Las Vegas back to Las Vegas, have 9 days

[mikey11415]

Hi All,
I plan on flying into Las Vegas in early August. After a weekend with friends and adjustment to the time and climate, we are renting a car for 9 days. I was wondering if anyone had an insight into planned circle routes that hit:

Grand Canyon
San Francisco Area - Not necessarily the city
Los Angeles - Pasadena
Interesting Natural Beauty / Desert Type things

Any advice on must-see places to stop would be great. We are most interested in natural beauty and geology, with a heavy dose of weird (like ghost towns or interesting places to eat).

Thanks a bunch!

I'd also like to say that I think this is a great forum and that I hope to contribute to it in the future,

Mikey

[Mark Sedenquist]

Hi All,
I plan on flying into Las Vegas in early August. After a weekend with friends and adjustment to the time and climate, we are renting a car for 9 days.

Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum! Well, here is one such route....

US-93 and cross the Hoover Dam (in a couple of years, this won't be possible because the new bypass bridge will be open) and then stop by the Roy Purcell Murals in the old semi-ghost town of Chloride, Arizona.

At Kingman, follow the historic Route 66 to Williams and then up AZ-64 the south rim of the Grand Canyon. RoadTrip Advisors Ross and Alice were just at the south rim, here are some of their thoughts....

Take US-89 over Marble Canyon and zig-zag back through Zion NP rejoining I-15 at St. George.

Then head north on UT-18 and stop at the Mountain Meadow Massacre site (that is weird) and then angle to the NW joining NV-319 to US-93 -- here you can take short detour to Pioche -- great photo ops -- look at this field report for more info.

Before turning south on US-93 to Caliente -- follow this to NV-375 which the famous ET Highway -- stop in Rachel for more weirdness...

At Tonopah, go to the Mining Musem -- one of the best displays of mining artifacts in America! (up on the hill, not the one on the highway in town!)

From there, take US-6 to US-395 and then west on CA-120 for a drive over Tioga Pass into Yosemite NP.

Well, this is a good start --

Mark

[W. Larrison]

What types of things are you interested in?

With 9 days to play with, you could lay out a basic loop trip from Las Vegas to Yosemite to SF to LA to San Diego to Grand Canyon and back to Las Vegas. But that's a bit of driving .. you'd be on the road about every day, doing at least a couple of hundred miles a day.

Or you could do some more focused loops -- for example, a loop from LV through Grand Canyon, to Monument valley to the central Utah National Parks, and back to Las Vegas via Byrce and Zion. That'd be about 4 days or so.

Or there's a southern loop from LV to Grand Canyon to Tucson to San Diego and back to LV. That can be done in 4-5 days as well.

Or you could do a northerly loop from LV to Death valley to Reno/Tahoe to Sacramento/ SF/Napa Valley, down the coast to Hearst Castle, then to Yosemite and back -- maybe 6-7 days.

There are endless specific options -- and its going to depend upon what you are looking for.

[mikey11415]

Hi there,

I think that one large loop would be the plan, not a multiple of short trips.

I guess that some more specific questions are:

Will it be too hot in Death Valley, dangerously so?
Do I have enough time for Grand Canyon, if I must get near San Fran and into LA?
Is it worth heading to San Diego?

Any other suggestions are welcomed!

Mikey

[Mark Sedenquist]

I think that one large loop would be the plan, not a multiple of short trips.

I suggest you take our small trip suggestions and fashion your own large loop. Here are links to threads and posts for about 55 different routes that you can consider adding to your plan.

Will it be too hot in Death Valley, dangerously so?

It will be hot -- not as hot as June or July but still pretty darn warm -- temps in the 113+ range. August is a very popular time for visitors -- so you will have plenty of company!

Do I have enough time for Grand Canyon, if I must get near San Fran and into LA? Is it worth heading to San Diego?

It is possible to do it all, but you have to make your own determination about the worthiness of trying to do it all.

Mark