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Hi I'm travelling from the UK this summer to the US and am planning a trip from Vegas to San Francisco stopping for one night at Death Valley & Yosemite on the way. This is my first road trip and really looking forward to it but must admit I'm slightly nevous! Anyone got any tips/ advise or best route to take?
Gosh, this sure seems to be a popular route to travel this summer. At the bottom of this page, you can find some of the discussion that we have had about traveling from Las Vegas to San Francisco and back. It is a gorgeous route and one that is perfect for road trips.
As for being nervous, don't be. Most of your trip is in areas where there are good roads, plenty of road services, and friendly people. (Well, there are friendly people everywhere you're going.)
However, if you go to Death Valley, there are definitely special precautions you should take there. The heat there can kill. Be sure you have LOTS of water (and drink it even if you don't feel thirsty). Make sure your vehicle is in good working order. Check out this thread for some great information on heat-related issues.
Hi there
I did the same trip in late June this year. Fully understand your nerves as i felt the same, particularly about driving through Death Valley and over the Tioga pass into Yosemite.
The drive into Death Valley from Vegas was really comfortable in our air conditioned SUV - we stayed at Furnace Creek and were there just before lunchtime after leaving Vegas around 9am. Previous advice about drinking plenty is right, we bought a big cool box in Vegas and filled it with bottles of water and ice before leaving. You will need it, DV is HOT!!
Dont worry though, even if you did break down, there are plenty of visitors to the park and you wouldnt be waiting long for help. Hopefully the scenic drives in the valley will be re-opened, they were still all closed when we went because of flash flooding last winter, so we were a little disappointed.
Driving from there to Yosemite is around 300 miles and again, we were nervous about taking Tioga road because it was a high mountain pass and had heard some scary stories about driving it. it opened just the day before we drove it and believe me, it was absolutely awesome!! The road is really not as bad as you may have heard, and providing you stick to the speed limits you will stay safte and definately enjoy the trip. Take advantage of all the vista points and stop and admire the scenery, ive never seen anything like it.
You will be talking about it for weeks when you get home - have fun!!