San Diego towards Sequoia Nat'l Park avoiding LA

Rob, where in Sequoia do you want to go, and where are you going to camp? The big trees in the snow are just amazing -- the little person in the center of this shot is me, and I am 6'3", and this is not a trick shot -- the trees are really that big:

Thank you for all your suggestions...Rob

kalynzoo wrote:
Personally I don't like the Cajon Pass (I-15) and I prefer the Grapevine (I-5)
I would come up from San Diego on the 5 and then connect up with the 210

Don't you mean the 15? I don't think the 5 connects to the 210 until you almost reach Santa Clarita.:h

Ron

Everybody talks about avoiding the traffic through LA but in reality the traffic is going to be just as bad starting in San Diego.

The OP is better off getting started in San Diego mid morning after the rush hour traffic and go north on the I-15 to the 210 freeway west, then take the I-5 north over the Grapevine to the 99.

Grapevine grade is a 6% decent into the Central Valley on I5.
Not really any difficulty save for traffic.

I would take 15N, 91W, 71N, 57N, 210E, 5N, 99N.

If you must go around LA I suggest 215N, 15N, 395N, 58W, 99N, 180E.

But my favorite is up 198 into Sequoia from the south to see the four guardsmen on the way in. Warning steep and hairpin turns, length restriction.

Split the drive into two days by staying at www.bakersfieldrvresort.com

Personally I don't like the Cajon Pass (I-15) and I prefer the Grapevine (I-5)
I would come up from San Diego on the 5 and then connect up with the 210 to bypass the heaviest of LA traffic (This is still a major byway and if you hit it at rush hour you could find yourself speeding along at 5mph) If your traveling on Sunday, or mid-day (before 3:30) on a weekday you might do just as well just traveling all the way north on the I-5. The Grapevine has a steep initial climb, which I could easily handle in my Adventurer towing a Saturn and now in my Allegro RED. After the first 6 mile climb the road becomes less of a challenge until the downhill grade. This is a steep constant drop, but if you maintain your speed you should not have a problem. The Allegro diesel went down the grade at 45mph using only the engine brake, I never hit the brakes. My Adventurer (gas), I would hold my speed to about 50mph and tap the brakes every time it accelerated past that, bringing my speed back to 40 and letting it creep up. I sounds scary, but really, keep your speed down, and it is not a bad drive. The reason for trying to bypass LA traffic is the total number of cars and truck on the road. Drivers are in a rush to get home, they don't let you change lanes, they pull in front of you, like you can stop on a dime. Just stupid drivers. Avoid rush hour. If you get caught up in heavy traffic, pull of the freeway, stop and have lunch or dinner, and try again in a couple of hours.
Enjoy your trip.

When people talk about avoiding LA, does that include San Bernardino and Pasadena?

om wrote:
We just made the opposite trip- Visalia-San Diego. We took 58 out of Bakersfield, 395 south to I-15. We chose to drive thru LA area on a Sunday-so, very little traffic. Another word of caution regarding Tehachapi pass- be aware of foggy conditions! We drove through LA a few years ago on 5 and the roads were much worse. There were some huge potholes in the truck lane and no way to avoid them.

I'm sorry, I'm confused. If you took the route you mentioned above, you didn't go through LA. Was the Sunday trip a different one?

Ron

We just made the opposite trip- Visalia-San Diego. We took 58 out of Bakersfield, 395 south to I-15. We chose to drive thru LA area on a Sunday-so, very little traffic. Another word of caution regarding Tehachapi pass- be aware of foggy conditions! We drove through LA a few years ago on 5 and the roads were much worse. There were some huge potholes in the truck lane and no way to avoid them.

What wintersun said. Except Sequoia National Park is only on the west side of the Sierras...no connection from the east side during your time frame...and you don't need to go all the way to Barstow to get to the 58.

So, when heading north on the 15 you can take the 215 if you want, but it's probably just as easy to just stay on the 15 until you get over Cajon Pass and then head north on 395.

Hitting the 395 right after Cajon Pass instead of going all the way to Barstow will save you about 40 miles. There will be some congestion on the 395 around the outskirts of Victorville/Adelanto (several stop lights, but once past Adelanto, it's clear sailing. About 40 miles past Adelanto, you will come to the junction of 395/58 at Kramer Jct, you will need to turn left on the 58 and go towards Bakersfield (over Tehachapi pass...no big deal unless it is snowing) and to the 99.

The alternate is to take the 15 to the 215 (or again just stay on the 15), to the 210. Go west on the 210 until you get to the 5. This route will skirt the LA proper, and the 5 will take you over the Grapevine (again, not a big deal unless it is snowing). Once over the Grapevine, take 99 north through Bakersfield and on up to the turnoff to Sequoia Nat Park.

A word to the wise, if it is snowing in Southern California, stay off of the Grapevine, Tehachapi, and Cajon Passes.

Good luck and I hope this helps

Ron