I've recently moved to San Francisco and I have some friends visiting me in March and I'm planning my first of what will probably be many road trips around CA.

We plan to go for 5 days, leaving SF on Monday 7th March (am) and returning late on Friday 11th March. My must see is Death Valley as I've heard it's the best time of year to go.

Can anyone offer suggestions for the best round trip from SF to Death Valley and back? I'd like to try to spend a couple of days in Death Valley and I don't mind doing a long day of driving in one direction if allows us to maximize time Death Valley &/or any other stops along the way. I have plenty of other opportunities to get to see CA so I don't need to do it all in one trip, although I still want to show my guests some great sites. I'm not sure if it's a good time of year to do a drive through yosemite, but I know that's one place my guests would like to see if we can.

Thanks for any help.