Advice needed - San Diego to Las Vegas via Sequoia National Forest and Death Valley

[markfromWales]

I'll be in USA next July with work colleagues - we are planning to drive from San Diego to Las Vegas, with a 1 (possibly 2) night stop over. We would appreciate any advice on what to visit on route - does Sequoia National Forest and Death Valley sound sensible and feasible? Ideally we'd like to spend about 4 hours per day in car (2 hours early morning / 2 hours early evening).
Great site by the way.

[Lifemagician]

Hi, and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Forum.

... does Sequoia National Forest and Death Valley sound sensible and feasible?

It certainly does!

If you could spend a little more time in the car - I know it sounds a lot coming from Wales, but believe me, driving in the US is a very different matter to driving at home. You could make a nice trip through Sequoia NP, head north to Ysemite NP and through there over Tioga Pass through DV - an amazing landscape, though it will be unbearably hot - onto Las Vegas.

Driving through DV in July you can see most everything without getting out of the car for any significant time. For the brief times that you will make sure you have hats sunscreen and lots of drinking water.

Lifey

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

The first question - do you really mean the Sequoia National Forest, or are you interested in visiting the Sequoia National Park? The National Park is where most of the giant trees are - especially the oldest/largest ones. There only a few places around the Sequoia National Forest/National Monument where you'll find any Sequoia Groves. That said, that's still a possibility - for example, the Trail of 100 Giants could be an option to explore.

The other issue is your idea of driving just 4 hours a day. I suspect you aren't respecting just how large the US is and how far apart things can be, because while your trip is doable in the time you have, you really will have to drive more than that. San Diego to the Sequoia National Monument alone is about a 6 hour drive. Its about another 6 hours or so to get to Death Valley, and then about 2 more from there to Las Vegas. If you were to look at Visiting Sequoia National Park, your distances would be even greater.

[Southwest Dave]

Many people do not realise when how far it is between Sequoia and Death valley as they look quite close, but there is a mountain range standing in the way between them. To do both you would need two overnight stops and drive a little longer than you wanted to, but as above, it's a pleasure driving in the USA once out of the city.