Yosemite to LAX advice please

quinnc19

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 18, 2008
Hello. In mid June, I will be departing Yosemite to fly out of LAX at 9 AM (going to Hawaii) on Wednesday morning. When would you recommend I leave Yosemite to maximize time there and avoid traffic issues? I am planning to stay near the airport; I found a nice B & B in Playa del Rey but I would have to keep my rental car until the morning (no extra cost). I'm not sure I'll be there long enough to warrant the extra stress associated with returning the car in the morning - what do you all think? Thank you very much!
 
You're going to really enjoy Yosemite. It's about a 7-hour drive from the valley to LAX (I live 15 minutes south of LAX off the 405 freeway and go to Yosemite a lot, so this is based off of my experience).

It usually takes us from 6.5-7 hours, depending on traffic to get from our home to Yosemite, and about 7 hours to get home. You'll have pretty good traffic up to the point where you hit Magic Mountain, and unless you're driving extremely early morning or at night, there is a good chance you'll hit traffic coming into Los Angeles. So, if you don't mind getting in a little late to Los Angeles, I recommend leaving no later than 2:30-3:30 from Yosemite. That will get you in around 9pm/10pm at night.

Los Angeles -> Bakersfield = 2 hours
Los Angeles -> Visalia = 3 hours
Los Angeles -> Fresno = 4 hours
Fresno -> Oakhurst ~ 1 hour (little less) - nice Vons there to stock up (there is also a nice grocery store in Yosemite Valley in case you need to add more)
Oakhurst -> Yosemite Valley ~ 1.5 hours
 

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