1

From weather.com, sunset tonight (October 13) will be around 6:15.

Enjoy Death Valley on the way back - you'll almost certainly want to stop for photos or brief walks and that should be at a time of day when you'll not be rushed or risk getting caught in wilderness with fading light.

2

Long drive. Leaving at 10am isn't going to be to your advantage given the hours it will take on either route.
Perhaps you should just take the normal and boring 4.5 hour LA to Vegas trek on I-15. See Vegas THEN do the longer sojourn through Death Valley to 395, (depending on the status Tioga Pass which may be closed) you might have to take 395 back toward the 14 and cut over to I-5 at Tehatchapi. You'll pick up I-5 in the lovely city of Bakesfield in California's farmland. If Tioga Pass is open then it's 395 North to 120. You could then include Bodie (although long drive into it) and Mono Lake. Long, long drive from Vegas, especially if you are stopping to smell the roses and taking time to explore anything. Personally I'd spend the night Bridgeport before going over Tioga Pass.

3

If you want to see some "scenery" on your way (more or less) to Las Vegas, this is about the only choice you have.


Other than crossing the Angeles Crest, this route is not that interesting. If you want a quick, no kidding, route to Las Vegas from the airport, it is I-405 north to I-10 east to I-215 north to I-15 north to Las Vegas. You will see lots of "desert." I think I can now do this route in my sleep. I probably have. If you are arriving from who-knows-where, I hope there is a night’s sleep between your arrival in Los Angeles and your departure at 10:00 AM. Otherwise, you may do some of the route asleep too. There are 10s of miles of straight, flat road on your way to Las Vegas. It is easy to doze off if you’ve spent the previous night on an international flight.

Pardon me for asking, but if you are only spending one night in Las Vegas and leaving early the next morning, why bother. You could stay in one of the towns on US-395 or in Death Valley if you can still find a room.



How much time do you plan to spend driving to San Francisco? You can do it in one long day but that means doing all of your sightseeing through a car window at 70 mph. If you take several days, you can do all of your sightseeing in Death Valley, along US-395, in Yosemite if Tioga Pass is open and around Lake Tahoe if Tioga pass is closed. Mono lake and the ghost town of Bodie are off US-395 just north of Lee Vining. You could see them on the other route if you like. Bodie is a California State Park. In general, it is not a good idea to go poking around ghost towns that are completely abandoned. There are hazards that range from anti-social squatters to mine shafts to wildlife (rattlesnakes.)

Have a great time.

4

Randsburg
Red Rock Canyon State Park

Where in L.A. are you leaving from and returning to? Highway 14, north from L.A. is the way to go if you want to go to Johannesburg (barely a wide spot in the road; only thing we did there was take a picture of the city limits sign to send to a South African friend), Randsburg (some interesting things to see, though not really a ghost town, despite the above site) and/or DV. Red Rock Canyon State Park, a bit south on Hwy. 14, is scenic. Death Valley would take at least a full day to see much.

5

When are you taking these trips?

6

thansk guys for replies guys)

we are doing 8 days trip , but i made this post to ask about LA- Las Vegas part:)
we depart 10am from LAX (after sleep night in motel near airport)
this will be last week of October

i have general question about motels:

• is it ok just to call them on the day of check in and try to book (if we dont know where will will be at the end of the day)?
• also it is mentioned on some webpages that credit card is required - does this means that we can not pay with cash? and does motel takes some kind of security deposit that will be return after departure ?

here is my complete plan (i think it is a bit overloaded with places, so i think something will have to be droped out ):

25.10 THU LA- >Las Vegas (thanks guys for your advices), this looks like option http://goo.gl/maps/sxFoP
26.10 FRI Las-Vegas - Grand Canyon South Rim (sleep somewhere after south rim...)
27.10 SAT Grand Canyon Village - > Road 64 -> Painted Desert - > Zion park (http://goo.gl/maps/S7aoT) - may be it is a bit too much?
may be we shall select either South rim or north rim (i know North rim may be closed on last week October)?
28.10 SUN & 29.10 MON Las Vegas - > Sequoia- > Yosemite -> - > San Francisco - http://goo.gl/maps/GF28Y
30.10 TUE San Franciso
31.10 WED & 01.11 THU drive LA - SF - we plan two spend 2 days for this - and overnight somewhere between SF and LA

please feel free to correct and advice:)
Edited by: golub

Edited by: golub

Edited by: golub

Edited by: golub

Edited by: golub

Edited by: golub

7

It's ok to call. However, you may find that they will be booked or too expensive, so have back-ups planned. In general, it's cheaper to book ahead.
Park lodging, in particular, is notorious for filling up.

