Advice on 6 Day Road Trip from Mammoth area

Hello all. I%26#39;m looking for some advice on a road trip we are taking. We bought a new RV and will be leaving the Mammoth Lakes area just after the Fourth of July and then returning back home to Riverside, CA 6 days later. We will already have traveled up and seen the 395 from Riverside and am wondering which direction to start our trip from the Mammoth area.

We LOVE Yosemite and are always so happy to visit, but we have spent a lot of time there so an afternoon stop would probably suffice. We%26#39;ve been to Bodie too. Also, we%26#39;ve seen plenty of San Francisco. Reno/Vegas stops are not the kind of vacation we are looking for. Would rather see some of the picturesque sights. Also, we%26#39;ve done plenty of wine tasting, and can skip that on this trip too.

Places we haven%26#39;t seen: Big Sur, Redwoods, Lassen area, been a long time since Tahoe, none of Oregon or much of Northern California at all, don%26#39;t really know where in Nevada we%26#39;d want to go or how far we%26#39;d even get, and am guessing that places like Utah and Idaho are too far?? (although we%26#39;ve never toured there either!)

Considering we are travelling by RV (with a one-year-old) and are looking to do about 4 hrs of driving per day, anyone have any advice on what direction to take and stops to make???

Thanks in advance.

Advice on 6 Day Road Trip from Mammoth area

I have no RV experience, but my first Q. would be how big is the RV? I%26#39;m guessing since you mentioned Yosemite, it%26#39;s one that is fairly maneuverable on mountain roads. Also, will you have a smaller vehicle (or even bikes and baby carrier) for short trips where the RV won%26#39;t go?

Even with a regular vehicle, I%26#39;m not sure I%26#39;d want to try for Utah or Idaho with just 6 days from Mammoth ro Riverside. It seems you%26#39;d be doing a lot of windshield sightseeing.

If you%26#39;re OK going through Yosemite, how about the Gold Rush country? Come out at Sonora and go up Hwy 49 and then back down, seeing some of the historic Mother Lode towns like Columbia, Jamestown, Angel%26#39;s Camp, Sutter Creek. The original gold discovery site is a little north of Placerville if you want to go that far. These towns all have preserved historic districts, quaint shops, restaurants, most have RV facilities. Hwy 49 can get busy at peak vacation periods, and there are some narrow, curvy sections, but I see larger vehicles on it a lot.

Lassen is about 170 miles north of Sacramento. Hwy 99 through Yuba City and Chico is more picturesque, slower, and maybe 5-10 miles shorter. Judging from current weather reports, the main park road should be fully open in July and you can see all the major sites. If you are up to a moderate hike with a baby carrier, Bumpass Hell is THE place to see. Lassen has several campgrounds, as does the area around Mineral, the southern ';gateway'; town.

Another ';maybe'; if you like real outback areas and perhaps mineral hot springs: from Mammoth, get to Hwy 120 east. You can either take 395 north to 120 east (skirts the south shore of Mono Lake) or south to Benton Crossing Road. These two roads later merge and take you east to the old mining settlement of Benton. If you have already been to Mono Lake, the southern route is shorter by 25-30 miles.

Benton has historic buildings, mining remains if you look hard enough, and a mineral springs B%26amp;B and camp.

http://www.historicbentonhotsprings.com/

Benton is the gateway to Nevada%26#39;s early borax mining country, which is centered around Coaldale and Columbus. Marietta is a ghost town on a back road out of Benton or Coaldale Junction where one of the earliest paying borax operations was started by F.M. Smith, later ';Borax Smith'; of Death Valley 20 Mule Team fame. I don%26#39;t know how your RV would do on that road; in dry weather it%26#39;s usually OK, but it gets steep in spots and in winter it can be tricky. A silver mining ghost town called Candelaria is also nearby, and has lots of old stone and brick buidings.

