lynnvera

I am driving from Palm Springs ca to Carmel. Any suggestions for a route other than thru LA.? Leaving Palm Springs on a Sunday afternoon in late Nov and want to arrive in Carmel on Monday late afternoon . Many thanks

janisj

welcome to Fodors. See the "Change Forum" pull down menu? Click that and re-post on the United States forum.

Your best stop over is probably Santa Barbara . . . but you will have to drive through LA county (there is no scenic/practical option really)

Jeff801

janisj is, unusually for any posting, incorrect. There is an easy routing through Lancaster which will avoid most of the worst metro LA traffic. It can be found easily on Google Maps, and the extra time it shows fails to allow for the time you will spend in traffic in LA if you take a route through LA. Unfortunately, you will have to find a route through the coastal mountains if you want to visit any of the part of the Pacific Coast on the way. I think that is preferable to spend a night in scenic Fresno.

janisj

Yes - one can go through Lancaster -- but I was trying to save the OP a butt ugly drive

janisj

BTW -- I only said one has to drive through LA <i>County</i> . . . and Lancaster IS in LA County so I wasn't incorrect

Jeff801

janisj,

Sorry about that.Meant no disrespect. Those of us who lived on the south side of the county often forget that Lancaster is in the county.

But, I can't think of anything more ugly than sitting in traffic on the Ventura freeway while trying to head to Santa Barbara or some other nice place. For that matter, maybe the OP is a desert lover who would enjoy the, awful I agree, drive around the north side.

lynnvera

Thanks for the help. I am from lush vermont so desert is certainly preferable to traffic! I was hoping for a route from Palm Springs where I could drive from 1 til maybe 4 or 5 pm on a Sunday afternoon and spend the nite somewhere it would be nice to wake up and explore a bit before hitting the road to Carmel. Thanks again

Lynn

janisj

>>I am from lush vermont so desert is certainly preferable to traffic! I was hoping for a route from Palm Springs where I could drive from 1 til maybe 4 or 5 pm on a Sunday afternoon and spend the nite somewhere it would be nice to wake up and explore a bit before hitting the road to Carmel. Thanks again<<

The problem is -- that 'desert route' through Lancaster Bakersfield and across to the coast is about as ugly a drive as you will find. It isn't scenic desert like Death Valley or Joshua Tree.

If you want to avoid the freeways through LA you can drive via Palmdale and across to Ventura. You'd only have about 6 or 7 miles on I-5 south of Castaic. That route it will take 4-4.5 hours to Santa Barbara. Another 1.5 hours would get you to Pismo Beach.

If you choose to go inland (Lancaster > Bakersfield and over to the coast) there is no place worth stopping/exploring.

mlgb

Look at Palm Springs to Paso Robles, one option being to take the 10 to Redlands and then the 210 to the Cajon Pass. Takes about 5 hours.