SF - Yosemite - Vegas - San Diego - SF

[nan001]

We are planning on spening the three first weeks of October driving in California and up to Vegas - Grand Canyon.

We plan to start in SF, spend a couple of days on the wine vallies, head to Yosemite and hike for a couple of days. Then drive to Vegas through Death valley, possibly in two days. Spend a couple of days in Vegas and head to Grand canyon. From there we would like to get to San Diego but are not sure if it's better to drive directly (is the road interesting) or ot's better to go back to Vegas and then drive west. From San Diego we plan to drive north through the coast road up to SF and spend there another two or three days.

Could somebody recomend the mosts interesting roads for this trip and interesting spots to stop (sightseeing / eating/sleeping...) and if possible how many days to spend in San Francisco (possibly split between beginnig and end of our journey)? ... too many questions?

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

One thing we often recommend doing is reversing your trip, going counter clockwise, which would mean you could drive south down the coast road where the ocean and turn outs would be on your side of the road.

However, depending upon how early into October is may be more important to hit Yosemite first. The later into the month you travel, the more likely that Tioga Pass could be impacted by snow, or even close for the season. The road typically closes in November, but can close as early as Mid-October if winter comes early to the Sierra. Also note that even if the pass doesn't close for the season, you can see storms that will temporarily close the pass for a couple of hours/days and could impact your trip.

There's no reason to go back to Vegas after the Grand Canyon, as it is to the north and out of the way for a trip to SoCal. On your way to San Diego you could head through Joshua Tree NP.