My SO and I are thinking about doing a trip to the USA later this year with the idea of adding to the sights we have seen on previous trips. The general idea is to start in Las Vegas staying there for about 3 days to see a show or two and a bit of sightseeing, renting a car and driving around the countryside for about 10 days before ending up in San Fransisco for another 3 or so days before flying home.
During these 10 or so days we would probably want to drive a maximum of about 300 miles a day and stay in motels along the way.
We obviously would want to see the Grand Canyon but we are not sure it if would be better to take a day trip from Las Vegas or drive there and stay for a night.
After the Grand Canyon we were thinking of driving to Sedona and just checking it out because it looks pretty and I have heard about it quite a bit. From Sedona I would like to the see Meteor Crater but from there to San Fransisco I’m not too sure of what to see that would be more or less on our route to San Fransisco. We have seen Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park before so we do not need to visit them again.
I was originally thinking of driving northwards in circle and then approaching SF from the north but now looking on a map it seems that taking a southern route and going via Arizona and San Deigo, bypassing LA (been there, done that) and heading up to coast to SF may also be an option.
Any advice on what to see and what route to take would be greatly appreciated.
The Grand Canyon is a bit of a schlep from Las Vegas. If you have the money, there are helicopter tours from Las Vegas that take you over, and down into, the Grand Canyon. But if you want to drive, you probably want to stay overnight. Check out www.thetrain.com for a cool place to stay and a neat way to get there. Plus, that would be pretty close to Sedona to drive afterwards.
However, from there to SF is quite a drive. Are you absolutely sure you want to go by car? I would suggest driving back to Las Vegas and flying to SF. It isn’t exactly an easy drive, and not all that many things to see along the way unless maybe you drove up to Lake Tahoe and then over to SF, but that is still quite a lot of driving through territory that is not exactly memorable.
If you flew to SF, then you could rent a car and drive up to the redwood trees and wine country.
If you are traveling in the fall or spring, Death Valley is really spectacular. I don’t know how the road is from the Nevada side, but I was recently planning to try to drive to Vegas via Death Valley, but I have a off road capable 4WD 4Runner. I’ve come from the California side, and the road is no problem. People go during the summer, but it’s usually crazy German tourists.
Now Death Valley gets deadly hot during summer, but if you manage to do it, you could head up 395 and drive through Yosemite via highway 120. Stop and look at really old Bristle Cone pines and also stop at Mono lake, viewing the tufa on the south side of the lake.
It’s a real bitch to get campground reservations in Yosemite Valley, but with the economy going to hell you might be able to still get reservations. Stay at Tuolumne Meadows on 120 in the north part of the park for a day or two.
I just did a similar trip a few months ago, but in reverse (Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Los Angeles). It was amazing, but a lot of driving, too. Death Valley was magnificently desolate. Yosemite was spectacular.
How much time to spend in Yosemite depends on what you want to do. If you just want to see everything from the floor of the valley, it won’t be long; but the real attraction is the hiking and that means an early start and a long day (or more).
Spring might be the best time of year. Some of the mountain passes are almost 10,000 feet elevation, and are closed through the winter. Death Valley would be brutal in the summer. Yosemite is known for its waterfalls, and those will largely dried up by the fall.
It was quite a trip. I can fish out my atlas and get the route numbers for you if you’d like.
If you’re going to come into San Fran from the southern route I highly suggest driving highway 1 it’s probably the most senic drive in America. You are going to have problem staying under 300 miles a day if you go south. Heading into Arizona won’t be bad but any way you cut it there is nothing great between Needles and Barstow. If you want to get to the coast as quickly as possible just hop from Barstow to Bakersfield and then 166 over to the coast. LA is faster but it you want to avoid LA that’s the next quickest. It’s an easy way to get on highway 1 and you will be in California’s other wind region.