Please help us plan a busy 10 days in California!!!!

Hey all,

I have been reading the threads and the advice people have got has been awesome!!!

Me and my partner are trekking down from Seattle to LA for three weeks this summer, which is pre-planned, but we have 10 days when that trek has finished to carry on! We are definatley hiring a car and are trying to plan a fun and action packed 10 days.

At the moment we are thinking (but this is where we need advice!!) about starting in LA and then:

1) Driving up to San Francisco via the coastal road.
2) Driving from SF to Lake Tahoe.
3) From LT to Yosemite.
3) From Y to Kings Canyon and Death Valley.
4) From Kings\ Death Valley to Mojave.
5) From Mojave to Joshua Tree.
6) From Joshua Tree to San Diego.
7) From SD back to LA.

Now is probably far too much, but the position everything is, it seems like a very exciting route to take. There is the possibility of us sacrificing a trip to Hawaii, which would mean we would have 16 days instead of ten.

I am in desperate need of some adive as to what to do. We are very adventurous and active, and would welcome any advice you can give!!!!

Thanks,

Dan and Sarah!!!

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

The biggest issue with the sketch you've laid out is that you've kind of forgotten about the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Most importantly, that means that Sequoia/Kings Canyon can't but lumped together with Death Valley. While they are only a little over a hundred miles apart as the crow flies, the fastest road between the 2 is a 400 mile trip that will take the better part of 8 hours.

This basic outline is also far and away the most popular subject on this forum, so search for threads like these to get some more information.

What you are talking about doing otherwise, is mostly doable, but you're looking at a pretty rushed trip. If you like to look at places in depth, you probably won't enjoy this, but if you just like to take a look at things for a bit and continue on, you'll probably do ok.

There is certainly plenty to do and see in the Southwest and your big decision is whether to spend more time here or in Hawaii, only you can decide.
As Michael said. it's doable but a bit rushed for a ten day trip taking the routing into consideration. You could drop Lake Tahoe or San Diego from your plans to make it a more relaxed trip. Choosing between Death valley and Kings canyon would also free up a lot of quality time elsewhere as opposed to trying to see both.
With 10 days another option would be to consider swapping Kings canyon for the Grand canyon, San Diego for Vegas and leave out Tahoe. That would take shape something like LA > [maybe Mojave/ Joshua tree] Grand canyon > Vegas > Death valley > Yosemite > San Francisco > LA via PCH.
With 16 days it opens the door to more possibility's. Have a look at the links Michael gave you have a think and when you get an idea of what your options are and how long you have let us know and we can help piece your trip together with you.

I don't know what your priorities are for the trip - walking/partying? - but personally I would lose Lake Tahoe and go LA - PCH - San Fran - Yosemite - DV - Mojave - Joshua Tree - Kings Canyon/Sequoia - San Diego - LA. I wouldn't book any accomodation and just see where I ended up. That way I might end up ditching San Diego if I were running out of time. In fact I might consider saving Hawaii for another trip (you should do at least three of the islands and you really need 10-14 days for this) and use the extra time to do something like the LA - PCH - SF - Yosemite - DV - Las Vegas - Zion - Monument Valley - Arches/Canyonlands - Grand Canyon - Route 66 - San Diego - LA trip I did a few years ago. Was an unforgettable trip.

As part of our 'prearranged trek,' we do visit Las Vegas, Grand canyon, Zion, Lake Powell and monument Valley.

With regards to the type of trip, we like to really get stuck into activities, not massive 'partiers,' but want to experience nature at its best! We are very active, and go in for anything outdoor pursuit related. We are alss keen surfers, and enjoy the water, so some time to experience the Californian waters would be lovely.

I can see how the mountains between kings and death valley would be a problem!!! So we need to choose between the two.... Is there any advice you could offer on this Michael?

Sarah would love to go to Mexico, and this is where San Diego came from as they do an excursion. We just want to experience everything but you make a really good point about not wanting to rush things, and its hard to know exactly how much time to devote to each place. This is where we are struggling I think is getting the balance right.

