What to Do Around the Southern Sierra

It's a place synonymous with summer road trips.

HIGHWAY SUMMER: There's nothing not to like about the last-minute summertime road trip. We're talking about the one that comes together around 6 p.m. on a Thursday night, when you've had it up to here with fill in the blank (traffic, stress, repeat) and you need to hit the highway and see some trees and watch a brook babble and forget your cares for a couple of days. Last-minute-ness is indeed delicious, but we also advocate anticipation. You want to take time and pore over to-do lists, like Tenaya Lodge's 101 Things to Do in the Southern Sierra, as you plan your stress-be-gone weekend. You want to picture yourself kicking around Lake McClure or driving the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway or fishing for trout at Manzanita Lake. You probably want to plan all of this on a Monday, too, because Mondays are bettered by a little vacation daydreaming (full disclosure: We're typing these words on a Monday, and can vouch for that assertion). Want to scope the full list of road-trippy, summer-flavored Southern Sierra pleasures? Here it is, Monday daydreamer.

MORE TENAYA LODGE: Tenaya is a pip and a hop -- so, about two miles -- from Yosemite's southern gate. This means that a lot of guests make for the valley while going Tenaya, but we like the idea of taking in the non-iconic (but still gorgeous and attention-worthy) sights of the area, like some of the lakes and meadows. Yep, nothing can compete with Half Dome, but 101 Things to do in the area tempts. Or just hang out at the lodge itself; it has a Mother's Day spa special on, and others to (hiking) boot, too.

What, you're going to wait for a Thursday night to plan a quick city escape? Mondays are made for that kind of daydreaming, wannabe vacationer. Can we get a high five on that?

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us