yosemite to death valley early may

working on the basis that the pass (Tioga Road) will still be closed due to snow at the begining of may, can anyone give me an idea of the best way to get to death valley (vague milage and time taken).

We can%26#39;t go at the end of may or beginning of June and want to see the waterfalls in full flow.

any thoughts?

yosemite to death valley early may

You might find this chart from Yosemite handy...it gives mileages and estimated driving times to major CA destinations from Yosemite Valley.

nps.gov/yose/鈥ileages9-2007.pdf

You can see that there are two sets of mileages for Death Valley: one for Tioga Pass, and one going south, and cutting over on hwy 58 and hwy 14. If you drive south on hwy 41, and then take hwy 99south, in Bakersfield you%26#39;ll start heading east on hwy 58, north on hwy 14 which turns into 395. And then you%26#39;ll cut east on 190 into Death Valey. You%26#39;re looking at an 8 1/2 hour ish drive, and almost 450 miles, coming from Yosemite Valley.

yosemite to death valley early may

if Tioga Road is closed is it possible to drive out along the 120 up to Jamestown and then along the 108 along the senora pass highway and then down the 395 past mono lake to lee vining?

or will this also be closed?

It%26#39;s difficult to say if Sonora Pass on hwy 108 will be open in May. I believe it tends to open earlier than Tioga, but it will still depend on how the winter/spring snows go.

If you did go that way...from the Valley you%26#39;d be looking at over 9 hours of driving. If you really wanted to go north, you might need to go all the way north to 88 to find an open pass. If you did that, I%26#39;d recommend doing a night near tahoe perhaps? To break up the driving? But that%26#39;s just me.

Happy planning!

The Northern Route over is quite stunning. Highway 88 is open year round and we have noticed that highway 88 seems to open about a week or so before Tioga Pass. Unless we end up with a very dry second half of the winter, it is unlikely either of these will be open in early May, though we do always hope!

Have a great trip and take in all the sights along 49 and 88 and 395 south. Very nice!%26#39;

Have a marvelous trip.

Ooops, it is Highway 108 that seems to open about a week before 120 and if memory serves me, Highway 4 can go either direction.

Someone just sent this link to me and you might find it helpful...closing and opening dates of the passes:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/clsdlst.htm