Las Vegas to Sequoia Nat'l Park

[Vegas Baby]

MY husband and I are Canadian (read: used to long drives!) and will be in Vegas next week. Although we only have 5 days, we thought we'd like to visit Sequoia National Park this time!
What is the most direct route and approximate driving time to get there from Las Vegas? Also, are there any sites on the way that we shouldn't miss?
Thanks!

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

While Sequoia is relatively close to Vegas as the crow flies, there is no access to the National Park from the east side of the Sierras. That means your most direct/fastest route is to take I-15/CA-58 to Bakersfield then either CA-99 to Visalia or CA-65 through Porterville (CA-65 is shorter but 2 lanes, CA-99 is a freeway) to CA-198 which takes you to the south enterance of the park.

Its a 400 mile drive, and you're looking at a good 8 hours each direction. A detour through Death Valley would be pretty popular, although that adds 100 miles and would likely push your drive time up into the 11-12 hour range plus whatever time you actually spend exploring DV.