What would be a good route to take from Yosemite to Las Vegas? We want a really cool scenic way. What about Death Valley? Going in the middle of June 2013!
Yosemite to Las Vegas
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Death Valley will be a really "hot" scenic way.
You could go thru Death Valley. If you could arrive there early morning, it would be cooler(still hot). Maybe stop at Scotty's Castle. Maybe stop for a get out of the car type of thing at the Dunes and Devils Garden. Could see Zabriski Point, drive through Artist Drive. I love driving Titus Canyon(need high clearance car). A flat or car problem here in the summer could be life threatening though.
I don't think I would do more than 30 or 45 minutes of hiking for heat concerns.
We drove from Las Vegas to the Lee Vining entrance of Yosemite in the middle of June this year. Death Valley was very interesting but I don't think I necessarily need to go back. It's a long drive so we only got out of the car a couple of times for photo ops and to say we had been in 119 degree heat!
Return the rental car to Fresno (FAT) and fly Allegiant to Las Vegas. Las Vegas can be hot without driving through Death Valley.
I think driving through Death Valley once is worth it (and that's plenty for moi - although some people love it).
We left the Village Floor early - made good time over to have breakfast at Tuoloumne Meadows, drove down 395 on the east side of the Sierras (which are pretty - especially if they still have snow on the peaks) - and headed east through Death Valley - stopping for half an hour at the air conditioned Visitor's Center (where at about 2 PM or so the temp outside in the shade was a mere113 degrees) - and then it was a couple more hours on into Vegas - arriving by mid-afternoon.
Take extra water along (and some snacks just in case you get stranded for a few hours - unlikely though) - and make sure the car is in good shape - with plenty of coolant in the radiator, and likewise for the AC being in good working order.
Thank you all Death Valley it is!
Death Valley really suprised us by how much we enjoyed it. We were there in the winter though and spent 3 days there. Its a very starange place.
Please keep in mind that are many years that Tioga Pass (Hwy 120 from 395)doesn't open until mid June. Most years it's open by the end of May, last year it didn't open until June 18th. Here's a link to opening dates over the last 75 years: http://www.monobasinresearch.org/data/tiogapass.htm
If Tioga Pass is still closed you'll need to go 500 miles around the Sierras to enter from the west and drive through places like Barstow, Bakersfield and Fresno to get there - and there's not much scenic about that