Is there a way to drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas avoiding the Freeway?

fly in a plane

I live in the inland empire, about 50 miles east of LA. You have to pass through here to go to vegas, and it is in the IE that all the traffic starts. Leaving at 12:00-1:00 from LA means you would get to the IE at about 1:30 to 2:30. Thats calling it close, usually thats right when the traffic begins. It would be wise to leave a little earlier just to be safe. As for tourist spots, theres not really any. In Barstow theres a McDonalds that looks like a train, in Baker there is the Worlds largest Thermometer. There is also a water park, with slides and all, in the middle of nowhere, that has been closed down for a long time. It will be on your left hand side on the drive there. thats about it, make sure to wear your seat belt, and watch your speed, there are a lot of CHP on I-15!!!!

Not really. And really, the freeway is easier to drive on than the parts of old 66 you can find.

My daughter, when she learned to drive was fearful of the freeway. But when she finally got out on the 405 in LA, she realized it is easier than surface streets,

The two way, 2 lane highways are far more dangerous than the freeways in terms of the number of accidents per million miles driven on them. Because on the freeway the possibility of a head on collision is far, far lower. And the parts of 66 between Barstow and Needles are lawless enough, the gas station attendant at Amboy packs heat in an open holster.

They can go north on any surface streets they like to Foothill Blvd and head east on that. But they will need to take the 15 to Victorville where they can pick up old Route 66 to Barstow. Then they need to follow the 40 to where Route 66 starts again and take it to Needles. Then they get on the 40 again to Kingman and then go north from Kingman to Las Vegas.

This will take like double the time.

They just get on the 15

Yeah, you can drive without freeways. You can also hike it, but why? Going to Vegas w/o using freeways is painfully slow, and much harder. I agree with the previous posters who said to fly JetBlue. They fly out of Long Beach, no freeway required. And I've seen some pretty cheap fares lately. Why not fly them out there? Great gift idea!

Take foothill blvd to highway 18 in San Bernardino go to big bear lake drive Big Bear to Lucerne Valley , Then Take 247 to Yucca Valley then to twentynine palms then up to amboy , route 66 to kelbaker road take Kelbaker road through the mojave preserve past I40 ,past Kelso depot, past Baker and The I15, Past dumont Dunes right on Tecopa road before Death Valley go to Blue Diamond road which goes into las vegas, Yes it takes a long but the parts through Big bear and the Mojave Preserve are extremly beautiful. You can get gas at Big bear, Lucerne Valley< Yucca Valley. 29 Palms, Amboy( Yes he is a gun tooter), baker, and Shosone.You could take Barstow Rd from Lucerne Valley to Barstow but you will be on the I40 for a little bit before getting to National Trails Highway. You could take camp rock road from highway 18 to national Trails Highway but believe that Camp Rock Road is a dirt road.

This is definitely going to be a "slowride". Take Lakewood Blvd. north, merging onto Rosemead Blvd. north, turn right onto Foothill Blvd. heading east to San Bernardino where you merge into 5th Street up to Boulder Ave. north, get on highway 330/18 heading to Running Springs/ Big Bear, keep heading north on highway 18, and get on either Camp Rock Road to Daggett or Barstow Road to highway 40, turn right and offramp to National Trails Highway (route 66) up to Goffs Road all the way to Searchlight Junction, then head north on highway 95 to Searchlight, Nevada and have a mapquest ready from there into Las Vegas or word of mouth from the locals in Nevada. I hope you have plenty of gasoline on hand or know of gas stations along the way.

Your aunts are like my mother was in NY. She hated the Long Island Expressway because the speeds were over 45 MPH. SHE GOT OVER IT.... When she and my dad moved to Southern California.

Tell them they either go off-roading in sand, or hit the highway fifteen miles an hour faster than what they are used to. They will cave in. Tell auntie Roo that she will have to be the one to push first! She'll get the idea.

Yes, just have them fly JetBlue or US Airways from Long Beach.

40-minutes up and down and you are there.

The airport is tiny so they won't get lost.

They can park at the remote airport parking near Boeing.

Route 66 didn't go through NV...PCH runs the state of CA.N-S on the coast and doesn't go inland...have you tried actually READING a MAP..how about MAPQUEST.

I agree with the above, the fares for a flight are so cheap, I'm wondering if you would spend more on gas driving it....the way you describe...