Which route to 395 depends on where you are at Lake Tahoe. Regular ol' Hwy 50 down to 395 is the least windy. Kingsbury Grade is much faster, but very steep and windy. If you check a road map you can see the shortcut that used2bsuzie is talking about. It shaves a few minutes off, but if you don't get it, just follow the signs to 395. We do like Monitor Pass to 395 also, but it is also very windy. Not much traffic on it.
A Bodie side-trip is wonderful if you have the time, but it is very very hot with no shade, so go early.
Bridgeport is my favorite little town on 395.
There are many overlooks, picnic spots and short trails to lovely lakes off Tioga Pass, too.

Well surfergirl I don't want to be responsible for you getting lost but if you can manage to stay on Waterloo you will get to 395 in a flash. Go to mapquest and do a starting location of South Lake Tahoe, CA and an ending location of Gardnerville, NV. You will see that when you get to the bottom of the Kingsbury Grade there will be a stop.

After teh stop go straight ahead which will be 207. Now when you get to the intersection of 207 and 88 go straight. This will be a little 2 lane road called Waterloo. There will be a right curve and then a left curve that are sharp so you'll know you're on the right road. When you come to a T you'll have to turn left. Now keep your eyes out for the right turn that will be Waterloo again. Once back on Waterloo you'll go by a park - nice one- and then you'll come out at a traffic light which is 395. You will have missed all the traffic lights and traffic of Minden and Gardnerville.

On mapquest if you zoom in on the intersction of 207 and 88 you will see Waterloo cut across to 395.

Good luck!

Suzie -- back from the Tahoe to Oakland (July 1) trek you advised us on -- 120 was well worth it but you undersold CA 89 -- what a view and drop into the valley out of Monitor Pass -- we left Tahoe City (actually a little south)at 8 and made it to Lee Vining around 11:30 with a grocery stop and a gas stop -- and several stops for pictures -- every view better than the last. 120 through Tioga Pass to the stop sign at the turn was about 3:30 -- again multiple stops plus a short walk and a picnic along the river -- 5 minutes off the road and all alone. Made the mistake here -- should have stayed on 120 but guessed wrong that 140 open by now (been off line for 3 weeks)-- 5 miles down 140 we asked doubled back and then decided to go out by Winona and 49 to Merced and Mariposa. It's a long winding road out of the park that way but 49 offered great scenery -- but at the Oakland Air Port by 8 wasn't bad. Anyone who is wondering -- the 120 drive is worth the extra time -- although anyone trying the Yosemite Valley this week has my blessing -- cars were lined up close to half a mile just to access the Bridalveil parking lot Saturday and 30+ to access the park at 5 PM at the South entrance. The Tioga Road was not crowded by that standard though I was surprised that it seemed 3 of 5 cars were foriegn tourists from our vista stops (Olmstead etc)So thanks for not letting others scare us off of 89 and 120. It is fabulous -- especially for us South Georgia flatlanders. Tahoe was great too - but mainly due to our host and the I80 ride was good for a main highway (I still vote for the corner of Arizona on the Las Vegas -- St George freeway for prettiest though). I plan to post on my ridge drive around SF Bay when I have some time -- not for everyone but a good use of a day and some fantastic views of bay and ocean.
Thanks again.

Russ

Hey Russ glad you enjoyed the views. Sorry if you thought I undersold. I think taking Monitor Pass is a great idea but I do advise those who are already at south shore to go over Kingsbury Grade because in the summer to drive back through south shore to Meyers to catch 89 to get to Monitor Pass is super tedious and really adds to the amount of time driving. Later this month we will be taking Monitor Pass but we will not be driving from South Lake Tahoe. Typically we drive through SLT and down Kingsbury Grade but I think we’ll be saving some time due to the increased traffic in SLT over the years. It’s pretty much stop and go all the way to Zephyr Cove.
I know the Kingsbury Grade did close for a time around the 20th or so due to rock slide activity it did reopen around the 26th. I wonder if the OP made it through!

Forgot to say that 140 is expected to remain closed due to the tons of rock that has covered the road. They no longer believe that the road can be repaired in the slide area and Teichert Construction has been hired to creat temporary crossing of the Merced River that will route travelers around the rock slide. Here's a link to the incident page updated by caltrans:

http://inciweb.org/incident/236/