California Driving in December
My wife and i are coming from Texas to San Diego in early december to attend her brothers graduation from boot camp at Camp Pendleton.
We would like to rent a car and drive up to Yosemite and back during our stay in CA.
My wife will be 7 months pregnant at the time, so this is a concern somewhat for us, more so for her being comfortable, but also safety is a big concern for me.
Our itenerary will be something like this.
Day 1 -- drive from San Diego into LA / Beverly Hills / Hollywood, up the pacific coast highway into Oxnard for the night.
Day 2 -- Oxnard to Yosemite
Day 3 -- Drive through Yosemite to Mammoth Lakes
Day 4 -- Mammoth Lakes back into San Diego
Any suggestions along the way would be appreciated, we dont have a whole lot of time, but i am open to suggestions.
My concerns are snow and closed roads in the mountains. This will be all in the first week of December. Does anyone have any information on how the roads are coming into and out of Yosemite and Mammoth Lakes?
I am from South Texas, we have seen snow here in 20 years...so my snow driving skills are zilch...If there is a small bit of snow, how treacherous are the roads in that area for a novice to be driving?
Thanks in advance for any information provided.
Tioga Pass will be CLOSED!
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Originally Posted by
TXTripper
We would like to rent a car and drive up to Yosemite and back during our stay in CA
Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum! December can be a nice time of year to travel in California, but you will be affected by rain and snow storms this time of year.
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Day 1 -- drive from San Diego into LA / Beverly Hills / Hollywood, up the pacific coast highway into Oxnard for the night.
This will be kind of a long day -- distance is not the problem -- but this route will be very congested and you need to allow 8-10 hours if you are going to be doing sightseeing on the way. Here is a great thread that shares some of the mystery about visiting LA.
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Day 3 -- Drive through Yosemite to Mammoth Lakes
This won't work. Tioga Pass (click here for our closing date poll) will be closed in December and while you can reach Mammoth Lakes from the west side, it will not be through Yosemite....
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I am from South Texas, we have seen snow here in 20 years...so my snow driving skills are zilch...If there is a small bit of snow, how treacherous are the roads in that area for a novice to be driving?
Here are some tips for driving in winter weather.
Mark