South West Road Trip in May

[Omry]

Hi,

I am going to rent a car with my 3 friends from Los Angeles to Las Vegas 4/29/19-5/20/19 (3 weeks).

The roat- LA, road 1, San Francisco, lake Tahoe, Yossemite, Death Valley, Zion, Bryce, Page, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas. Vegas doesn't include in the 3 weeks.

× First about the Yossemite- we afraid that the Tioga pass will not be opened. In the website of the park, some years the pass was opened at these dates and some years not. How can I know exactly when the pass will be opened in the 2019 season?

× How many nights do you recommend to stay in each park? We aren't kind of extreme sport, just to hike and do some interesting attractions.

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

How can I know exactly when the pass will be opened in the 2019 season?

I'm afraid you won't know until at least a day or two before it actually opens, so have a plan 'B'. Your best option would be to go to Yosemite before Lake Tahoe to cover this. Although you could give yourself a better chance by reversing the order of your trip and start out in Vegas and arrive a bit later to Yosemite. This will also have the advantage of putting the Ocean and scenic pull outs on your side of the road when heading south to LA.

How many nights do you recommend to stay in each park?

I would recommend at least 2 nights in Yosemite, Zion and Grand canyon and at least 1 night in Death valley and Bryce canyon and that's only if you plan your overnights so you arrive early or leave late in the day.

You don't say where you are visiting from but you might find that by closing the loop back to LA you could save you money in air fares, especially if you are an International visitor.