Tonopah is farther east. It%26#39;s just about the biggest thing between Carson City and Death Valley, and has RV parks, other lodging, dining, a public library with internet, and two fine museums, a regional history and a mining museum. Another ghost town, Belmont, is in the hills east of Tonopah and may be reachable in your RV--ask locally. It%26#39;s one of the best preserved and most extensive ghost tows I%26#39;ve seen anywhere. From Mammoth to Tonopah (not counting side trips or detours), you%26#39;ve gone a bit under 200 miles.

If you want to take the ET (Extraterrestrial Highway), continue on US 6 to Warm Springs Junction (abandoned hot springs resort; no services), then south on NV 375. There is nothing on this road; the big draw is Area 51 and the town of Rachel, where UFO research is supposedly being done by the government. I%26#39;ve been there several times and have not seen any extraterrestrials, but it%26#39;s kind of fun to be able to say you%26#39;ve seen it.

From Rachel, you can stay on US 93 which takes you to Las Vegas--260-275 miles from Tonopah on this route.

IF ET%26#39;s don%26#39;t excite you, you could stay on US 6 past Warm Springs and go to Great Basin National Park. This is a beautiful, seldom crowded high desert park with grand vistas, intriguing plant and animal life, a cave tour, and clear night skies. Optional stop enroute to Great Basin is the railroad museum in Ely. From Tonopah to Great Basin is about 250 miles. Then from Great Basin to Las Vegas is a little over 300.

I hate to vocalize this thought, but with any itinerary from Mammoth to Riverside through CA and/or NV, you are going to encounter Las Vegas or Bakersfield. There%26#39;s no way around it, sorry.

Advice on 6 Day Road Trip from Mammoth area

P.S. I didn%26#39;t suggest Death Valley, which is not an oversight. :) Since you live so close, I figured you either have been there or can go just about any time.

Wow, this is some GREAT information. Thanks so much for the advice. I will certainly look into it. Especially the ghost towns. My husband especially will appreciate that one. Thanks again. (Keeping it short, off to do some research!!)

Congrats on your new RV - motorhome? I%26#39;ve been RV%26#39;ing for over 15 years in all types of rigs, in fact, we just bought a 5th wheel. It%26#39;s a great lifestyle :-))

Have you joined Good Sam yet?

Oregon is too far in 6 days, as is northern CA, unless you shoot straight over. We just drove the highway to Rachel - good road but pretty darn long and boring, lots of endless desert. Little Ale%26#39;Inn was kinda fun, though.

We stayed in Tonopah and there are only two RV parks there, both fairly miserable places. (My review of the one we picked should be up now, pics will follow soon) But, there are rest stops on either side of Tonopah which are much nicer if you can dry camp.

Here are two websites which will help you, also suggest you purchase Trailer Life Guide and Woodall%26#39;s Western Guide - Camping World sells them both, as do some Barnes %26amp; Noble bookstores. Well worth it!

http://www.rv-clubs.us/rv_campgrounds.html

http://www.rvparkreviews.com

There%26#39;s nothing wrong with staying in LV if it works out logically for a night. There is a very nice RV park south of town called Las Vegas Oasis RV Resort. You won%26#39;t even know you%26#39;re near LV! There are also some nice parks in Bakersfield, check my review there. (We just came back from a 5,000 mile trip to the SW, so I posted lots of RV park reviews.)

As far as driving, we prefer to go about 200 miles a day, no farther. That works out to about 4 hours driving including a brief stop or two. Your speed will not be nearly as fast as in a car, even on the freeway, you know :-)

Oh, one more quick note . . . you really don%26#39;t want to drive on dirt roads unless you have to. Not only are they extremely rough on your rig (think rattling the microwave and so on), dust will creep in virtually *everywhere*. Remember, it%26#39;s not a car, it%26#39;s your ';home'; on wheels :-)

We are totally with you on that 4 hours a day thing. That%26#39;s just what we like to do too. Will def skip, Utah, Idaho, Oregon.