Driving from Las Vegas to Anaheim on a Sunday

[Dr. G]

Hi All. Hoping someone can help out. We're trying to make travel plans for May and will be driving from Salt Lake City to Anaheim, likely on a Sunday afternoon/evening. I remember reading long ago that it can be a problem driving between Las Vegas and LA/Anaheim on a Sunday afternoon as the weekend vacationers to Vegas return home. Is that still the case? How bad is bad? To make things worse, we'd likely be traveling on Mother's Day. However, we probably won't leave SLC until around 10 or 11am CA time, so I'd guess we'd hit Vegas around 4 or 5 at the soonest, and then would still have the 4-5 hours from Vegas to Anaheim.

If that stretch is bad, what time of day does it get bad? Is it afternoon or is it later in the evening, or both? Would we be smarter to just drive to Barstow or Victorville on Sunday, spend the night there and then drive the rest of the way early Monday morning to try to be to Disneyland by 10am, or will that cause a problem with rush-hour traffic on Monday? We'd love to be in Anaheim Sunday night so Monday morning is more chill, but we also don't want to get in super late.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[uccats97]

We drove from Vegas to Anaheim on a Sunday afternoon in December 3 years ago. It's only about a 4 hour drive. There was no traffic. I'm not sure how different it is in May or Mother's Day.

 

[Cal-Pie]

Hi from Cedar City. Unfortunately I can't give you good news about that drive, it can be really bad. I believe that the holiday will make it even worse. Traffic tends to start building by 10 or 11am, and only gets worse from there, going well into the night. That stretch of highway only has 2 lanes in each direction, and the speed limit is much slower (65mph I think?) than our 80mph in Utah. If it's possible to make an overnight stop, I probably would.

It might be helpful to watch the traffic on a couple real time apps over the next couple Sundays and see just how much it will slow you down. I've had family and friends tell me it added 2 or more hours to their trips. I don't know what day you are driving back, but if it's a Friday, you could run into the same back up. We have driven back on Friday a couple of times, and we've found that as long as we were out of Anaheim by 10am we were fine.

 

[SMD]

It's one of those situations where a single accident ahead of you can turn a 4 1/2 hour drive into an 8 hour drive. And you can't predict it. Vegas is very popular on Mother's Day. I imagine many people will be driving back on Sunday afternoon.

 

[Nevada Jen]

I would avoid that drive at all costs on a Sunday. That said, if there was ever a Sunday that traffic will be light from Vegas to CA it is Mothers day. If it were me, I would stop in Vegas on Sunday night and then drive to Anaheim in the morning from there. I suspect that will give you the shortest road time. But goodness, don't stop in Victorville to avoid traffic. If you make it that far, you are past the Vegas traffic, no reason to wake up in the morning and have to deal with CA rush hour traffic!
Actually, you really might want to consider making the drive on Saturday if possible. That is going to be your best bet.

 

[Cal-Pie]

Another thing to consider is the construction in the Virgin River gorge, it can be a hot mess. I really think you're better off stopping overnight, or choosing another travel day.

 

[lovebug33]

I'm a Vegas native and have been to California hundreds of times. You never want to start out for Cali on a Sunday in the afternoon. It may be a breeze and you may get there in 4 or 5 hours. Or it will be horrific and it will take you 8 or 9. We always leave between 6 and 7 to avoid the traffic. Same thing with coming home. Leave early early in the morning or you can get stuck on El Cajon.

 

[calilou]

I agree about trying to get to Vegas Saturday night, finding a cheap place to stay (won't be hard) and leaving for Anaheim Saturday morning. If you're on the road by 10am you should be fine.

 

[jennilouwho]

We left St. George on the Sunday after Thanksgiving a couple of years ago at 8 a.m. and it took us 9 hours to get to Anaheim The area through Baker/Barstow was a killer. Hours and hours just sitting there. Granted, that is a busier holiday than Mother's Day.

 

[Nevada Jen]

Also, if you end up adding 4 hours of traffic right after Primm, there are literally no bathrooms (or gas stations). Like plan on peeing in a big gulp cup while driving, no bathrooms. But you could get lucky. As a Vegas native who is often going the other way on Sunday, I can only remember one time in 20 years where there was not at least a 2 hour delay going towards CA on a Sunday.

 

[ashley0139]

The problem with that drive is that there is only one road, only one choice. So if something happens (an accident or back up for some other reason), you're stuck. Tons of people from LA go to Vegas for the weekend. I wouldn't try to make that drive on a Sunday afternoon. You could be absolutely fine, or it could be a nightmare. You just never know.

 

[disneyfirsttimer18]

My husband is a truck driver and always dreaded driving through Vegas and into CA on any given Sunday.

The drive from SLC to Vegas is closer to 6 hours with no stops. Done that drive numerous times.

ETA: If I had to leave Sunday, I would make sure to leave SLC by 6am, arriving in Vegas around noon, then beating the biggest rush out of Vegas.

 

[uccats97]

Also, if you end up adding 4 hours of traffic right after Primm, there are literally no bathrooms (or gas stations). Like plan on peeing in a big gulp cup while driving, no bathrooms. But you could get lucky. As a Vegas native who is often going the other way on Sunday, I can only remember one time in 20 years where there was not at least a 2 hour delay going towards CA on a Sunday.

Lol! It must have been the Sunday in December when I drove from Vegas to Anaheim without traffic. I had no idea we were so lucky!

 

[sheetz]

Also, if you end up adding 4 hours of traffic right after Primm, there are literally no bathrooms (or gas stations). Like plan on peeing in a big gulp cup while driving, no bathrooms.

This is not an exaggeration. Remember this is in the middle of the desert and the highway is gridlocked with the offramps miles apart.

 

[LizzyS]

I'm a Vegas native and have been to California hundreds of times. You never want to start out for Cali on a Sunday in the afternoon. It may be a breeze and you may get there in 4 or 5 hours. Or it will be horrific and it will take you 8 or 9. We always leave between 6 and 7 to avoid the traffic. Same thing with coming home. Leave early early in the morning or you can get stuck on El Cajon.

She is absolutely right, I have lived here in the Las Vegas area for over 8 years now and it's a well known fact that you don't travel to California on a Sunday as the weekend travelers are all heading back. You need to leave really early or really late out of the Las Vegas area if you're going to attempt it at all.

 

[Dr. G]

Thank you so much everyone for your input, suggestions, and advice. We will arrange our schedule to not drive that stretch on Sunday. THANKS!

 

[tarheelalum]

The drive will be horrible on a Sunday/ Mothers day weekend. Just god awful.

 

[cdnjason]

I live in Vegas and will tell you the worst time to drive anywhere in Southern California from Vegas is on a Sunday afternoon.

 

[WDWLODGE]

This thread has me thinking about our drive. We will be headed in the other direction Anaheim/Hollywood to Vegas on a Saturday(Sept. 17th). Should I anticipate heavy traffic in that direction?

 

[Cal-Pie]

This thread has me thinking about our drive. We will be headed in the other direction Anaheim/Hollywood to Vegas on a Saturday(Sept. 17th). Should I anticipate heavy traffic in that direction?

The worst of the traffic headed to Vegas happens on Friday, you should be fine on Saturday.