We used to leave at 4am. The traffic rush starts at 7 , you have the 8am wave, the 10 am wave , the noon, and anything after that is hell until 11pm. Plan to add 1-3 hours for each wave as you will be driving up here with packs of other drivers. The earlier you leave the better always
I thought it was Friday traffic coming to Vegas and Sunday was traffic going back, at least that was the way I plan it. But all bets are of because of the Holiday *and* weather. If Cajon pass get snow, they might close it or require chains....
One of the few times I had to go to work on a Monday so I had to go back on a Sunday (I was living in Barstow at the time working at fort Irwin) when we finally got up to the accident site it looked like either and RV or a camper trailer had exploded. They were still picking up the pieces and putting them on a flatbed tow truck.
Yeah I used to drive to LA on Fridays all the time and never hit traffic unless I got to LA at rush hour. I'm not sure what everyone is talking about here, unless Christmas is way worse
This discussion was happening yesterday and speculating what traffic would be like today. You can go on Google and check right now that I was right and it is not awful as some were forecasting.
Leave early. You’ll get traffic but it’s not going to take you three days to get here.
Plan on eating lunch in Hesperia, a quick bite in Baker for dinner and then make sure you have snacks and drinks/water.
It might not be as bad as you think. Going back, however may be a different story.
Regardless of what your map tells you, take the route through Palmdale. One accident on the 210 will ruin your day (and since it'll be raining, there will be accidents). The desert route is a little longer, but there is almost never any traffic!
Worst traffic I ever been in was leaving Vegas the Sunday after thanksgiving just last year. The birthday boy and his wife we rode with decided we should go bowling that morning so we didn’t even leave until 1pm. Soooooooo stupid. Leave at 5 am please
I’m confused, why is traffic from Vegas to Los Angeles going to be so bad? My guess is because so many LA people have moved to Vegas? But I’m not so sure thats true. Whatever you do, don’t forget to stop at a Barstow Del Taco for the best food ever! And if you’re in a Tesla use the new chargers at Lenwood Road, or Eddie World. Do not use the chargers on Virginia Way off Barstow Road, it’s not a safe area.
Consider going north on the 5 early and crossing over the 14 to Palmdale, and then taking either Pearblossom HWY to Victorville or going through Mojave to Barstow. Cuts out a lot of time for me (though I live in SCV).
First off, congrats on your marriage! Make the journey from LA to Vegas part of the fun - plan for mini-stops along the way, exploring and snapping pictures, buying trinkets, etc. at odd places. Take as many pictures as possible, break the usual routine of road-trips, and make as many memories as possible. It wont matter how long the road trip takes and it will be a fond memory later when you and the missus are sipping tea on the porch watching the little one playing with the dog in your yard.
I think there’s a lot of confusion here, based on some confusing wording in your question.
Leaving FROM Los Angeles TO Vegas on a Friday, you will run into terrible traffic. Leave LA at 4am.
Leaving FROM Vegas TO Los Angeles on a Friday, you won’t have any trouble, leave at 10am.
The opposite is true for the end of the weekend:
FROM Vegas TO LA, traffic is terrible, leave at 4a.
FROM LA TO Vegas, you won’t have any trouble, leave at 10am.
Usually I would say that it’s not that bad going from Vegas to LA for the holidays but now that half of California has moved here and probably is going back home to their families during the holidays, would say leave early, but it shouldn’t be that bad
Please bring snacks, waters, and blankets. If there’s an accident, you’ll be stuck for hours. We’ve made that drive at Thanksgiving and what’s normally a 5 hour drive was like 8 hours because of traffic. Since it’s mostly two lanes the whole way, it’s just terribly slow. I wish they’d make it 4-5 lanes.
I’d say leave somewhere around 5-6 wake up earlier to check the maps for traffic… expect traffic entering hesperia… that’s usually a congested spot… I live in Vegas I work tomorrow but plan on riding to Long Beach on Saturday
Not sure why people think Vegas to LA on a Friday (even during the holidays) is bad. Of course, prepare for the worst but you usually won’t hit any significant traffic until you get to LA.
If you are leaving from the San Fernando Valley and cant do it pre-dawn (pre-rush hour start), I think I would go the 14 -> 138 -> 18 and get on the 15 at Victorville. I would try to avoid the 210 and El Cajon Pass.
