LA to Sacramento Route ?

[tgtaylor]

Instead of advising a particular route, I recommend that you get a good California Atlas and take the back roads down and back. That's what I do instead of traveling the boring I5 or Hwy 99 although the latter is better than the former and offers more opportunities for night photography.

[Vaughn]

I would never turn down the opportunity to travel on Hwy 395. I have been known to take that route from Eureka to San Clemente...several times. I usually have my 3 boys with me and camp in Tioga Canyon and at Alabama Hills. If I don't go that way, I'll make a little side trip to Yosemite Valley. What surprised me was that compared to going down 101 all the way, the side trip to Yosemite only was an extra 75 miles.

Have a safe trip!

[Drew Wiley]

Routes that were a dream just a month or two ago, like Hwy 49 or up through Carrizo,
are likely a dusty oven by now. If you're looking for golden morning and evening light across the fields and so forth, June can be beautiful in the less-traveled margins of the Central Valley, especially morning and evening. But it's soooo hard to get the motivation to get out under a darkcloth when it's 105 or above. But all the high road passes are now open if you're thinking of crossing the Sierra... at least, that's the
direction I'm headed in a couple of days!

[Bill Burk]

Now if you like forests and redwoods, you might make a couple loops up towards Tehachapi and Lake Isabella out of Bakersfield go up the inlet and follow the Kern... Drop down to California Hot Springs for a dip then (drop down to 99 or...) head back up and follow through Johnsondale, Quaking Aspen (hike to The Needles), Camp Nelson and down. Skirt the foothills or drop down to Porterville then head up 99 to Visalia and up for another loop through Three Rivers and the Sequoia National Park.

This could all be done in one day stopping for pictures as often as you like. I personally would rent a cabin in Camp Nelson or Quaking Aspen. (I did that once and stayed for three years)...

Bill

[Ken Neely]

Thanks to all for a ton of great recommendations. I'm going to print them out and add to my locations book. <I used to do commercial work..>

The 395 gets the nod...

I think Carriso Plain may get a visit next spring though..

Cheers,

Ken

[pocketfulladoubles]

You must love heat and smog. Why not take Hwy 1 up the coast instead, then cut
inland over Pacheco Pass?

Took the words from my mouth. Hwy 1 is, yes, the longest way, but it's also the best. Just cruise over to Santa Monica and then Hwy 1 and up the coast. 395 is no slouch though.