From Palm Springs to Pismo Beach
 

What is the most "scenic" driving route? And about how long will it take? Thanks.

We usually take 101 South, then Route 154/San Marcos Pass north of Santa Barbara, back to 101 in Santa Barbara into L.A. We then cut over on the 405 North to SR 118/Ronald Reagan Freeway East to the 210 East to I-15 South in Ontario, then I-10E into the desert.

The San Marcos Pass shaves about 1/2 hour off the trip and it is pretty through the Santa Ynez Valley. If you stay on 101 you will go take a route back to the coast into Santa Barbara.

Once you are south of Ventura I would not exactly call it scenic again until around Calimesa, 45 minutes west of the PS area on I-10.

There is another alternative that bypasses L.A. completely by going east from Santa Maria via Route 166 to the I-5 near Bakersfield. From there you can take I-5 South to Route 138/Pearblossom Highway, past Wrightwood back down into San Bernardino on the I-15S to the I-10E, or go on through Apple Valley onto Highway 18 and come the 'back way' through Yucca Valley via Old Woman Springs Road, to Highway 62 into the Palm Springs area. This route is a lot more desolate, although one could argue that there is a stark beauty to some parts. If you do this, doublecheck status of Pearblossom, because there might be a lot of construction. Also a lot of 2-laners this way.

Count on about 5 hours, 15 minutes in reasonable traffic conditions.

Phew.

Sorry---I just realized I did it backwards, thinking you were going the other way.

Hold it in front of the mirror and read and it should be ok.

I'd agree with the same directions, except I stay on the 101 which turns into the 134 and connects to the 210. The 405 often is backed up. I drive this route quite often to visit my brother in Morro Bay. I can warn you that the 154 cutoff can get backed up with traffic if you head through on a summer holiday weekend when a bunch of boats are being hauled out to the lake.