Another suggestion for you...
Ian,
I looked back in this thread and think that we might wish to back-up a couple of steps. To that end,
AZBuck wrote this:
Quote:
My basic recommendation would be that you drive through Death Valley from south to north, entering from Amargosa Valley, NV by way of NV-373 CA-127 and CA-190. Take the short detour to see Scotty's Castle and get some of the lore of the valley. Then continue on to join US-395 at Big Pine, CA and head north.
And there are a couple of adjustments that I would suggest you consider. From Las Vegas take SR-160 west to Pahrump and then follow NV-372 west towards the California border, at the border this road becomes CA-178. Follow SR-178 to Shoshone -- good photo ops and a cute town and then stay on SR-178 and follow it into the southern end of the park passing over Jubilee Pass into Death Valley. The road changes it's name to the Badwater road (but it is all the same road). You can stop at Badwater and look at the sea level mark high above your head on the cliff and drive out to Devil's Golfcourse -- great salt crysytals and take the dirt (but excellent road) around the Artist's Palette and then up to Furnace Creek for the Visitor Center et al.
If you have time you can make the drive up to Scotty's Castle (it takes about 30 minutes to drive up there) do the tour and then reverse your route back down the same road until you reach SR-190 and turn to the west to make your way over to US-395 and then north to Big Pine and you could stay over-night in Bishop. This will be a very full and satisfying day.
If you tried to add in the dirt road adventure (along the Death Valley Road) it would easily be a 16-18+ hour travel day. Whereas if you stick to the pavement, you can see much of Death Valley and still reach Bishop at a reasonable hour. The next day you can travel over Tioga Pass into Yosemite and push on to San Francisco. Again another long, but fun day. You simply don't have enough time to do the off-highway adventure part of this trip in a two-day travel period from Las Vegas to San Francisco via Death Valley. And you won't be violating the terms of your rental contract...
Mark
