Touching down at Merced Regional Airport in Merced makes it easy to explore, with nearby places close enough for simple day trips. Merced calls itself the Gateway to Yosemite, and the national park's wonders are about two hours up the road. The city itself is a Central Valley farm town with a young UC campus, a restored 1931 theater downtown, and one of the largest Hmong communities in the country, which shows in the food. The feel is sunny, unhurried, and agricultural.

Good things to do around Merced: - Walk Main Street past the Merced Theatre and the old county courthouse museum - Watch thousands of sandhill cranes at Merced National Wildlife Refuge in winter - Tour historic bombers and fighters at Castle Air Museum in Atwater - Stroll Applegate Park and its small zoo along Bear Creek - Browse the Saturday farmers market for stone fruit, almonds, and pistachios - Try Hmong sausage, pho, or a taco truck lunch on the east side - Hop the YARTS bus straight to Yosemite Valley without driving

Merced makes a practical base for the Sierra foothills and the Valley. Yosemite's Arch Rock entrance is about 90 minutes east through Mariposa, a gold rush town with a good little museum. Modesto is 40 minutes north, Fresno an hour south, and the Merced River canyon offers spring wildflowers and whitewater on the way to the park. In February the almond orchards around town burst into pink and white bloom. Come for the park, stay for the fruit stands.