malabar290

Will be doing this trip at the end of November. I will be giving myself 2 - 3 days to do this - plenty of time but don't really want to drive more than 4 - 5 hours a day.

We were thinking of putting up in Yosemite and then Death Valley but we have no clue about tire chains and want to avoid the hassle of snow driving as we have never done that before.

Question is if we stay at the Lodge at the Falls, and really confine ourselves to main roads, would the tire chains be required?

Fresno and Bakersfield don't really look appealing either

Any suggestions would be very appreciated!

janisj

"Will be doing this trip at the end of November. I will be giving myself 2 - 3 days to do this - plenty of time but don't really want to drive more than 4 - 5 hours a day.

The problem is (w/o going to Yosemite) in Nov there really isn't any place/reason to stop anywhere. It is about 500miles of quick driving from Monterey to Las Vegas, and would take approx 8-9 hours. Midway is nowhere.

We were thinking of putting up in Yosemite and then Death Valley but we have no clue about tire chains and want to avoid the hassle of snow driving as we have never done that before.

Question is if we stay at the Lodge at the Falls, and really confine ourselves to main roads, would the tire chains be required?"

You wouldn't have to worry too much about chains going into Yosemite Valley from the west -- and the road out over the Sierras to the east won't be open. Unless there is a major storm - getting into the Valley should be fine. But then you'd have to retrace your route back into the Central Valley and south towards Bakersfield before cutting over towards DV - adding a LOT of drive time. YNP > Bakersfield > DV is nearly 400 miles and 7 hours.

Fresno and Bakersfield don't really look appealing either"

No argument there


So . . . Montery to YNP is not a bad drive -- but after that the whole thing goes to pieces. Either - go to Yosemite for 2 nights and then just accept that you will have a Long drive to get to Death Valley and/or Las vegas.

or

Just fly from Monterey to Vegas . . .

malabar290

Thanks for the prompt reply! Yes, thinking that the best alternative may just be a flight! The road trip doesn't look too feasible

cferrb

If you are giving up Yosemite, then why can't you drive down the coast from Monterey? There are lots of great places to stop, visit or stay between Monterey and Los Angeles, and it's a pretty easy drive from LA to Vegas.

malabar290

Actually, will be driving from LA to Monterey hence don't want to retrace my steps - sorry for not providing the full itinerary

Now, we're thinking of going further north to SF and then flying to Vegas, since we will be saving 2 days of driving time. Yay!