Yosemite to Tonopah.
 

Hi, a question that I am hoping the locals in the area might be able to answer for me. We are travelling from Australia to the US to be there for the month of January. Weather permitting, we are booked into the Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp, near Yosemite for 2 nights in early January. Weather permitting because I know we may not actually be able to get there given the conditions at the time. But, it the weather gods are smiling on us, that is the plan.
My question: I want to get from there, to Tonopah at the top of Death Valley. Given weather conditions, can anyone offer some routes, alternative routes, for getting there from Fish Camp. We will have an AWD, with snow chains.
Thanks once again.
** To the wonderful folk who have contributed to my questions already, you have made such a difference to the planning of our 'trip of a lifetime'.xx

Kym

If Tioga Pass were open you would have a 3-hour, 150 mile drive. However, since the pass will be closed, your only alternative is to go the long way through Bakersfield, which is 500+ miles and takes 9-10 hours of driving.

HTtY

PS Tonopah is about 130 miles from Furnace Creek Ranch, which is where we stay when we visit Death Valley.

The smaller passes over the Sierras, including Tioga Pass, the eastern entrance to Yosemite, close in the winter. So, as far as I know, you must go around, either south over the Tehachapi Pass (58) or north to I-80 through Reno. Give yourself plenty of wiggle room as snow can close those routes too, although I-80 is open except during a heavy storm. There can also be snow & ice on the eastern side of the Sierras so just have plenty of time, should you need it.

Plan on going south via Midpines, Oakhurst, Fresno, Bakersfield Tehachipi and Barstow. Plan on spending the night in Barstow and heading out in the morning via Baker and Rt. 127 north from Baker. Do NOT spend a night in Baker. Barstow is an armpit but I have an even lower opinion of Baker.
Barstow has one hotel with interior corridors-find it.
Tonopah has the infamous Clown Motel (next to the cemetery).
You don't really want to stay there.

Okkkk... your replies were not what I was expecting. I thought there would be a quicker route, but hadn't factored in the long way to get to Tonopah. I may have to rethink the itinerary. We were going to Tonopah to be able to drive through Death Valley to LV. but maybe, we'll just have to give Tonopah a miss. Would you guys recommend seeing Death Valley? I know, it is not exactly scenic, but i thought that in winter, it would be another type of landscape to experience.

Just looked at a map. Would it be possible to go up through Lone Pne, Big Pine and Bishop? These do look very close to the mountain range on the map... but are they an option?

My last trip up 395 through Bishop I had to stop for a day to let a storm pass. Driving in and around the Sierras you must always be aware of any weather coming that way. 395 is a beautiful route but has high points of 7,000', if I recall correctly, so can have bad spots on occasion. Again, it all depends.

To get to lone pine you need to go over a mountain pass which are not open in winter ( nor much of Fall or Spring either)

Maybe lay out your whole plan and we can help you rearrange things. For instance in winter, DV and LV are much easier to reach from LA than from anywhere in Northern California. So say you are hitting SF/LA and the coast plus Yosemite, it would make sense to do them in a different order.

<i>Would you guys recommend seeing Death Valley? I know, it is not exactly scenic...</i>

Yes. We like to visit Death Valley every two or three years. I think it is scenic, be if it isn't, the views are at the least impressive, striking, and panoramic. The night skies are spectacular.

We stay at Furnace Creek Ranch, and one of our favorite drives is nearby Artist's Drive.

HTtY

PS If you tell us where your start your trip, where you end it, and how many days you have, we can give you better suggestions.

Thank you . We are in the US for a month, basically driving from Seattle to LA, but side- tripping to Yosemite and Vegas. With much excellent advice a few months ago , our itinerary was worked out. The flaw in my plan though , was that I was going from Yosemite to Tonopah to Vegas. I just didn't realize that the route I had looked at on a map would be closed. So it then became clear I would need to do a big loop DOWN from Yosemite to go UP to Tonoph, and Tonopah was never really a destination in itself, just a way to get from Yosemite to Vegas. So now I am trying to decide whether to still do that . We are doing all of this in January. I have booked my accomm in Yosemite and Vegas, so the question now is ... Where to spend the night in between.

