Originally Posted by
RichardInSF
Welcome to FT, Walter!
There is no good month to do both Sierra Nevada parks and desert parks. It'll either be too wintery in the mountains or too hot in the desert. There are bus tour groups that do this sort of thing. It's really stupid. Visiting these parks should not be something you do in a hurry just to say you have been to them.
Given that you are planning to allocate just a bit more than one day to Death Valley, I'd suggest skipping it on this trip. Do Sequoia and Kings Canyon instead and save Death Valley for a future winter trip.
Las Vegas will be hot, as well, but it appers that it's a principal objective for OP, for several days, maybe staying inside to escape the heat. Given that, I'd still head down Hwy. 395, perhaps avoiding DV (take Westgard Pass, see the Bristlecone Pines, then head to Hwy. 95 and down to LV), or, if they really want a quick glance of DV, stay in Lone Pine and get an early start, hit DV, and then Vegas. I like Kings Canyon and Sequoia, but don't necessarily see moving from there to Yosemite is worth the added time andsitance (vs. staying around Yosemite) unless they are doing some hiking. They would only be able to drive into Sequoia and KC from the west, of course (no road access into the parks from the east).