Treat the Kids to a Family-Friendly Yosemite Road Trip

America is celebrating its 250^th birthday and airline prices are soaring, making this summer the perfect time for a U.S. road trip while kids are on summer break. National parks are always great destinations for families to plan an itinerary around, but some are more family-friendly than others. Yosemite, California’s, iconic national park known for great hiking trails, incredible waterfalls, and legendary monuments like Half Dome and El Capitan, is an ideal family destination and the Fossils to Falls road trip itinerary is the perfect way to see it.

This trip takes you through many amazing parts of the park to see things like fossils from the past, giant sequoias, museums and stunning waterfalls. But it also has a special component designed to make it fun and engaging for kids; each stop along this road trip features a different mascot, known as the Welcoming Committee and, at each stop, you can collect that mascot’s trading card.

Stops each feature a different aspect of the park or a different creature that is (or once was) native to the area, such as Mr. Mead, a saber-toothed cat you’ll find at Fossil Center of Madera County. From there you’ll want to head to one of the many wineries within the park to look for Honey the Honeybee at one of the tasting rooms. Nugget, a hat-wearing California ebony tarantula, will be waiting for you at Coarsegold historic museum or one of the shops at Coarsegold Historic Village, and you’ll find Sierra the Black Bear at the Visitor’s Center in the town of Oakhurst.

While in Oakhurst, explore galleries at Yosemite Gateway Art Center for Art E. Fox, a Sierra Nevada red fox with a beret, a scarf, a colorful tail and paint brushes tucked behind his ears. The park’s Bass Lake area is home to majestic bald eagles, a protected species symbolic in North America, and you’ll find Blake the Bald Eagle’s trading card at one of four locations — The Forks Resort, Miller’s Landing Resort, The Pine’s Resort and Good Ol’ Daze.

Ranger the California Mule Deer can be found at the Sierra National Forest Office or in North Fork at Sierra Mono Museum and Cultural Center, the Gnarly Carrot or Hot Shot Coffee Shack. You can find Ricky the Racoon’s card at Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad in Fish Camp and Galen the Great Horned Owl’s card at Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza, where horned owls can be found living among the sequoias.

Last but not least, Sandy the Squirrel represents the furry little creatures you’ll see all over the park. You can get one of Sandy’s trading cards at Tunnel View, Tenaya at Yosemite or at Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite.

If you manage to collect all 10 trading cards, you get entered to win the grand prize — a Yosemite vacation package. And, even if you don’t win, you’ll still get a set of stuffed animals with one of each of the mascots.

Four days is ideal for this trip, so you’ll be able to enjoy everything along the way without having to rush, but you’ll want to book your nightly stays in advance because hotels and campsites within the park tend to sell out. To follow the Fossil to Falls road trip, you’ll want to head into the park from Highway 99 and enjoy the ride.