15 day trip from Seattle to Vegas!

[m1keyboy]

Hi,

Myself and a group of friends will be embarking on a 15 day road trip along the west coast of America in June. The itinerary is currently:

Day 1
Seattle

Day 2
Seattle

Day 3
Drive to Portland

Day 4
Drive to Medford via Crater Lake

Day 5
Drive to Eureka via Crescent City/Redwood NP

Day 6
Drive to San Fran

Day 7
San Fran

Day 8
Drive to Yosemite

Day 9
Drive to LA

Day 10
LA

Day 11
Drive to Vegas

Day 12
Vegas

Day 13
Drive to Grand Canyon

Day 14
Drive to Vegas

Day 15
Vegas

I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice on the following:

• Day 4 will be quite long. We need to get from Portland to Medford, but we'd love to see Crater Lake on the way. Can anyone recommend a Crater Lake itinerary if time is limited?
• Day 5 will see us heading along the 199 from Medford to Crescent City, then down the 101 to Eureka. Does anyone have any suggestions on an itinerary for this day? Is the Tall Trees Trail worth doing?
• Day 11 is the drive from LA to Vegas. Is a de-tour via Death Valley worth the extra drive time?

Any other comments/suggestions on the overall itinerary is most welcome!

Cheers.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I don't think your Crater Lake day is too bad. In June, likely only the western side of the Lake Drive will be open, and you can enjoy that with just a few hours. I will say also factor in some extra time for OR-138 to the lake and OR-62 heading back to Medford. Both are extremely scenic drives with numerous opportunities to pull over for great views.

For the Redwoods, there are lots of trails and places to explore. I'd recommend stopping at the Visitor Center in Hiouchi, Calif just as you arrive and talk with the Rangers about which places will work best based on what you are looking for, and the amount of time you have.

For the southern part of your trip, it actually might work better to try to fly back out of Los Angeles. That would let you tour Yosemite, cross over Tioga Pass and see Death Valley on your way to Vegas. Then you could visit the Grand Canyon and afterward head directly to Los Angeles, without doubling back all the way to Vegas.

[Southwest Dave]

I would do as Michael suggested, go from Yosemite to Vegas via Death valley, then to the Grand canyon and then to LA to finish your trip.