If I said that we were going to plan for 16 days, could somebody propose some form of itinary to help get us started.

Really appreciate the help here guys!!! Thanks a lot,

Dan and Sarah

Maybe you could let us see the itinerary of the tour you are planning and see if we can suggest something to complement it? Is it a Trek America type deal?

Where do you call home? You mention Seattle but I am thinking maybe that is where your trip starts rather than where you live??

We are completing a trek america tour. Home is Lancashire for us so the trek starts in seattle. We travel to montana, glacier national park, western ranch, yellowstone, Grand teton, jackson, wyoming, rocky mountain, arkansas, colarado, monument, grand canyon, lake powell, zion, las vegas and ending in LA.

The really tough decision is whether to sacrifice Hawaii or not!! ahhhhhh

Well, there is no right or wrong answer here, but a few things I would probably do. I think I would skip Death Valley and San Diego and just focus your 10 days on the Coast, Yosemite, and Sequoia/Kings Canyon. Taking your time there will give you time to have fun, and actually explore these places, more than just driving through. I also think you'll probably like a bit slower pace after what looks like a pretty busy trip before hand.

Between the short time you have available right now and the serious crime problem on the Mexican border, I think I would skip that for now. If you really wanted to do Mexico, I would do that instead of Hawaii, and take a flight to one of the several resort towns. (Crime is still an issue throughout the country right now, but the border areas are the biggest problems).

If it were me, and money isn't a factor here, I would go to Hawaii. I think after spending all that time in the American West, the contrast of being out on the islands will be quite fun.

BTW, is your trip really taking you to Arkansas? That's a really really long way away from all of the other places you've listed.

Good point about slowing down after the Trek America trip but, unless you've seen it before, I think Death Valley is well worth the diversion for any Brit. It is so different to anything in Europe that every Brit I ever met adores it.

I presume this is the tour in question. Looks like a good one. Be sure not to rush off right at the end and stay the night in the Trek America hotel at the end. The farewell dinners can be legendary!

This is a follow up thread from my previous 'please help me plan my 10 day action packed road trip.'

Please may I have your honest views on how this itinerary would work out, as well as possible stay over places for the nights. We are on a tight budget and would much appreciate cheap accomodation ideas (we do have the car to stay in if advised??!!??)

Day 1: Travel up the PCH to stay at Big Sur over night.
Day 2: Travel early to SF and stay over night.
Day 3: Leave early to Yosemite and stay over night.
Day 4: Spend another day at Yosemite and leave for Death Valley early evening.
Day 5: Spend the day at Death Valley then leave for Barstow for evening.
Day 6: Leave Barstow early morning and spend day and night at Joshua Tree.
Day 7: Leave Joshua Tree early and spend the day and night at San Diego.
Day 8: Spend the day and night at San Diego (surfing).
Day 9: Arranged Excursion to Mexico. Leave for long beach early evening and stay.
Day 10: Spend the day and night at surrounding beaches.
Day 11: Travel back to LAX for flight to Maui!!

Thanks guys, would welcome any feedback possible!!

Dan and Sarah

You could probably do this trip, but it seems like a really exhausting pace.

The only spot that stands out as needing to be reworked is your plan to leave Yosemite in the early evening and drive to death valley. First, you've got to drive over Tioga Pass which is an amazing drive that you'll want to do in full daylight. You're also looking at a drive thats going to take at least 5-6 hours, which means you wouldn't be getting to your destination until early morning.

Actually, I'd also say your day 9 doesn't sound very feasable either. Trying to go to long beach from San Diego (2 hours plus traffic, and there is always traffic) after a full day in Mexico is going to make for an extremely long day. If you just want more beach time, I'd just stay in the San Diego area a little longer.

If it were me, I would at the very least cut out Joshua Tree so you can spend a full day in San Francisco. And it looks like you've got a day at the end that you might want to play around with so you have more time somewhere else along your trip, but if you work out those issues, you should be in good shape.

