To Yosemite From SLC / Provo, Utah

[shurshot]

Hello, could somebody please advise me on the best route to take driving from Provo (or Salt Lake City) Utah to Yosemite National Park? I have looked at taking I-80 to Reno and then south to the park, and also at taking the more Southerly route on Hwy 50 / Hwy 6. We'd be leaving this week, so current road conditions apply. I'm just not sure which roads to trust and what the best route really is speed-wise (since the routes are only ~100 miles apart on the maps I've looked at, and road size / speeds vary). Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I think I would go with US-6. While the difference is just 100 miles, when you are talking about a trip that's under 700 miles, its a fairly significant difference in miles. Since US-6 runs mostly through the desert, you shouln't have to slow down for towns very often so your speed/travel time should stay pretty close to that of covering the distance on the interstate.

[Kinless]

Agreed on Hwy 6. I took this route myself when I travelled from SLC to Yosemite last year. It's some of the most desolate terrain in the western half of the US, but I'm big on that kind of stuff. It's mostly valleys and ranges, up and down, all through the state of Nevada. You will make good time for sure.

I don't know your time frame, but if you have some leeway you should definitely stop in Ely, NV. It's an old mining town, and they have an old jailhouse directly across from the Hotel Nevada where they'll feed you a steak dinner (reservations begin at 5pm) inside an actual jail cell.

Our 2 overnighters between SLC and Yosemite were Delta, UT and Tonopah, NV. Delta is pretty ghetto and Tonopah was too windy at the time for us to look around, so I can't vouch for those places.

Also consider Great Basin National Park in east Nevada, with a 30-minute drive up to Wheeler Peak and a tour of the Lehman Caves if that sort of thing suits your fancy.

Oh, and make sure you have plenty of gas in your tank while in Nevada. Ely and Tonopah are your only fill-up points.