip. And California is so superior to Florida, it is no contest (unless all you want to do is lie on a beach in the sun -- if so, Florida is pretty nice, too).

But California has many things Florida can only dream about. Like San Francisco... And Hollywood... And Big Sur... And Yosemite. Ancient forests, migrating gray whales (see picture) and thundering waterfalls! World-class concert halls & museums. And some nice beaches, too.

If you have four whole weeks, you could certainly see "everything" -- add Death Valley, and even Las Vegas, which is just a day's drive to the east of California. And the Grand Canyon, too -- and if you like National Parks, the Grand Canyon is one of the biggest and best.

The nice thing about March / April is that all the desert areas of California are at their "peak season" for travel -- so look into Palm Springs and Joshua Tree and Anza Borrego park, too.

Lots to think about -- let me know how your plans shape up.

Mit besten Wünschen,


Jamie Jensen
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Road Trip USA