Road Trip - LA/San Francisco/Vegas

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take 160 to Pahrump and then Ash meadows/ State line Rd to Death valley junction.

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A minor point to avoid confusion - in Pahrump on 160, it's signed as Bell Vista Ave. It's on the north edge of town and you would turn left.

I have asked about driving at night just to know how dangerous are the roads after the sunset, but it is not in my plans doing this kind of crazy thing hehehe (how can i drive and lose all of the scenic landscapes??? hehehe)... the only way of driving at night it is in an emergency case...
I just forgot the 14 hours of daylight in summer hehehe... this will improve a lot the quality and quantity of my photos...
Yeah, the fact of going to Tioga Pass after visiting Mariposa grove is a little mistake on my schedule... now im planning to do this:

....
4º lunch at a good Vegas restaurant and travel to Death Valley (Furnace Creek)
5º Death Valley and travel to a hotel near Tioga Pass
6º Tioga Pass and Mariposa grove
7º Glacier Point and the Valley floor (Yosemite)
8º Travel to San Francisco - Union Square, Coit tower and Pier 39
....

Only one more doubt:

If I travel to Furnace creek on day 4, what will be a nice place to visit in Death Valley on day 5 morning?

Hey Dave, thanks for the road tips... im searching the best roads to drive all of the way now, and your tips are coming in a good time heheheh...

Thanks everybody!!!!!!!!

If safety is your only issue, then no there isn't any problem with driving at night.

When you say you are planning to stay in a hotel "near Tioga Pass" where are you thinking of staying more specifics. The pass is a mountain road, and there really isn't much for lodging option. You pretty much have to stay either on the east side before you enter the park, or in the valley/to the west. Where you are planning to stay will have a big impact on what you can do with day 5.

The closest hotel to Tioga Pass on the east is in Lee Vining. You can also stay in June Lake or Mammoth Lakes. Once you cross the pass, the closest lodging is in Yosemite Village itself.

Yeah, i was thinking about staying somewhere on the east side of Tioga Pass in the end of the 5º day, so I could drive in the 6 day morning across this scenic pass and visit Mariposa grove and other places in Yosemite in the afternoon... glc said about three possibilities of lodging (Lee Vining, June Lake and Mammoth Lakes), and I am pretty impressed with Mammoth... the city has good hotels and is near from beatutiful places, like the Twin Lakes.... what do you think???

I have one doubt about the route Las Vegas/ Furnace Creek... i was searching at http://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm and another route has given me ideas... what do you think about driving across the Old Spanish Trail and Badwater Road instead of going to Pahrump and then driving across Ash meadows/ State line Rd to Death valley junction??? Can I choose the first option and take some road to see the Zabriskie point after???

Thanks everybody!!!!!!

Any road that is red on the official park map is paved, and may be driven in a rental car. Zabriskie Point is very near Furnace Creek, and that's where Badwater Road meets Highway 190.

The Old Spanish Trail/ Badwater Rd looks a viable option but will take you about an Hour and a half longer to Furnace creek[4 hours or so]. However if you are planning on leaving Vegas early enough to visit Badwater the same day there actually is not much in it at all. A drive around the one way Artists drive between Badwater and Furnace creek in the early evening makes a wonderful opportunity for photo's through the Artisits Pallette section. It's only about 9 miles long but you should allow up to an hour to drive around and take some shots.

I have not stayed at Mammoth but have wanted to do so, [and still do] it does look very nice.

Now I think my trip schedule is almost complete.... these are the roads that i wanna drive across and the period of traveling on each one (and total too):

(1) Los Angeles to Las Vegas ---> Interstate 15 N (4 hours and 20 minutes)

(2) Las Vegas to Death Valley

Route (a) (2 hours and 40 min)

Las Vegas to Pahrump ---> Interstate 15 S - NV 160 W Highway
Pahrump to Death Valley junction ---> NV 160 W Highway - Bell Vista Ave - Ash Meadows/State line road
Death Valley junction to Zabriskie point ---> Ash Meadows/State line road - CA 127 N highway - CA 190 W highway
Zabriskie point to Furnace Creek ---> CA 190 W highway

Route (b) (4 hours and 20 min)

Las Vegas to Zabriskie Point ---> Interstate 15 S - NV 160 W Highway - Old Spanish Trail - CA 127 N highway - CA 178 W highway (Badwater road) - CA 190 E highway
Zabriskie Point to Furnace Creek ---> CA 190 W highway

(3) Death Valley to Mammoth Lakes ---> CA 190 W highway - CA 136 W - US 395 N/S route (left track) - CA 203 W highway (3 hours and 50 min)

(4) Mammoth Lakes to Mariposa grove (by Tioga Pass) ---> Mammoth Scenic Loop - US 395 N route - CA 120 W (Tioga Pass) - CA 140 E - CA 41 S (3 hours and 10 min)

(5) Yosemite Valley to San Francisco ---> CA 120 W - CA 99 S - CA 120 W - Interstate 5 S - Interstate 205 W - Interstate 580 W - Richmond, San Rafael Bridge - Golden Gate Bridge (4 hours and 20 min)

(6) San Francisco to Santa Cruz ---> CA 101 S - CA 85 S - CA 17 S (1 hour and 25 min)

(7) Santa Cruz to Big Sur and San Simeon ---> CA 1 S (3 hours)

(8) San Simeon to Santa Barbara, Malibu and Santa Monica ---> CA 1 S (4 hours and 30 min)

(9) Santa Monica to Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach (Los Angeles) ---> CA 1 S (1 hour and 25 min)

Total period on the road ----> choosing Route (a) in Death Valley : 28 hours and 40 min
choosing Route (b) in Death VAlley : 30 hours and 20 min

Should I change some details???

And I wanna thanks everybody for the helping.... you are amazing!!!

That looks like a very good plan, but some of your travel times may be more than you think. If you are using computer software to get the drive times, they do not account for any stops or delays due to traffic or construction.

Hello!

I'm a first-timer on this forum and this thread was very useful to me!
I am planning a similar two-week road trip in California this summer.
We are a family of five from Norway, who plan to spend two weeks in Orlando, Florida, and two weeks in California this summer, and the route presented in this thread looks very interesting.

We plan on starting our trip in Vegas and ending it in LA before we go back to Norway, would it be practically possible cram a trip up to the Grand Canyon into this 14-day schedule? What would we possibly need to give up on/cut down on to get time to see Grand Canyon?
Or should we forget about Grand Canyon and spend another day in Yosemite instead?
Could we visit Joshua Tree on this route?
We are traveling with children aged 9, 11 and 17, is there anything in this route that is not at all interesting for children?
What would be the cheapest accomodation type for us, as we are on a budget and five traveling together? Any spesific tips for good and cheap accomodation along the route?

I will be very thankful for any reply to my questions. I hope it is OK to ask these questions here in this thread, or should I maybe start a new thread?

Thank You very much in advance!