From Lake Tahoe - seeing some of Yosemite then to Death Valley and Las vegas. 2days?

[sallyg80]

Hi guys.

I am travelling on the 27th December from San fran at around 3pm to Lake Tahoe. So from the 28th till the 30th (afternoon) we have to be in Las Vegas.

I would love to see LAKE TAHOE -
Potholes,
hot springs.
snow with tubing down some snowy hill perhaps?
The Gondola for almighty views.
Can you reccomend?

Then to see some beautiful views of Yosemite - not needing to venture deep into the park if it can be advoided as would like this to be on route to death valley perhaps?

Then to death valley to see some sights but not going too out of the way from our journey to Las Vegas.

Accomodation - we are easy to stay where-ever is best for this trip. up the mountain with snow - or in the desert, or lake tahoe..

I would much appreicate any advice - Thank you so much

[DonnaR57]

Welcome to RTA!

Maybe it's just morning, but I'm a little confused. If you don't leave San Francisco until 3 pm on the 27th (Monday), you won't be in Tahoe until about 7 pm (if you're lucky). Then you have to be in Las Vegas the next day, which is a 500 mile (10 hours) journey. You want to see Yosemite and Death Valley along the way???

If I'm understanding this correctly, you don't have time to stop along the way to sightsee, at all. Going to Yosemite would be a full day's travel, and you'd have to return to the western side of the park to get to it because Tioga Pass is almost always closed for the winter by then. Death Valley might be do-able, but it is still going to take you some extra hours to get there, and if you have to be in Las Vegas on the 28th, it isn't going to happen.

Please let me know if I've misunderstood what you are trying to plan.



Donna

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I'm not 100% certain of your timeline. You're not going to get to Tahoe until well after dark if you don't leave SF until 3, and from the sounds of it, I'd think you'd want to spend at least a day there? Then you need to be in Vegas on the afternoon of the 30th? So you really have about a day and a half to get from Tahoe to Vegas?

In any case, Yosemite is a big problem, as the Yosemite Valley is on the west side of the Sierras and Lake Tahoe is on the east. That means in a best case, you'd be zig-zagging over the Sierras several times on this trip, but you've got the added problem that you're traveling in December, when several of the Sierra Passes (including Tioga Pass through Yosemite) are closed. In other words, Yosemite really won't work this time.

Being that this is in December, you've also got the challenge that you'll have the fewest hours of daylight available. As it is, Lake Tahoe to Vegas via Death Valley is pretty much a full day drive by itself (roughly 9 hours), so if I were you I think I would drive from Tahoe to Death Valley on the 29th, spend the night there. Explore Death Valley the morning of the 30th, and then continue onto Vegas that afternoon.

[Southwest Dave]

Yes, Yosemite and Tahoe at this time of year isn't really possible with your timeline. You could head to Yosemite valley and then head south to Bakersfield and through DV, or head to Lake Tahoe and through Death valley. You could spend the 28th at Lake Tahoe and then start to head towards Death valley, perhaps overnight around Lee Vining or Mammoth lakes, sightsee on the way to Death valley and perhaps overnight at Furnace creek which then gets you to Vegas quite easily the next morning, or afternoon if you fancy seeing more sights.

[sallyg80]

Sorry I meant to say we will get to lake tahoe on the 28th in the evening. But we have the 29th and the 30th to explore. as have to be in LAS VEGAS by 6pm on tthe 30th. We leave Las vegas on NYE so we have another night and day on the 1st to explore on route back to Los Angeles...

Welcome to RTA!

Maybe it's just morning, but I'm a little confused. If you don't leave San Francisco until 3 pm on the 27th (Monday), you won't be in Tahoe until about 7 pm (if you're lucky). Then you have to be in Las Vegas the next day, which is a 500 mile (10 hours) journey. You want to see Yosemite and Death Valley along the way???

If I'm understanding this correctly, you don't have time to stop along the way to sightsee, at all. Going to Yosemite would be a full day's travel, and you'd have to return to the western side of the park to get to it because Tioga Pass is almost always closed for the winter by then. Death Valley might be do-able, but it is still going to take you some extra hours to get there, and if you have to be in Las Vegas on the 28th, it isn't going to happen.

Please let me know if I've misunderstood what you are trying to plan.



Donna

[Midwest Michael]

Being that you have even one less day that you originally said, now you're really in a time crunch.

You have the 29th and 30th to explore, but you indicated you want to get to Vegas by the afternoon of the 30th, so you've got a day and a half to explore Tahoe, Death Valley, and make a full day drive.

In other words, you're really going to have to pick and choose where you'll be spending your time. You provided a very long list of things you wanted to see and do, and basically, you've got a half day to fit any of it in.

It looks to me like you'll have to explore anything you want to do in Tahoe on the morning of the 29th, and then make your way south, spending the night somewhere on US-395, then on the 30th, quickly do a little siteseeing as you drive through Death Valley on your way to Vegas.

[sallyg80]

I have no time concept of the space continuum - I think from San Francisco I can get to vegas in half and hour.

I had forgot we are landing on 27th and exploring on the 28th but wish to stay somewhere in Tahoe on the 29th for exploring on route to Vegas (via death valley hopefully)

WE have just realised that from the 31st we have two extra days - New years Day and the 2nd for more exploration on route to Laguna Beach. Is it easy enough to re visit Death valley on route back down south instead And call in to Yosemite on way to Vegas that way?


I am annoyed because we had originally had it all planned out however one of our group has left meaning we are not doing what they wanted and want to try and get in some death valley at least, or Yosemite...

[Midwest Michael]

I've got to tell you, I think you need to get your time concepts figured out yourself a bit more before anyone else is going to be able to provide much more assistance, especially because your timeline seems to keep changing.

You're now saying you want to spend the night of the 29th in Tahoe, but you want to be in Vegas by the afternoon of the 30th. If that's the case, Death Valley is no longer an option - as just driving directly between the Tahoe and Vegas will already take up about 8 hours, before detouring to Death Valley.

I'm not really following at all your plans after Vegas. You could certainly head to Death Valley between Vegas and Laguna Beach, but Yosemite would be a huge detour and I really don't understand where you think you'll have time to fit that into your trip.

My advice to you at this point would be to get out a good map of the area, and start plotting a day by day plan of what you think you'd like to do. That I think will be the easiest way for you to organize your plan, and get it into a form where others can be of more assistance.

[sallyg80]

Hi there.


Please can you tell me how easy or hard it is to drive from San Fran to Lake Tahoe End of Dec please and will I need chains? If so, where would I get these from? Then ease of drive from Lake Tahoe to Death Valley or Vegas?

Thank You

Moderator Note: Please keep all questions about the same trip in the same thread.

[glc]

There are 2 major ways to get to Lake Tahoe from SF - take I-80 to CA-89 or CA-267, or take I-80 to Sacramento, then US-50. Either way may require chains, you won't know till you are ready to go. If you are renting a car, you will probably not be allowed to put chains on it as per the rental agreement. If you have your own car, you should be able to find cable chains at Walmart.

None of the drive you describe is "hard" unless the weather is bad.