Some places require a card for incidentals (parking, movies, damages, etc.). They may require a refundable deposit, or even a card, if you use cash.

I fully agree.

Ordinarily, I'd say this is ok, if still rushed.
However, it appears you are not ending at Zion, but ending the day in Vegas. That's too much.

All services close October 15th. The gates stay open until significant snowfall forces them to close, usually in November. So you can get there, but there will be no food, lodging (other than cold camping), or gas.

This is impossible the way you planned it. There is no vehicular access to Sequoia from the east. It must look like this. And again, this assumes that the Tioga Pass Road will be open.
On top of that, the drives are very long. Your map says the drive alone is roughly 13.5 hours. Stops for food, restrooms, sightseeing, etc., are added to that. That's just insane.
Sequoia is not really worth your time on a trip this short. You will see the big trees in Yosemite, and it will take you the better part of the day just to get there. Again, sightseeing in the park is extra. Also skip Tahoe. You don't have the time.

This is, in my opinion, a ridiculously rushed trip. Look at the distances involved, and you'll clearly see why.
You need to do much more research.

8

ok , thanks bzookaj and guys,
your discussions and advices helped..

i now have the list of placee that needs to be cutted, to make trip enjoyable and not rushable:)
i will do my research and discuss with my travel mates!

without Tahoe and Sequia , route looks like this http://goo.gl/maps/8bsLv (a bit better:)

Edited by: golub

9

Dude, you REALLY don't have the time for our original trip.
Sure, there are enough physical hours. You can 'make' this trip in the time alloted.
But if you hope to return home with memories of anything OTHER than the interior of the bloody car, I suggest you cut big chunks from the trip. As planned, you sill spend the vast majority of your time in the dumb car, getting out for a few hours every so often to take a few pot-shot pics before it's time to get back in and drive further. You may as well buy a postcard book and save the time and $.

Something like this will be more than enough travel.

LA to Joshua Tree N.P. (Only a few hours' drive.) Explore that afternoon.
Next day, off to Death Valley. Spend a 2 days visiting Skidoo, Charcoal Kilns, Augereberry Pt. (if not snowed in), Rhyolite, Leadfield / Titus Canyon and more.
On to Owens Valley. 2 more days Manzanar, Alabama Hills/Whitney Portal, the museum in Independence, possible trip to Bristlecone Pines, Mammoth Lakes tram to the top of the mountain, Convict/June/etc. lakes, Mono Lake, Bodie.
Cross mountains. Tioga 'should' be open, but you might have to go all the way to Tahoe and back. 1.5 days in Yosemite.
On to SF for a day and a half.
Fly back to LA.

Or
Skip Joshua Tree and blast to Zion on Day 1. Trim a day's worth of stops from somewhere else, so you can spend at least a full day in the park. Then on to Death Valley and the rest of the trip.

Or
Hit Vegas, GC, PD, Page area, Zion, Bryce, Vegas, DV and back to LA. Skip Yosemite and SF.

Or any other route that cuts your driving time by at least 50%

10

Yea, your recent map looks much more reasonable.
Are you still flying into and out of Los Angeles?

Zion is not far from Vegas. It's not quite as majestic as the Grand Canyon, but it is VERY impressive. You can do a rushed-but-not-insane day from Vegas and back in a long day.

11

geo_nerd,
yes, we fly in and out LAX.
so you mean to skip Grand Canyon, and have one day trip to Zion and back? (post#10)

i will read carefully your post #9...there are many location names new to me

12

I think you should choose one, and not the other, unless you plan to make heavy modifications elsewhere. I'd lean toward visiting the Grand Canyon.

13

thanks.

i have question about Hoover dam.
I checked the Hoover`s Dam webpage , and have question.

visitor options available are

• power plant tour
• Dam tour
• and access to visitor center

understood that Dam tour is longer/better than Powerplant tour.

what about access to visitor center (cheapest option) - what is it iclude and does it make sense to take only this one? (your opinion)

14

#13 - Depends on your own level of interest. If you're an engineer you may really like the power plant tour or the full Dam tour. Personally, I think I would have been just as happy with the visitor's center.