Hi Michael,

Thank you for your quick advice!!!!

We didnt realise that the distance from Yosemite to DV would be so long (I am so glad we found this site for these exact reasons!!!). Its hard to know how long to spend at all these places to balance an amazing experience but see as much as possible. Would travelling from yosemite with an very early start to DV, and spend the remainder of that day and night at DV be enough or do we need 2 days to take in the variety on offer?

Also you mentioned taking out Joshua tree to maybe save time. Do we not need to pass through or near Joshua Tree to get to San Diego?

Everything past DV is flexible. We are very keen to go to San Diego and beaches on the way back to LAX, but not really at the expense of seeing the beauty of the national parks. We are VERY active, and not afraid to get stuck in.

Thanks again Michael, much appreciated!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by d.williams

Also you mentioned taking out Joshua tree to maybe save time. Do we not need to pass through or near Joshua Tree to get to San Diego?

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You can select a route that goes that way, but it's neither the most direct nor the fastest. The fastest route from DV to San Diego is I-15 and it bypasses Joshua Tree National Park. If you follow the two lane roads that would connect DV with SD and Joshua Tree, you need to allow an extra three hours at least and perhaps as much as 8 more hours. (If you spend any time at all looking at Joshua Tree...)

And I just looked again at your route -- If you stayed overnight in Barstow, you'd have backtrack to even reach Joshua Tree -- I agree with Michael, you need to cut this part out and go directly to San Diego if you are going to have a "beach" experience.

Using I-15 to I-5, (the most direct route -- and there are some nice side-trips available) it's about 175 miles between Barstow and San Diego -- with traffic slowdowns you can expect this to take about 3 to 3.5 hours. If you use one of the interior routes -- and they are worth it -- except for your time crunch -- you need to allow 6-8 hours to cover essentially the same distance.

Mark

You do not need to go all the way to I-5 to get from Barstow to SD, just stay on I-15. Mapping programs are going to want to send you down I-215 through San Bernardino, but staying on I-15 is a bit faster and less hassles.

I must say this is one of the very few itineraries I've seen here for that area of the country that doesn't include Las Vegas!

Guys, can I say thank you for your advice first of all. This will really make the trip a real pleasure!! Thank you for your road suggestions also! We havent really thought about the specific roads!!! (stupidly)

GLC: We are doing a Trek America trip before we continue on our own that visits Vegas.

So, if I have got this right, the adjustments to the trip will be as follows:

Day 1: Travel up the PCH to stay at Big Sur over night.
Day 2: Travel early to SF and stay over night.
Day 3: Leave early to Yosemite and stay over night.
Day 4: Spend additional day at Yosemite, stay over night.
Day 5: Early drive to Death Valley. Overnight stay at Death Valley.
Day 6: Additional day at Death Valley. Do you think we leave for Barstow that evening or stay at Death Valley and leave the next morning? Is there somewhere other than Barstow to stay, it just looked like a midway point?
Day 7: Leave Death Valley\ Barstow early morning and drive to San Diego??? If we stayed at Death Valley, is there anywhere else worth stopping during the drive to San Diego?
Day 8: Spend the day and night at San Diego (surfing).
Day 9: Arranged Excursion to Mexico. Stay overnight in San Diego.
Day 10: Leave SD early and spend the day an at Huntington beach etc. Stay at Long Beach.
Day 11: Travel back to LAX for flight to Maui at 2.30!!

Thanks again guys.

Barstow is pretty much the most logical place to stay. It's certainly less expensive than Death Valley. Allow about 3 hours to get there from Death Valley, depending on your exit route.

Barstow would be a logical point to stop after your day in Death Valley, setting you up to be in San Diego pretty early the next day.

The only other point that still seems like a small problem is that other than spending the night in San Francisco, you don't seem like you've given yourself any time to actually see it. I don't know how much of a priority that is to you, but its something to think about and you might save quite a bit of money staying someplace farther way from the city itself.