California’s Highway 49, also known as the Golden Chain Highway, connects a series of small, offbeat towns that boomed during the Gold Rush and now attract visitors as the gateway into some of California’s best natural scenery. The mostly two-lane highway also hugs the shores of remote lakes and rivers on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada and runs along the outskirts of Yosemite National Park, which is a great place to begin a road trip on the western slopes of California’s great mountain range.

First of all, reservations are required to enter Yosemite, even if you’re just driving through. If you want to camp or stay in the park, you’ll need to book those accommodations well in advance.

Read the full story in the San Francisco Chronicle, or check out all five California road trips.