LV to Los Angeles through Death Valley

[ramangouda]

Hello all,
Planning to drive from Vegas on Feb 25th, and would like to leave Death Valley(never been there before) by night time.. enroute to LA and stay for the night midway between DV and LA.

Plan is to start early morning(6 AM) on Feb 25th. go to Red Rock Canyon and then head on to Death Valley.. Needed help on what are must dos and what can be skipped along the way.
rough itenary is as below but need advice on if anything needs to be changed.

Las Vegas, NV to
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Las Vegas, NV to
Dantes View to
Twenty Mule Team Canyon to
Zabriskie Point Road to
Devils Golf Course to
Badwater Junction to
Artists Palette to
Golden Canyon to
Furnace Creek to
Salt Creek to
Devils Cornfield to
Mesquite Flat Dunes to
Palmdale

This is just a list of things I picked up from the internet. Open to add/ remove from the list.

thanks!

[AZBuck]

All of the places you've listed can certainly be seen during a day-long visit to Death Valley. I'd suggest that you take the 'local's route' from Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area by first heading south on NV-159 to NV-160 west through Pahrump. Just past 'downtown' Pahrump take a left onto Belle Vista Ave/Rd which will take you to the town of Death Valley CA at the junction of CA-190 and CA-127. CA-190 is then the main road to/through Death Valley and if you use it as your exit to the west from the valley, it will bring you out onto US-395 south. Inyokern is the first sizeable town you'll come to and, depending on how long you spend in the valley, would probably make a good overnight stop. You don't want to get too close to Los Angeles for your overnight since you won't want to get to it in the morning during rush hour, but would rather enter during the early to mid afternoon.

One other spot in Death Valley that I'd highly recommend is Scotty's Castle. All the spots you've listed are about the scenery and geology of the valley. Scotty's Castle, in contrast, is about the unique and colorful history of the place, and the ranger-led tour is entertaining and informative.

AZBuck

[ramangouda]

thanks AZ
wanted to ask if I should drop off any of the above mentioned view points from the trip ? Something which I wont missing much if I dropped ?
Also Sandy's castle road seems to be closed ?
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...alifornia.html

I mapped out the order for the drive. Will appreciate if there is a chance to cut down on travel time
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid...692625,7.67395

thanks!

[glc]

You could also take Panamint Valley Road to Trona Road to Ridgecrest for the night. Ridgecrest is right next to Inyokern and has a wide selection of lodging.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Is there some reason why you need to travel all the way to Lancaster the same day as you are exploring Death Valley? It would be easy to spend two weeks inside Death Valley -- I know you don't have that much time -- but your schedule doesn't allow much more than a very brief visit to the various places.

Do have a specific reason/time you must be in LA on the 26th? If you can stay overnight in the park -- you'll have a more reasonable pace. The motels at Stovepipe Wells or Panamint Springs are VERY Rustic -- but I've stayed at both and enjoyed them. If you stayed overnight at one of these places -- you could still reach LA in about 3 hours. Furnace Creek's Ranch motel is a bit less rustic - but more expensive.

Mark

[AZBuck]

You can still get to Scotty's Castle. The road that's closed is the road that runs from Scotty's Junction on US-95 east of the park via NV-267 and Grapevine Canyon Road to the Castle. The road from the main part of the park to the south (the way you'd be coming), i.e. Scotty's Castle Road and Grapevine Canyon Road, is open but subject to delays of up to half an hour for construction. Yeah, that would make me think about skipping the Castle, with a total delay of up to an hour, and that's a shame. Still, there is plenty else to see in the park. You might ask at a visitor center if they know when traffic will be allowed through, if there's a schedule, or if it's just random.

AZBuck

[ramangouda]

hello,
The constraint is I will be flying out of LV on 27th evening. Thus wanted to be as close to LA by 25th night.. so that I can spend a day in LA on 26th.. (I wont be going to Universal or Disney) thus checking out the city is all I had planned. Also on the way back, thought of making a quick stop to Joshua Tree NP before reaching LV on 27th.. I know it would take about 2 hours more.. but I guess it is worth it :)

thanks again for the help!

[Southwest Dave]

Have you considered going to LA first [perhaps via Joshua Tree NP?] and then to Death Valley. It might just put less pressure on getting back to Vegas in time for your flight, Furnace creek is under 2.5 hours from Vegas and you wouldn't have the worry of getting out of LA at the end of your trip. It means you could spend the night of the 25th in LA rather than Lancaster and do a little sight seeing on arrival, be in LA on the morning of 26th to do a little more sight seeing and then head to Panamint Springs before the afternoon rush starts and have most of the following day in DV before heading back to LV. I must confess the thought of heading in and out of the heavily congested urban sprawl of LA for a quick look around the City fills me with dread, although I admit I'm not a City person and would sooner head for the Grand canyon, Valley of Fire or even Zion NP.

It makes no difference overall with the time travelling, but you spend a night in LA sightseeing instead of 'wherever' in between just to get some sleep.

[Lifemagician]

Dave makes a good suggestion by altering the order of your route.

Without a second thought though, I second the dread of the LA traffic. If you spend just 24 hours there, you will not see a great deal. It is not the easiest place to get around, traffic is horrendous and then you have to find parking spots, at each place you plan to stop.

For sheer enjoyment and getting my money's worth for my holiday, I would spend more time around Death Valley, Joshua NP and the scenic highways which connect them.

Lifey

[ramangouda]

Hello,
Thank you all for your responses. We modified the itinerary a little bit.
Feb 25th LV to Death Valley (skipping Red Rock Canyon). Checking all the spots mentioned above and be at sunset near sand dunes and then staying to Palmdale.
Feb 26th Drive to Hollywood, Griffith and go into downtown LA by afternoon( this way I will hopefully skip the traffic) Later in the evening start from LA to Yucca Valley and reach Yucca by midnight.
Feb 27th Start early and check Joshua tree NP till about 9 - 10 and then start for LV which is ~ 200 miles ~ 4 hours which should get me to Vegas in time for my flight at 4 PM.

I know we are not planning much time in LA. But we dont want to check Universal or Disney.. Just Griffith, walk of fame, rodeo drive, maybe Santa Monica.

Thanks again for all the help!