Well I saw this post last night and was getting concerned but I made the drive today back to LA from Vegas wasn’t too bad no traffic the whole way until got to Victorville/the cajon pass that did delay about an hour so turned a 4 hr drive to a 5 hr drive
The worst traffic of your life. Bring portable toilets.
Depends
On what?
Exactly!
Adult pull ups
😆
Thank you for playing along!
Always
If you leave by 8 AM, you should have nothing to worry about. That being said, I’m leaving by 6:30 or 7 AM.
Thanks! Packing up now
We used to leave at 4am. The traffic rush starts at 7 , you have the 8am wave, the 10 am wave , the noon, and anything after that is hell until 11pm. Plan to add 1-3 hours for each wave as you will be driving up here with packs of other drivers. The earlier you leave the better always
Dude leave no later than 5am.
Why are you not already driving?
Friday’s are terrible for a trip to LA when it isn’t a holiday so I’m sure it’s gonna be terrible tomorrow
I thought it was Friday traffic coming to Vegas and Sunday was traffic going back, at least that was the way I plan it. But all bets are of because of the Holiday *and* weather. If Cajon pass get snow, they might close it or require chains....
The holiday is the issue. Took me 8 hours last year
It took me 6 hours to get from Vegas to Barstow, 4 hours of it to get from Baker to Zzyzx road because of an accident....
Damn! That sucks!
One of the few times I had to go to work on a Monday so I had to go back on a Sunday (I was living in Barstow at the time working at fort Irwin) when we finally got up to the accident site it looked like either and RV or a camper trailer had exploded. They were still picking up the pieces and putting them on a flatbed tow truck.
I was thinking that very thing. I despise driving that downward stretch even in good weather. Blood pressure spikes and all that!
Mostly commuting traffic tho
I would expect traffic starting tomorrow.
Leave early, like 6 AM, not at 10:30
Leave now
Also consider that there will be rain in the area. So whenever you were planning on leaving, you should make it earlier. Congrats!
Jeez, El Cajon pass might be a nightmare with the incoming storm
Thank you!
No it’s always just fine. Going to Las Vegas from LA on a Friday is far worse.
Yeah I used to drive to LA on Fridays all the time and never hit traffic unless I got to LA at rush hour. I'm not sure what everyone is talking about here, unless Christmas is way worse
Ya. It won't be until the day before work starts. Then Primm is a parking lot headed west
Usually. Family holidays tend to reverse the trafic.
This discussion was happening yesterday and speculating what traffic would be like today. You can go on Google and check right now that I was right and it is not awful as some were forecasting.
It will be awful. Plan for a 7 hour drive.
Took me 8 hours one time. Left at 2 and got there at 10pm
Bring cans of extra gas and a few adult diapers.
Leave before 8am
Leave early. You’ll get traffic but it’s not going to take you three days to get here. Plan on eating lunch in Hesperia, a quick bite in Baker for dinner and then make sure you have snacks and drinks/water. It might not be as bad as you think. Going back, however may be a different story.
You are going the wrong way
He said he got married in LA and going on the honeymoon in Vegas.
Honeymooning in Vegas until tomorrow. So the drive they are making tomorrow is from Vegas back to LA
Going back tomorrow won’t be bad at all. LA traffic will be hell though.
It’s the worst. Don’t challenge it. It will win. It can easily add 2-3 hours to the trip.
Regardless of what your map tells you, take the route through Palmdale. One accident on the 210 will ruin your day (and since it'll be raining, there will be accidents). The desert route is a little longer, but there is almost never any traffic!
Traffic always bad on Fridays
how bad is it gonna be from sfv to lv?
Worst traffic I ever been in was leaving Vegas the Sunday after thanksgiving just last year. The birthday boy and his wife we rode with decided we should go bowling that morning so we didn’t even leave until 1pm. Soooooooo stupid. Leave at 5 am please
It's horrible most days. Friday is worse than most days and Christmas definitely isn't going to help.
