San Fran to Vegas (via Yosemite maybe?)

[irishlad]

Hi,
I've been frantically searching the web trying to plan a road trip.. Of course I have left it to the last minute.

Myself and 3 friends depart Dublin, and arrive in San Francisco on the 20th June. We plan to stay there for a few days to relax, explore the city and sample the local beers! We leave on the 24th en-route to Vegas. We aim to arrive there by the 26th, evening time. This leaves us with 2/3 days of driving/exploring.. I have heard the route to Yosemite through Sierra Nevada is lovely and also Death Valley is amazing. Will we have time to visit both or should we stick to one leaving us with some time to relax? Or are there other routes we could take? I supose we are looking for some nice scenery, easy driving and some good nightlife along the way!

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank You
Niall

[Mark Sedenquist]

Hi,
I've been frantically searching the web trying to plan a road trip.. Of course I have left it to the last minute.

That is a plan that works for me.

Yosemite is great and well worth a look. The route over the Sierra Nevada mountains (Tioga Pass) is still closed due to snow, but Sonora Pass is open and all of the other northern passes are open.

However, if you are looking for some nightlife on the way, I would go north on CA-Hwy 49 (after you leave Yosemite) also known as the Gold Rush Trail - - there are plenty of interesting gold-era towns with some good bars along the way. Head all the way north to US-50 and drive to Lake Tahoe -- views are exceptional and, again, there are some fun nightclubs in Southshore at the Nevada state line.

From Tahoe I would jam down US-395 (stopping as you want for more nightlife) and head east on CA-138 at Lone Pine joining with CA-190 going over Emigrant Pass into Death Valley and then on to Las Vegas

Look at the bottom of the page for similar threads about this route.

Mark

[irishlad]

Mark,
Thank you very much for the information! Much appreciated. I think we'll take that route and stay overnight near Lake Tahoe. First time in the states, so driving on the (wrong side!) should be fun! The drive from Lake Tahoe to Vegas looks like it could take the best part of 2 days, so we'll probably stay overnight near Death Valley too. I'll have a read of the other posts too. Thanks again,
Niall