Road Trip – Vegas to California

It’s about 590 miles if you Interstate 15 from Las Vegas to Barstow and California 58 from Barstow to where it reaches US99 to Interstate 5 at Sacramento and on to the San Francisco Bay area and onto Napa. Driving up central California is an exceptionally boring drive with lots of potholes and even more trucks and traffic going through the larger cities.

Going through Carson City or Reno is about 15 miles more but once you get near Carson City it’s not quite as boring as going through central California. US95 from Las Vegas to Nevada 338 to US395. AT Carson City you can take US50 by the south coast of Lake Tahoe and into Sacramento; US50 is very scenic but not as fast as Interstate 80 that is about 30 miles past Carson City. The route through Nevada is fairly lonely as it can be quite a distance between anything resembling a city in Nevada once you leave Las Vegas. I’ve driven this route between Las Vegas and San Francisco several times and prefer it to driving up central California, mainly because the roads are in better condition and there are very few trucks and not a lot of cars.

Before you decide, get some good California and Nevada road maps and decide which route you want to take. If I were on vacation I probably wouldn’t want to waste my time driving, would fly from Las Vegas to San Francisco and rent a car there for the drive to Napa.

I’ve driven either route by myself in one day so it shouldn’t be a problem for your 2-3 drivers in one day. There are plenty of places to stop (rest stops, places to eat, etc.) if you decide on driving up the middle of California. I usually stop in Hawthorne or Yerington and/or Carson City if I take the Nevada route.

Skip

Yahoo Maps also estimates about 9 hours. That’s certainly doable in a day, especially if you take turns driving.

Make sure the hotel in NAPA will hold your room even if you arrive after 6 pm; most will do that if you give them your credit card info in advance. But be sure to inquire about their cancellation policy too, so you don’t get charged for the room if your plans change.

If time permits, I’d recommend an overnight stop so you can have a more relaxed pace and do some sightseeing along the way.

You could take a northern route through Death Valley National Park (one of the hottest places on Earth, but in January the temperatures will be moderate), or you could make a quick visit to Yosemite National Park.

Or if you take a more westerly route, you could spend the night on the Pacific coast, maybe in Carmel-by-the-Sea or Monterey, drive the scenic “17 Mile Drive” (between those 2 towns) to see dramatic ocean views, then on the second day drive on to San Francisco, do a few hours of sightseeing, then go over the Golden Gate Bridge and on to NAPA.

Jim

395 is a risky trip in the winter. If it snows you could be trapped.