Traveling from Death Valley National Park to Yosemite National Park

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fhoghvn

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In April, we will be traveling from Death Valley National Park (Beatty, NV) to Sequoia National Park then to Yosemite National Park.  We would like to know the best route to travel.  I have a 44 foot fifth wheel toy hauler. Also any RV campgrounds recommendations that have large pull through sites with full hookups.

Thanks,

Fred
 
Welcome to The RV Forum!

The best way is the long way around.  From Beatty go south on CA 127 to I-15, west on I-15 and CA 58 to Bakersfield, then north on US 99.

The "shorter" route to the west of Death Valley crosses two mountain ranges between DV and Hwy 395 and has extremely long and steep grades and sharp switchbacks. CA 190 west of Stovepipe Wells has an 18 mile unrelenting climb from below sea level to Towne Pass at 5,600 ft.  Then you descend into the Panamint Valley and face a series of very sharp switchbacks going up the second mountain range to the west of it.

Bakersfield is about the midway point and there are a couple of large rig friendly parks there.  Orange Grove RV Park along CA 58 east of Bakersfield is in the middle of an orange grove and you can pick fruit from the trees in the park.  Bear Mountain RV Park is a mobile home park that was built during the mid 2000s real estate boom and never filled up, so they converted it into an RV park.  It's at the Bear Mountain Rd. exit about 10 miles SOUTH of the junction of Hwys 58 and 99 in Bakersfield.
 
Lou,

Thanks for the information.  I will review the route you described.  I definitely do not want to do long steep grades and sharp switchbacks unless necessary.

Fred
 
As Lou said it is a really tough climb out of Panamint Valley.  To keep the trailer tires on the pavement and maybe from scraping the sides of the trailer some rock walls on sharp turns, your tow vehicle will have to be well over the center line.  Some of these turns may be blind curves. 

Use Google Earth, Google Maps or Bing Maps with satellite view to look at the road.
 
Thanks for the additional comments. 

Also, since I have never traveled across Death Valley will there be adequate fuel stops or anything else I need to be concerned with.  My GMC truck takes diesel fuel.

Thanks,

Fred
 
Fill your tank in Beatty.  There is diesel at Furnace Creek but it's in CA and a long way from anywhere. The price you'll pay in Death Valley is close to double what you'll pay in Nevada.

Going south, there's high priced fuel in Shoshone, CA and in Baker at I-15.  If you can make it to Barstow you'll save a significant amount.

If Beatty to Bakersfield is more than you want to cover in a single day, consider making an overnight stop in Pahrump.  It has several nice RV parks, you can restock at a couple of supermarkets and Walmart and Pahrump has some of the cheapest fuel prices around.  When you leave, take NV 372 west to CA 127 in Shoshone.
 
Lou,

Thanks.  I forgot to state that due to the length of my RV I normally get diesel a truck stops.  Are there any in the places you noted?

Thanks,

Fred
 
Another factor in April is the possibility that some of the Sierra mountain passes might still be closed.  Tioga Pass going into Yosemite from the east usually doesn't open until May or June, depending on the snow depth in any given winter.  I second avoiding going over Towne Pass.  It's a tough pull and uphill all the way.  It's better to go farther with an easier drive.

Beatty has a nice but no-frills RV park at the south end of town.  The Death Valley Inn & RV Park has 50-amp full hookup pull-through sites.  (It used to be called the Burro RV Park but changed ownership and was upgraded.)

ArdraF
 
ArdaF,

Thanks for the additional information.  We do have reservations at the Death Valley Inn & RV Park in Beatty.  Then we go to Bakersfield, CA staying at the Bakersfield River Run RV Park for a week.  At this point I haven't made reservations near the Sequoia National Park or Yosemite National Park.

Fred
 
When I use Google Maps for directions from Beatty, NV to Bakersfield it routes me through Death Valley National Park:

374, to 190, 14, then 58 to Bakersfield.

Anyone see an issue with this route for the size of my rig, vice going take the Baker, CA route?

Thanks,

Fred

 
Yep, it is a very long hard climb without shade or any services. Much better to go around, especially in summer. It is about 100 miles more to go through Baker.
 
Like Tom said, it's a long, steep, continuous 20 mile climb from sea level at Stovepipe Wells to 5,000 ft. at Towne Pass, then a 1900 ft. drop into the Panamint Valley.

