best route to Monterey from Yosemite

What鈥檚 the best route to Monterey from Yosemite? I called the Lodge at the Falls to make a two day reservation. I mentioned that I wanted to travel south and stay at Wawona to hike through Mariposa Grove and see the trees. Then leave from there to head to Monterey. The man at the reservation desk discouraged that and said it would be better to stay with them for three days and just drive down to Mariposa Grove. He said the best way to Monterey was via route 140. Is this correct, couldn鈥檛 I travel from Mariposa to Monterey via route 41?

Plus the reviews for the Lodge at the Falls are pretty bad so I really didn鈥檛 want to stay there for three days.

best route to Monterey from Yosemite

Have a look at the website www.mapquest.com. Highway 41 will take you further South thru Fresno. If you wanted to do the Highway #1 Coastal Route then you could use #41/#46 to go to San Luis Obispo then catch #1. HOwever, if you just want to get to Monterey with the shortest route then you use #140 then go thru Los Banos to Pacheco Pass then Monterey.

best route to Monterey from Yosemite

IMO its a draw on distance. Going back to the Lodge from Mariposa Grove will take time. Its an hour from the grove to the Valley. From Wawona to Monterey is a 4 hour drive. Either way takes you through Los Banos. Once you hit the San Joaquin Valley floor, its a 2.5 hour drive from Merced to Monterey. so it sounds like maybe at best you save 1/2 hour on your total drive. When are you traveling? The trams at Mariposa grove stop for the winter. They only operate April through Oct. (check website for exact dates).

I agree that the shortest route from Yosemite to Monterey is HWY 140 through Los Banos. I have driven that route many times. If you still choose to visit the Mariposa Grove before leaving the Park, I would still head back through the Park and exit via HWY 140. However, if you wanted to drive up the coast, then I would leave via the HWY 41 exit, head for Cambria and drive up HWY 1 to Monterey, which is a beautiful drive.

Enjoy your trip!

PS...If you go to Cambria, there is great place to stay just to the north called the Ragged Point Inn - a wonderful place to stay and not too expensive for what you get.

Enjoy!