Vegas to LA

Hi I am visiting in early November and want to drive from Vegas to LA on a Thursday morning around 6am (to catch the sunrise), and wanted to find out which would be the most scenic i route and how long would this take?

We are coming from the UK and want to experience driving through the dessert and little towns/villages.

 

How long do you want to be in the car? Just bombing down I-15 would get you to LA in about 4 hours. If you want to add 90 or minutes -- get yourself a good map and check this out --take the back route through Cima, Kelso, Amboy, Twentynine Palms and then just west of Palm Springs you'll hit I-10 and you can take that all the way in. The roadway from just outside Cima to just past Kelso was a minefield of potholes when I last drove it in April, so just be alert with the rental. (Someone posted here a bit ago that some repairs might've been done, but it would take a total re-pave to handle it all.) Limited services out there.

If you are truly adventurous and don't mind even more time you could spin through Death Valley to Lone Pine, see the back side of the southern Sierra Nevada and then get to LA (I assume LAX, right?) via the 395, 14, 5 and 405.

 

We are planning on spending the day in LA before watching the LA Kings in the evening and driving back. How long would the journey take through Death Valley?

 

Wow. Long day. Why not spend the night at L.A. LIVE/downtown?

The drive would be 7-8 hours, just for the drive, with the usual caveats about unforeseen troubles and LA-area traffic woes, the weight of your right foot, and how much you plan to stop, look and linger.

 

I would rethink that plan. That is just too long a day and driving back to Vegas tired is a recipe for disaster.

EDIT: Not to point out the obvious, but you do realize there is no sunrise over the Pacific Ocean, right? That's where it sets.

 

Hi Joe I am aware of that. We want to drive through the dessert as the sun comes up.

 

If you leave Staples Center after an evening game and head to Vegas, you will be in Vegas well before the sun comes up.

 

Um, OK. But why the need to be in LA at 6am?

But you'll be driving the wrong direction. Sunrise will be at your back unless you are going to pull over to watch it. As Ken pointed out, if you leave LA after the game, you'll be back in Vegas before sunrise.

 

Maybe I wored my message incorrectly.

We are leaving Vegas at 6am so the sun will rise and we drive through the desert. We expect to get to LA around midday.

I hope this clears up any confusion.

 

I'm pretty sure the OP wants to drive at 6am in order to catch the sunrise over the desert...in other words, to see the desert as the morning light comes up

 

OK, got it.

 

That is spot on CJ

 

The desert is gorgeous at sunrise. And you won't be driving into it! Get yourself a decent map, check out that first route I suggested.

 

Will do thansk Ken.