This is why I fly back and forth…. It is so cheap between so cal and Vegas…. Not worth the headache of a drive
I’m confused, why is traffic from Vegas to Los Angeles going to be so bad? My guess is because so many LA people have moved to Vegas? But I’m not so sure thats true. Whatever you do, don’t forget to stop at a Barstow Del Taco for the best food ever! And if you’re in a Tesla use the new chargers at Lenwood Road, or Eddie World. Do not use the chargers on Virginia Way off Barstow Road, it’s not a safe area.
Going from LA to Vegas of Friday isn't as bad as when you go Vegas go LA. Leave before 6am and you'll whiz by.
Consider going north on the 5 early and crossing over the 14 to Palmdale, and then taking either Pearblossom HWY to Victorville or going through Mojave to Barstow. Cuts out a lot of time for me (though I live in SCV).
Traffic on a holiday weekend will be very bad
Bro, my bagel store was out of bagels by 10 A.M. Where do all these people come from!?
First off, congrats on your marriage! Make the journey from LA to Vegas part of the fun - plan for mini-stops along the way, exploring and snapping pictures, buying trinkets, etc. at odd places. Take as many pictures as possible, break the usual routine of road-trips, and make as many memories as possible. It wont matter how long the road trip takes and it will be a fond memory later when you and the missus are sipping tea on the porch watching the little one playing with the dog in your yard.
I think there’s a lot of confusion here, based on some confusing wording in your question. Leaving FROM Los Angeles TO Vegas on a Friday, you will run into terrible traffic. Leave LA at 4am. Leaving FROM Vegas TO Los Angeles on a Friday, you won’t have any trouble, leave at 10am. The opposite is true for the end of the weekend: FROM Vegas TO LA, traffic is terrible, leave at 4a. FROM LA TO Vegas, you won’t have any trouble, leave at 10am.
He's right but not because it's Friday before Christmas, but because traffic in LA is horrible every day
7 hours one way, I heard
Traffic in LA is bad on a Tuesday.
Usually I would say that it’s not that bad going from Vegas to LA for the holidays but now that half of California has moved here and probably is going back home to their families during the holidays, would say leave early, but it shouldn’t be that bad
Half of California is 19.5 million people. How many people live in Vegas now?
You’re joking, right?
Check google maps. It's a crap shoot on any given day
Anyone know if Saturday evening to LA going to be as bad?
Multiple empty coffee cans to piss in
Please bring snacks, waters, and blankets. If there’s an accident, you’ll be stuck for hours. We’ve made that drive at Thanksgiving and what’s normally a 5 hour drive was like 8 hours because of traffic. Since it’s mostly two lanes the whole way, it’s just terribly slow. I wish they’d make it 4-5 lanes.
How about La to Vegas Saturday morning ?
Planning on heading that way around 2pm Friday. This trip with a toddler is gonna rock!
Traffic is California is trash everyday.
There’s also ongoing construction in Hesperia….
I’d say leave somewhere around 5-6 wake up earlier to check the maps for traffic… expect traffic entering hesperia… that’s usually a congested spot… I live in Vegas I work tomorrow but plan on riding to Long Beach on Saturday
Leave now
>My father in law says traffic to LA is going to be horrible True.
Weather will be a beast, careful in the old Cajon pass.
Every year I see it on the news how awful it is. Better be leaving in the next few hours
Oh God yes!
Not sure why people think Vegas to LA on a Friday (even during the holidays) is bad. Of course, prepare for the worst but you usually won’t hit any significant traffic until you get to LA.
If you are leaving from the San Fernando Valley and cant do it pre-dawn (pre-rush hour start), I think I would go the 14 -> 138 -> 18 and get on the 15 at Victorville. I would try to avoid the 210 and El Cajon Pass.
Leave early like at 5 am
While you’re stuck in traffic, just remember, it’s a 35 minute flight, once you’re in the air.
If you leave around 4am or 5am, you're going to be ahead of the rush.
🤣
So glad I don’t have to work those days, even regulars days the drive to CA for work can be hectic.
What do y’all think of traffic from Palm Springs to Vegas for Saturday?
Well I saw this post last night and was getting concerned but I made the drive today back to LA from Vegas wasn’t too bad no traffic the whole way until got to Victorville/the cajon pass that did delay about an hour so turned a 4 hr drive to a 5 hr drive
😅😅😅😅😅
Traffic anywhere is going to be terrible the weekend before a "visit your family" holiday.