Hello everyone, another newbie from England here!

I will try not to bore you with loads of questions that have been answered copioiusly in previous threads....

All I wish to know is, if we are heading down the US-395 (from Reno) and intend to overnight in a hotel in Mammoth Lakes in APRIL, would we need tyre chaines when exiting the US-395 onto the 203 (Mammoth)?

For added info, we will not be "exploring" Mammoth Lakes, we just thought it would a good place to stop for the night after several hours of driving (we will be departing from San Francisco around 8.30am) towards Sacramento on to Reno down the US-395 and stopping for the night at Mammoth Lakes (I learnt from these forums that cutting across Yosemite in April is not feasible due to road closures/weather etc). We will proceed onto Death Valley the following day (hoping to stay the night somewhere in Furnace Creek) and reach Vegas the following day.

I have my trip more or less mapped out and a lot of the important tips re routes/road closures etc I found on this site - so thank you for all the valuable info and knowledageble advice. If you think stopping in Mammoth lakes is not a good idea (due to road conditions in April) would you advise if stopping in Bridgeport is preferable?

Thanks again, and wishing everyone a good week ahead.