Driving from Anaheim to Las Vegas

[twkonsey]

Hi,

I will be having a trip in LA and Anaheim in early August and wish to spend a few days in Las Vegas. I'm planning to drive from Anaheim to Las Vegas and have a few concerns about driving in the desert.

Since the temperature will be quite high during the summer time, should any precaution be considered before starting the trip to Vegas? I will rent a car for 2 weeks so I might ask the rental company to have the preparation for me. By the way, I'm not living in US and not familiarize with the traffic rules here (though I am driving in France). Anything I should aware of?

Will it take 4-5 hours for a one-way trip?

Thanks.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Anytime you are traveling in the desert, it makes sense to carry extra water. That said, if you're driving a rental car, the car should be relatively new and should not have any problems traveling because of the heat. Even if you did have a problem, since it sounds like you'll be taking the interstates, there will be plenty of other people on the roads.

As far as your travel time, I don't think its possible to get from Anaheim to Vegas in 4 hours. I'd say 5-6 is much more likely, depending upon how much traffic you find while getting out of the LA area.

As far as getting used to driving in the US, you may want to check out the International Visitors section.

[Foy]

Good afternoon and welcome,

I agree with Midwest Michael as to expected condition of your rental car and of the wisdom of taking water with you. And he's right about Interstate 15 travel between the LA area and Las Vegas--you will have lots of company.

The one issue I was unprepared for on my first trip between Las Vegas and LA was the mountains: There are 3 or 4 fairly high summits to cross between Barstow, CA and Las Vegas. Close to Barstow, the elevations are fairly low, but there are places where the highway goes through a pass at over 4,000' between there and Las Vegas. Even with the added mountains, the drive is a beautiful one and Interstate 15 is very well constructed and maintained. You will enjoy the trip.

Foy

[W. Larrison]

Driving in the dessert in August means a bunch of common sense things, I think

- The extra water makes a lot of sense. You can get dehydrated very easily, without even being out in the hot air while driving. That is, folks don't want to stop so they decide not to drink water -- that's not good in the long run for them. So take some extra water and make sure you drink water on the drive. The extra is for emergencies, but you should be driving the whole time anyway (the air is very dry...)

- Take a cell phone that works. There are emergency call boxes every couple of km along the way, but there is also cell phone coverage 99+% of the distance. Call 911 (emergency) if you need to.

I should note the freeway is typically moderately busy, and a major interstate route. It's patrolled, both by air and vehicle -- but its such a long distance that if you just wait for a highway patrol vehicle, it can be a fairly long (hours) wait before they see you. Cell phone is best.

- Dress appropriately. It's going to be hot. And the ground is going to be hot. If you end up walking on the desert surface, its not sandy and can be 20C hotter than the air. A pair of good walking shoes and appropriate clothes to be comfortable in makes a lot of sense, regardless.

- Sun protection. Sunglasses at a minimum. If you're of European heritage (and particularly northern European heritage) you can be sunburned in like 20 minutes in the sun. Having sunscreen (at least level 30), a hat, and sunglasses just makes sense, regardless. And use them -- sunscreen in the morning, re-apply mid day, and wear the sunglasses, even when driving.

[murotico]

Hello, I am a brand new RTA user, and I was reading the post about driving from Anaheim to Las Vegas in August. I am going to do the same trip in late december with my wife and children, so I would like to know if there are additional considerations having the trip in this seasson of the year.

[glc]

Welcome!

In December, you should not have blazing hot temperatures to deal with, but you just might encounter some snow!

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

What was posted in this thread 3 years ago is still generally true, but really this is about as straightforward of a drive as you can make.

Its a couple hundred miles of very heavily traveled freeways, where traffic jams would be your most likely problem. Otherwise, the weather is typically pleasant (as GLC mentioned, once every so often there is a little snow, but that's fairly rare, and if their is anyway it would most likely be very light), and you can take comfort in knowing that you'll be sharing the road with several thousand other people - especially if you are traveling on a weekend.

[darnelljdarnell]

Coming from alaska to Anahiem and on to Vegas. How's the weather on the road during the month of September. We have never drove this highway so just wondering about the conditions

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

While this thread is now 8 years old, pretty much everything that was said before still applies to your trip. Average high temperatures are still around 100F at the start of the month, cooling into the upper 80s at the end of the month. Anything around there is certainly possible, and just like anything, we're only talking about averages - the only way to know what the weather will be for your trip is to look at the forecasts just before you leave.