Driving from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon

Smaointeach

My wife and I are taking a trip to California in April and plan to drive from San Fran to Yosemite, then on to the Grand Canyon, through Death Valley. Has anybody out there driven that trip? Is it tough? We're not exactly in the first flush of youth, but we've both driven extensively in the US and Europe, but generally on highways or good roads. How long should it take, roughly? Would we be better going back to San Fran, Flying to Vegas and renting a car?
Any help greatly appreciated.

salmocab

Done it a few years back great trip, the drive from Yosemite to death valley is pretty long but well worth it. Great trip. We drove to vegas after death valley so not sure what the difference on the final leg would be time wise.

salmocab

Sorry just to give some idea if I remember it was about 3/4 hours from SF to yosemite then about 7 to where we stayed in death valley and maybe 2/3 to vegas from there. Don't think it would be worth going back to SF although its a long drive going back and flying would probably be more hassle. I think visiting grand canyon from Vegas might be better option for you.

lukegriffen

I was a passenger in a car that did this trip 20 years ago, and all roads seemed perfectly surfaced and easy to drive, but maybe someone else who's driven it can advise.

If you have enough time, I'd recommend doing a loop tour & visiting the Utah parks - Bryce Canyon, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches, Monument Valley - these were all amazing, and in April it won't be crowded. We went to these first before visiting Grand Canyon, and the G.Canyon was a disappointment in comparison to what we'd seen, but maybe we were expecting too much.

I've been to about 50 countries and the scenery in the national parks of the SW USA are probably the most spectacular landscapes I've seen. Enjoy.

tricky D

I did this in the other direction recently. Some advice:

• Drive during the day only otherwise you'll miss some spectacular scenery and also because some of driving can be very challenging needing full your attention for safety.
• Stock up on plenty of water for Death Valley just in case.
• Fill your gas tank fully and often.
• Yosemite and parts to the east of it are quite high and so can be pretty cold. It is quite possible for the temperature to get down to freezing at night.
• April should be in season but think of alternative routes in the unlikely case you can't get through Yosemite via Tioga Pass which is at around 10,000ft and has been known to be closed beyond April. Some places (bars, restaurants, etc.) can be closed in the off season.
• Factor in a stoppage or two each day on the thinner (2 lane) stretches as one road work could delay by up to 20 minutes due to the way they do contraflows.
• If renting a car in SF and dropping off somewhere like Las Vegas can incur a very large charge.
• SatNav is recommended imo and factor in a lot of stopping for the scenery. Law enforcement is much stricter in Nevada and probably Arizona than California.
• Check Google Maps for routes and trip durations. You can drag the routes around for more options.
• Think of taking some detours like lukegriffen suggests.

As for the route:

• SF to Mariposa is straightforward. Bay Bridge can have 30 mins queues or sometimes longer and is a $6 toll.
• Mariposa to Yosemite Village is a bit challenging in parts.
• Yosemite Village to Mono Lake/Lee Vinning is very challenging for many stretches.
• Mono Lake to Vegas is a full days drive: my reckoning is that the best route without detours is left just after Lone Pine, though Panamint Valley, Stovepipe Wells, right to Furnace Creek, right at Amargaso/Death Valley Junction, left at Shoshone, right at Pahrump and on to Vegas.
• Vegas to the Canyon is a long drive. Think about spending dusk and dawn at the Canyon, the light changes and shadows traversing the canyon walls are amazing.

If you decide to do a loop back to SF due to drop off charges, you can do the Pacific Coastal Highway which is another spectacular Bucket List item - recommended. You would be looking at a trip of probably at least 3 days/2 nights driving: LV > LA > SF. There are a good number of threads on that if you use the search here and in the United States forum.

Marcusm

+1 on the Tioga Pass comment; when I tried to do this route around 10 May a few years ago they hadn't even checked the pass not to mind having opened it. cue a frustrating less than pretty very long drive through the Central Valley (Fresno, Bakersfield etc).

tricky D

One more thing: check out getting a National Parks Pass or whatever they are called. Most National Parks (and there are loads) charge fees for entry and a card might be worth the outlay. Many of the fees are small like a handful of dollars but Yosemite is something like $20 a day per car. I'm not exactly sure how it all works as there was the federal shutdown (strike) on when I visited which meant no charges to access the parks but most of the amenities, tours and the like were shut or unavailable. Eg. could drive through Yosemite but not allowed stop for long and no access to the Village. Alcatraz was shut too. Guess I'll just have to go again some time.:)

More:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm
http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm
http://store.usgs.gov/pass/annual.html

Smaointeach

Thanks to all for very helpful suggestions, much appreciated.