Then another 1500 ft. climb back out the west side at Panamint Springs, including a very narrow, twisting stretch

Here's a Google Maps view showing two cars on that section.  Zoom out to see the rest of the route:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.3485179,-117.540893,20z/data=!3m1!1e3
 
Thanks everyone for the updated information.  I'm definitely going to take the Baker route.

Have a great day,

Fred
 
One more question.

Is Highway 58 from Barstow to Bakersfield a decent route or should I go to 99?

Fred
 
Great,

I looked at it some via satellite and it did not look to bad.

Thanks,

Fred
 
58 is a good route, it's now 4 lane freeway all the way except for 5 - 10 miles on either side of the junction with Hwy 395 between  Barstow and Boron, and work is underway to complete that section.

The problem is the new freeway has made that road a much more attractive way to bypass Los Angeles and between the traffic signal and trucks squeezing in and out of the Pilot truck stop, there can be a 20 - 30 minute backup to get through that intersection.

There isn't any way around it, I suggest you use the Traffic feature on Google Maps to see if there is a significant delay before leaving Barstow.  If there is, wait a bit and see if it improves.

Google Maps uses data from road sensors and GPS reporting from cellphones in vehicles to measure real time traffic flow.
 
It's a pity you need to go that way as you are  missing some wonderful places on the east of the Sierras, Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills, Bodie mining ghost town, Mammoth, Bishop, bristlecones pines in the White Mountains. Lee Vining, Mono Lake and June Lake but road into Yosemite will be closed this side. This is a wonderful area and exceptionally beautiful.

However.... We were going to stay up at Sequoia last May but it was very cold so we made our base Kernville, we stayed at Camp James just a 5 minute walk into town.  We then drove out to both Sequoia and Kings Canyon from there. Not sure how roads are at this time as I know there has been a huge dump of snow recently.  Lots of boondocking at Lake Isabella although you want FHU I thought it worth mentioning for others.

At time of writing I believe the Yosemite Valley was flooded and just reopened so recommend you check park website for road conditions before you go. The waterfalls will be stunning - they were last year!  If you are fit do the Mist Trail you can stop at the bridge if you don't want to get wet and still get a good view. Waterproofs a must if you go further.

Be in the park before 9am or you won't get a parking space, earlier if you can.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

We stayed in Oakhurst at Bass Lake which was an ok park, close to a resort which had a few restaurants, bar and shop, and close to town although a bit of a drive into the park.  No experience of other places but several folks here had a rally last year and stayed in Groveland. Here is a link to that topic for info...

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,99133.0.html

 
It's a pity you need to go that way as you are  missing some wonderful places on the east of the Sierras, Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills, Bodie mining ghost town, Mammoth, Bishop, bristlecones pines in the White Mountains. Lee Vining, Mono Lake and June Lake but road into Yosemite will be closed this side. This is a wonderful area and exceptionally beautiful.
Jackie you have just nailed California's biggest problem. An embarrassment of riches. Cali has 9 National Parks, the most of any state in the country, one more than Alaska. And three of the most beautiful spots in the state are not National Parks, that being Big Sur, Mount Shasta and Lake Tahoe. It is just impossible to visit Cali and take it all in or even a very small selection of the riches. They have Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Death Valley, the Channel Islands, Joshua Tree, the Redwoods, Mount Lassen, and Pinnacles NPs. And a few dozen great state parks. Then there is Disneyland, the Dodgers, Universal Studios, Hearst Castle, the San Diego Zoo, the Monterey Aquarium, San Francisco, and the Mojave Desert. You can literally tour Cali forever.  ;D
 
SeilerBird said:
Jackie you have just nailed California's biggest problem. An embarrassment of riches. Cali has 9 National Parks, the most of any state in the country, one more than Alaska. And three of the most beautiful spots in the state are not National Parks, that being Big Sur, Mount Shasta and Lake Tahoe. It is just impossible to visit Cali and take it all in or even a very small selection of the riches. They have Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Death Valley, the Channel Islands, Joshua Tree, the Redwoods, Mount Lassen, and Pinnacles NPs. And a few dozen great state parks. Then there is Disneyland, the Dodgers, Universal Studios, Hearst Castle, the San Diego Zoo, the Monterey Aquarium, San Francisco, and the Mojave Desert. You can literally tour Cali forever.  ;D
Totally agree Tom, it is a real gem of a place and surprisingly a lot of it is still not overly busy.  We do love it.  That said, lots of the states have tremendous places, too many to choose from.  It makes our planning a nightmare as we just cannot decide where to go.
 

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