What do you think of the idea of going Yosemite, north to Sacramento, Reno, through Coaldale? to Tonopaph. How long do you estimate this might take ? We will be covering the coast between San Francisco and San Louis Obispo later in the trip. I hadn't thought of going inland through Rena. Is it an interesting trip?

Interesting and beautiful, but I would not do it in winter. Long way to get to LV. Plus going over to Reno and south on 395 may still get you into winter storms. Your best bet is just heading south, out of Yosemite thru Fresno, Bakersfield, Tehachapi over to LV. I would just drive straight thru, Yosemite to LV.

"...best bet is just heading south, out of Yosemite thru...Tehachapi over to LV."

Keeping in mind Tehachapi is high and also subject to winter weather.

<i>We are in the US for a month, basically driving from Seattle to LA, but side- tripping to Yosemite and Vegas.</i>

I agree that in January it is best to be closer to the coast and the southern part of California.

If you plan to skip Highway 1 from Carmel south to LA, you will miss one of the most scenic drives in the USA.

Las Vegas is a good base for visiting Death Valley, Valley of Fire State Park, and Zion National Park. Zion is a place of extreme beauty; I don't know the weather conditions there in January, but I would imagine snow is likely.

HTtY

Hi. No, we totally plan to do the coastal trip from San Fran down to San Louis Obisopo, but from there we actually head up to Yosemite ( we are back-tracking there a little bit, but it just worked out better that way for us). However, I might still need to do a rethink, i think! You have been most helpful, and my thanks.

Is your booking in Vegas changeable/refundable. It should be. If so, and IF you really want to see Las Vegas, then I'd continue down the coast to the LA area. Then you can drive over to Vegas for a couple of days or even easier fly over and back.

This will let you see more of the glorious coast plus skip the horribleness of Yosemite to LV through Bakersfield.

Also, how are you getting through Oregon into California? If the coast, may be wey but OK. If down I-5, then you also might face snow and winter driving conditions.

Yes, I have ecome more aware of what the weather may hold for us. We are actually staying at a cabin in Leavenworth for the 5 days over Christmas and then making a slow drive to SF to be there for New Year's. If the weather does hold out and we can handle it we'd like to hang around in Seattle for a day or so to see the Boeing Flight Centre (the upside? of travelling with 3 males!), then we will dow a drive down the coastal road to SF, stopping at the things that take our fancy along the way. We will not be taking large freeways if i can help it, I love the little roads and towns much better. Plus we are not experienced snow drivers (but we do ski so we drive up our snowy slopes each year), so i would rather handle wet than snowy/icy. So this means sticking to the coastline anyway. But if the weather is just too dreadful, then we will make our way more quickly down the coast to better conditions hopefully. It's funny.... i have driven the SF to Big Sur coast 3 years ago for my sister's wedding, the whole reason to take my family there again. I loved it!! BUT, the drive out to Vegas is also going to be interesting as we are VERY used to long, desolate drives living in Australia. And it will all be new to us, so it doesn't bother me at all. Our kids are seasoned car travellers.

I was initially going SF down to San Louis Obispo (to see the Monarch butterflies hopefully) then up to Yosemite and across to Tonopah to start the drive through Death Valley to Vegas. But from the conversations above, the ACROSS part just isn't going to be possible. So, i am now thinking SF to Yosemite, to SLO to Vegas. We are ending out month with 8 days in LA, so that part is sort of locked in.

I'd do SF to Yosemite to Monterey / Carmel and then down the coast. You can jog over to Las Vegas (if you must) much easier from Southern California than from either Yosemite or San Luis Obispo.

Thanks, I think I'll do that.
When foreigners visit the west coast of the US, Vegas is a must!! We want to see the bright lights and it is just so over the top out there, that it just has to be experienced. Not that I have been there yet, but we are looking forward to it all. Plus, I have heard that that is where some great shopping can be had in the outlets etc for me. It will be my day to myself! Away from 'MUUUMMMM! Are we stopping at more trees and beaches! Do we have to... and How far is it now?'