Between Yosemite & Palm Springs | What to see, where to stay

[Southwest Dave]

If you were to simplify things, and look at Yosemite to Grand canyon to Cottonwood before arriving in Palm Springs, without too longer days of driving, then I would consider the following.

20th. Leave Yosemite, head towards Fresno and look at staying nearer to Bakersfield, or a small detour and look around the Lake Isabella area. Miracle Hot Springs near Bodfish, or Kernville is a small quaint mountain town. Next day(21st) head towards Kingman and explore this route 66 town for the night. Then a ride along a stretch of route 66 on the 22nd, through Seligman and onto the Grand canyon NP, stay the night in the park or Flagstaff. 23rd, head to Cottonwood, spending a bit of time in Sedona on the way. Then continue to drive towards Palm Springs, until you are a comfortable distance away. Cottonwood to PS would be 6.5 hours plus, as you have an event to attend you will want to start out closer I presume. Getting close to (or just along) I-10 would give you a good start to PS on the 24th.

[glc]

Because you would have to drive north all the way to US-50 to get over the mountains.

Not necessarily. CA-88 (Carson Pass) is maintained year round and there's a decent chance CA-89 (Monitor Pass) will be open. You won't know till the time comes. If you do take that to US-395, you can go through Death Valley on the way to Las Vegas.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Hi, I’m planning a trip where the main attractions are San Francisco (thinking of 4 days), Yosemite National Park (3 days) and finishing in Los Angeles (almost 2 days) with Palm Springs the night before (seeing a gig in PS).

So, you have had a number of suggestions, we would love to know what you are planning to do.

Once we know that, we can share some insider tips from the semi-pro roadtrippers who are active on this board about our favorite places along your planned route.

Mark

[Mr. Cookie]

So, you have had a number of suggestions, we would love to know what you are planning to do.

Once we know that, we can share some insider tips from the semi-pro roadtrippers who are active on this board about our favorite places along your planned route.

Mark

I was going to write just that.
I now have a lot more info and a lot of sugestions.
I need to evaluate them and make a new plan and I'll post it here.

I want to thank all of you for your insights, they are very important!

[Mark Sedenquist]

I want to thank all of you for your insights, they are very important!

Thank you for listening to our advice!

The cumulative total of the active members of this Trip Advice forum is about 4 million miles of road trips in North America (or about 6,4373,760 km) so we have a bit of experience.

Mark

[Mr. Cookie]

Again, thank you for all your help.

After careful reading all replies, I made two itineraries: one based on the feedback from AZBuck along with Mark Sedenquist, and another one based on Southwest Dave's post.

Option 1: AZBuck along with Mark Sedenquist

My doubt abouth this one is day #2 (21th april) and #3 (22th april).

On day #2 I'm leaving Las Vegas and want to visit the Grand Canyon.
If I go via Flagstaff it's almost 4 hours from Vegas to Flagstaff plus 1,5 hour each way from Flagstaff to GC. I think that leaves very little time to visit the GC.
I could go from Vegas direct to the GC and then stay in Flagstaff.

Day #3: Why go back the Grand Canyon village? I was there the day before, or not?
I think I could go direct to Cottonwood.

Day #4: Kingman or Wickenburg? Wickenburg is nearer? Is because of Route 66? Is it worth it, this section?

Option 2: Southwest Dave

I think I don't have any doubts about this one.

************************************************** ********************
Both seem to be quite similar on the miles covered and that's something important because, as I expressed, we don't want to be driving (almost) all day, day in day out.

Other thing that is important is choosing the most cenic/fun routes!

I made word docs for each one, with google maps links and prints, for each day.

Thanks again!

[Southwest Dave]

Other thing that is important is choosing the most scenic/fun routes!

This often adds to the driving time, but for me it's just part of the adventure and pleasure. One such route between Yosemite and Lake Isabella could have you route through the Sequoia National Forest, which is quieter than the National park and a lovely drive. You would need to check on weather and road conditions before heading out that way, but here is the option. You would take exit 87 from CA99 onto CA137/65 which takes you into Porterville then take CA190 through Springville and Cedar slope onto Mountain 90, The Great western divide Highway to M99 at Johnsondale and follow the Kern river Highway into Kernville and Wofford heights. On route is 'The Trail of 100 giants', a grove of giant Sequoia trees, but note this could still be closed in April due to winter conditions.

[AZBuck]

My original recommendation was:

Day 1) Drive to Las Vegas and spend the night
Day 2) Drive to Flagstaff and spend the night, perhaps make a side trip to Meteor (Berringer) Crater, if you arrive early enough.
Day 3) Drive around the Grand Canyon loop, then down through Verde Valley with stops in Cottonwood and/or Jerome. Continue to the northern suburbs of Phoenix and spend the night
Day 4) Drive to Palm Springs, perhaps a short side trip up to the ranger station in Joshua Tree NP, arrive Palm Springs.

There are two things I might change given your circumstances. You could more evenly spread out the driving on Days 1 and 2 by stopping for the night at Barstow/Yerma CA at the end of Day 1 then continue on through Las Vegas to Flagstaff on Day 2. That would be about 315 mi./6 hrs on Day 1 and 341 mi./5½ hrs on Day 2. You would have an hour or two to explore Las Vegas by daylight.

The other thing I would change from my previous recommendation is that you do the Grand Canyon loop in a counter-clockwise direction: US-89 north out of Flag, AZ-64 along the Canyon Rim and then back down to US-180 into Flag but continue on down US-89/AZ-89A through the Verde Valley. The advantage of doing it in this direction is that the Grand Canyon will be on 'your' side of the road as you drive along it making pull-offs at view points that much easier. Also on your drive through the Verde Valley, the town of Sedona might be a good place to take a short walk just to see the town.

Hope that clears things up a bit.

AZBuck

[Mark Sedenquist]

It occurred to me that we've overlooked another route over the Sierra Nevadas -- which you could use to go from Yosemite Valley to US-395 on your trip south.

CalTrans does everything it can to keep Carson Pass open each winter. Hwy 88 is a bit of a detour northward -- but less than either US-50 or I-80.

Today, it is open (with chains)

So, it is likely to be open in April too!

--> And George (GLC) mentioned this in an earlier post too -- Scroll up to post #12.

I was just in Thousand Palms last weekend.


Mark

[Lifemagician]

It's been an utter pleasure following this thread. I can still see myself on all those roads.

Dave mentioned that taking scenic routes means taking a bit longer; but like him, they have always been my routes of choice. There is a much greater pleasure in the time on the road. Besides, what is the point of taking a scenic/fun route, if you don't give yourself time to really enjoy it.

I hope that you will come back and write a comprehensive report - with photos - in this Forum, on how and where it all went. Can't wait to read it!

Lifey