Vegas to San Fran in November

[jude2162]

HI. We are 6 adults and 1 six year old from Australia driving from Las Vegas to San Francisco in November. We have 7 days (6 nights) and would love some suggestions as to what to see and where to stay.
We are not sure whether to include the Grand Canyon in this trip or whether that may put too much pressure on us to fit it in.
Thanks

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the R.T.A. forums.

This is a very popular route and you will find new lots of info on the forums covering the area.

To start out a trip through Death valley is highly recommended as it is a fascinating landscape. You would then generally have 2 options to get around the Sierra's, head North and across the Tioga pass [120] into Yosemite or head South and go around the Sierra's and head for the coast. The main problem is that the Tioga Pass may be closed due to snowfall which removes option 1 if that's the case. These are the closing dates in recent years.
If it is closed and you head around the Southern end you can still visit Yosemite valley and even Sequoia N.P or take the coastal option and drive up the beautiful Pacific coast highway. With 7 days you have plenty of time for the trip and depending on how you want to spend your time could see part of the coast and Yosemite. The Grand Canyon is a 5-6 hour drive from Vegas and would be best done with a stopover for the night. It would be a shame to be that close to such a natural wonder and not see it [unless of course you have been before.] It would also be possible to head to G/C across the Hoover dam and then head to the coast and up to S/F.

This thread has lots of info on the area. Have a look around and when you have more questions, just ask

[jude2162]

Hi. We are coming to the US in October and November. I have spent many hours reading all of the threads about driving between Las Vegas and San Franscisco
We have six days to get from Vegas toSan Fran in the 2nd week of November.
I have two problems:
1. Not sure if we want to go to Death Valley due to the 49er's retreat and we are not really fussed on big crowds
2. Not sure if the Tioga Pass will be open at that stage.

I am really struggling to plan my itinerary. Have looked at the option of driving back towards LA and then driving up the coast as I would really like to see places like Solvang and Big Sur (but is six days too much) OR should we travel up towards Mammoth and Lake Tahoe and enter San Fran from the north.
Just looking for some guidance to get us started

Mod note] Please keep all questions about the same trip in one thread.

[Southwest Dave]

........but only you can decide !

It's tough making choices but only you can decide what works best for you, although It doesn't make it any easier not knowing what the status of the Tioga pass will be.
I have no idea what you would expect to find in DV with the 49 er's being there, but as I have said before it's an amazing place. Maybe you should keep all your options open untill you know whether Tioga is open or not and "wing it". If it is closed and wanting to see the coast is a priority I would head for the coast and the Solvang /Morro bay area and take a couple of days travelling around Big Sur etc and then head to Yosemite from Monterey/Castroville and then back to San Fran. That would give you a couple of days exploring the coast including the driving, a couple in Yosemite [albeit 1 full day and 2 half days] and a couple on the road [1 full and 2 halves, plus scenic driving on coast].
But that's me, all the other options have there own merits and as I said no one can decide but you, the good news is there is no wrong choice. ;-)

Enjoy.

[Yeehaw]

Yes, the 49ers will be there and you'll see a lot of RV's but DV never will be crowded because it's too big a place. make your reservations though at www.xanterra.com Furnace Creek Inn is most upmarket with lovely gradens and pool area. Furnace Creek Ranch is like a little village and Stove Pipewells is my personal favorite. Time of year is perfect for DV. Nobody knows if Tioga Pass is open or not. We had it open in december and closed in october sometime.
If open, us395 to Lee Vining and Tioga Pass to Yosemite would be my choice.
So maybe:
Day 1: Drive to DV.
Day 2: DV via Lone Pine and us395 to Lee Vining
Day 3: Lee Vining and Tioga Pass (beter to drive in the morning with the sun behind you) to Yosemite
Day 4: Yosemite NP
Day 5: Yosemite to Cambria
Day 6: Cambria along hw1 to Big Sur, Point Lobos SR, Monterey and to SF
If Tioga Pass is closed maybe try:
Day 1: Las Vegas to DVNP
Day 2: DVNP via Bakersfield to Oakhurst at the south entrance of Yosemite NP. Another option is to drive from DV to Three Rivers at the entrance of Sequoia-Kingts Canyon NP. And drive to Yosemite next day. Weather permitted.
Day 3: a. Yosemite NP
b. Sequoia NP-Yosemite NP
Day 4: a. Another day Yosemite NP
b: Only one full day Yosemite
Day 5: Drive to Cambria
Day 6: Drive to San Francisco.
You'll miss Solvang, Danish delight. Sorry about that.
If you want to visit Solvang, you'll prob miss Yosemite, but you'll have more time between Solvang and San Francisco. I would not want to miss Yosemite though.
If you think DV is too crowded for you, drive from Las Vegas via DV that day and see some of the sights on your way. You even could decide to stay at Panamint Springs Resort at the far west side of DV.
Yeehaw

[jude2162]

Thanks for the great advice. It has been a little hard to plan not knowing which way to go.
We shall let you know what we decide (probably won't decide until we actually start the trip. I guess we are just hoping we can find accommodation with a couple of days notice.....

[glc]

You will be out of peak tourist season, so finding accommodations should not be a problem.