Route from San Francisco to Vegas

[anniemac]

We will be making the drive from San Francisco to Vegas in July and would appreciate tips. For a variety of reasons, we need to make the trip fairly quickly but are planning to split it up into 2 days in order to see at least a little scenery. Best route for a 2 day trip? Best area to stop for overnight? Suggestions on a couple of must sees? Thanks for the help!

 

[DeniseM]

Unfortunately, this just isn't a scenic drive. First of all, San Francisco to Las Vegas in July is going to be hot, and could potentially be over 100 degrees. Much of the drive will be pretty boring, because most of the route is through dry farm land and dryer desert lands.

Personally, I would not drive. We live in Northern, CA, and we fly to LV in about an hour, and rent a car when we get there. It would be better to have an extra day in Las Vegas, than to make the drive. In fact, when you add up the car rental for 2 days, gas, and a hotel room on the road, flying may be cheaper than a 2 day road trip.

 

[mjm1]

We lived in San Jose before moving to Las Vegas in 2015, and made the drive many times before moving here. As Denise mentioned, it is a pretty boring drive and flying would definitely be easier. However, if you need to drive it will likely be about nine- ten hours of driving time. If you decide to do that and want to break it up over two days, you could stay one night in Bakersfield. There were a couple times we did that to break up our drive from San Jose.

Good luck with your trip.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[newportbeach]

I agree. Last week we drove to LV and my car sat at our strip hotel. Each time we went out we took Uber for $7, and the drive back was boring. We return to see family soon, and
we are flying. I am now an Uber user. Why drive your own car, and deal with parking fees, valets, and finding your car. I am now partial for Uber, and when I paid a $3 fee on an $8 taxi
ride because I mistakenly thought Visa over Cash was easier, I avoid Cabs.

 

[VegasBella]

Another vote for flying. Unless you want to make it a longer trip and take a scenic route I do not suggest driving. Flights for that route are cheap and short.

 

[VacationForever]

We drove between Northern CA and Vegas more than half a dozen times a year for the past 3 years, drive is about 9.5 hrs. Bakersfield is where you would stop if you break it into 2 days. Note that Bakersfield is as boring as it gets. The drive into Vegas can be quite pretty (about the last 50 miles before reaching Vegas). But there is nothing spectacular in whole drive. Highway 99 is a better freeway than I5. Less congestion and better road. It used to be the other way around.

 

[bevans]

I recently drove from Santa Cruz to Las Vegas and would rather drive than fly since we stayed at the Flamingo timeshare. We were there 10 days so we preferred to BBQ and eat in most of the time. I take HWY 1 to Salinas and then 101 to Paso Robles then 46 to 99 and 58 to Barstow then straight on 15 to Las Vegas. We went to the Costco in Henderson on the way in for most things. Now if you eat out all the time and do not plan on cooking then flying might be best. If you wanted to make the drive as scenic as possible then drive 1 to Santa Cruz from SF then take 101 to Paso Robles spend the night and visit some of the local wineries and leave the next morning. I have done this and enjoyed it very much. Curt

 

[sue1947]

We will be making the drive from San Francisco to Vegas in July and would appreciate tips. For a variety of reasons, we need to make the trip fairly quickly but are planning to split it up into 2 days in order to see at least a little scenery. Best route for a 2 day trip? Best area to stop for overnight? Suggestions on a couple of must sees? Thanks for the help!

The fastest way is as others have said is south around the Sierras. The more scenic options involve going through the Sierras and then down the east side. The latter will add 3+ hours to the drive. You indicated you need to make the trip fairly quickly so if that is your priority, then flying in is better. If, on the other hand, you have the 2 days but no more, you have some options:

Scenic vs fast:
1. Fastest is I-80 to Reno and then down 395 for awhile and then east over to 95 to Las Vegas. Taking 95 through W Nevada from Reno is actually faster, but boring. Stick with 395 as far south as you can. For scenery, I'd go all the way to Lone Pine and then over through Death Valley. I've been between Lee Vining and Tonopah and would not recommend it; it's pretty desolate. Spend the night at any of the little towns on the east side of the Sierra; Bridgeport/Lee Vining/Bishop etc or Mammoth Lakes. The latter has the most lodging options with lots of ski condos. All of these will be heavily used in the summer for hiking/mountain biking.
2. I-80 takes you a little north but it's a freeway vs 2 lane highway. The next best road across is probably 50 to Tahoe and then over to 395 or south via 88/89. Scenery wise, it's nicer than I-80 but not as nice as Yosemite.
3. Next is the road through Yosemite and Tioga Pass. This one is the best scenery and is a decent road, but will be very slow with summer tourists. I can't get the mapping sites to give me a time estimate for this route since Tioga Pass is still closed from the winter. It will be much slower and you won't be able to get there early in the day so you will hit the slowest part of the day.
4. The other cross mountain roads; 4 and 108 etc are VERY windy and some sections end up essentially one way roads. They are fine if you know what you are getting into and especially if your destination is a hike in the mountains, but I wouldn't recommend them for your purposes.

Road 395 down the east side of the Sierras is very pretty from the CA border south. The views of the mountains are spectacular and you could stop for some short walks along the way. The section north up to Reno is not that scenic, but it's a balance between speed of the freeway vs scenery.

It all depends on what your priorities are and when you are going. If it's a weekday, and you haven't ever been to Yosemite, I'd go that way and deal with the crowds. I'd get a place to stay in Mammoth Lakes and then crank up the air conditioning and head through Death Valley (I did that in August one time and we had to turn off the air conditioner periodically to keep the car from over heating). If it's a weekend, then I-80 looks better. I assume the Highway 50 up to Tahoe gets pretty bad traffic on weekends in the summer. If it's a weekend, flying looks even better.

Sue

 

[anniemac]

Thanks much for the route suggestions! Flying isn't an option so we would like to make the best of it since we have never travelled in this area before. It seems that there is always something to enjoy along the way and I appreciate the help. Maybe we will go even slower and lay our eyes on Lake Tahoe.

 

[DeniseM]

If you decide to go through Lake Tahoe - it is a beautiful drive, but from San Francisco it's about a 5 hour drive on a high mountain freeway, so you want the driver to be someone who is comfortable and experienced with high mountain driving. We do it regularly and are used to it, but I have been told by flat-landers that is was scary. The roads are very good - but the height and cliffs frightened them. Also - be prepared for cold nights in Tahoe - even in July.

 

[b2bailey]

If the trip from San Francisco Bay area to Las Vegas (via Highway 5) was a person's first visit to California -- they would have a difficult time understanding why anyone would come here.

If you are starting from the airport, I would suggest 92 to Half Moon Bay. Take 1 to Monterey then jut over to 101. Take 101 to Ventura. Then --and only then -- head inland to Las Vegas.

I love Lake Tahoe, but it would be quite a long detour to go that route.

All this from a native Californian who did the Las Vegas to San Francisco drive via "fastest route" and spent the night halfway, a few years ago. I will never do it again.