Death Valley to Redwoods

[trabird]

Hello all.

My friend and I are trying to plan a road trip from Charlotte, NC to the Grand Canyon and Death Valley. We're trying to cut back on the number of miles traveled but would love to see the Redwoods in California. Could anyone suggest the nearest place/shortest route to see Redwoods coming from Death Valley?

Thanks in advance.

-Traci

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

The nearest stand of giant trees to Death Valley is in the Sequoia National Forest, specifically its Giant Sequoia National Monument units. Unfortunately their website seems to be down at the moment but here is a link to a cached copy of the info. To get there from Death Valley, you would leave to the west on CA-190 taking US-395 south at Olancha. Turn west again on CA-178 near Inyokern. (CA-178 does run directly from Death Valley to Inyokern, but the CA-190/US-395 route is worth the few extra miles.) At Bella Vista, go north on Sierra Road to the Kern River Highway (Mountain Rd 99) into the Forest/Monument. That's about 210 miles one-way, but leave more time than usual for the drive since none of it is on freeways. After seeing the trees, it should be a relatively simple matter to retrace your route to the Lake Isabella area and continue on CA-178 to Bakersfield to get on CA-58 and the freeway/interstate system.

AZBuck