5 day SFO - LV - Grand Canyon trip
 

Hi Guys,

I am planning a vacation next week starting Wednesday afternoon from San Francisco bay, and returning on Monday evening by car. I understand a drive to and from SFO to LV is a 10-hour drive, so wondering if there is any layover visit I can make for 1 day which is a worthwhile visit. (Planning a drop-over at Sequoia National Park.)

Would like to have any suggestions for the same.

San Francisco to Grand Canyon via Sequoia & Las Vegas is 15 hours driving, 900 miles, each way. So with stops for gas & food...35 hours? So averaging 6 hours a day on the road for every one of your 6 days sounds fun?

ViaMichelin assumes 18h50m just to Las Vegas via Sequoia.

You might find a relatively inexpensive flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas where you could rent a car and be at Grand Canyon before sunset.

Perhaps visit some of the other NPs in the area and fly back to SFO. IMHO a better use of your time.

You plan is just about impossible. Sequoia is not a 'drop over' en route from San Francisco to Las Vegas. It would takes about 12 hours for the drive so if you simply got out of the car in SNP and didn't walk through the any of the trees, you would need an overnight in Sequoia.

Then the GC back to SF is about a 13 to 14 hour drive plus stops. So you'd be spending about 4 days of your 5 days sitting in the car.



(>>ViaMichelin assumes 18h50m just to Las Vegas via Sequoia.<<

That isn't correct -- it is only about 700 miles but it is still a stupid idea)

That was the scenic route. It does assume 707 miles and still gives it 16 hours of driving taking the fast route; a small reduction in the scheme of things. The 2 hour differential from your estimate might be that it assumes that one has to take the northern road back out of Sequoia because the southern entrance is still not open.

>>It does assume 707 miles and still gives it 16 hours of driving taking the fast route;<<

still incorrect. It is not a 16 hour drive.

Except for a relatively few miles from the Central Valley up to the visitors center the whole route is fast and semi to totally ugly. (there is no 'scenic' for most of the drive)

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying it is a good idea or even doable - but it is not a 16 (or 18) hour drive.

I think the screen name is a giveaway - we're being razzed.

From my current location, Sequoia National park is about 4 hr 10 mins taking CA-99S. Since I will be starting in the afternoon, I am hoping it is a possible stop-over point to camp at night. A further 6 hr drive will get me to Vegas via CA-58E and I-15N where I will be staying for a day and a half. 4 and half hour drive early in the morning will get me to grand canyon before noon. A 2 -day exploration, followed by a near 12-hour drive via I-40W will get me back. That had been a rough plan. Any suggestions on improving the route or places to visit?

"Any suggestions on improving the route or places to visit?"

I suggest a nice relaxing weekend camping & hiking in the vicinity of Sequoia, then maybe a cruise through Yosemite Valley and a drive up Hwy 49 to I-80 & beyond (Gold Country, Empire Mine, etc.) on your way home.

The southern Ash Mountain entrance of Sequoia is open year round. The Generals Highway between Kings Canyon and Sequoia opened mid-March this year. There's no reason any online map should have you backtracking out through the Big Stump entrance right now.

>>From my current location, Sequoia National park is about 4 hr 10 mins taking CA-99S.<<

In your dreams (!) -- assuming you are in SF like your title says. Do you have <i>any</i> idea the traffic you'd have on 99? That '4 hr 10 mins' is at midnight on a Sunday with no CHP or big rigs on the road.

Did this just last summer on our Western US trip this part from SF to vegas driving is LONG and nothing really but reservation your driving thru you need to leave the Reno area early just to get to vegas and not fall asleep from the boardom.But coming into vegas at night was beautiful

That time to drive to Vegas assumes no traffic. Any conventions in town? Festivals? Big concerts? I have been stopped on that freeway for HOURS... more than once.

I'd fly to Phoenix, rent a car and just drive one way back. Driving both ways is just ugly both ways.

The route yukon311 is describing is not relevant to yours since you are trying to squeeze in SNP. They apparently went via I-80 to Reno and down Hwy 95 through Nevada. (IF they had gone via I-80 and down Hwy 395, it would have been just as long but there'd be nothing boring about it)

Only Park which you can do as a stop over will inbetween your drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas will be Death Valley national Park. ttps://traveltheonlyworld.blogspot.com/p/death-valley-national-park.html

While the rest of National Parks will be a detour.