Best driving route Sacramento to Palm Springs?

Answer 1

The best route is avoiding LA as much as possible. You will find that highway 5 is better than 99 to go south, since the freeway is wider, more shoulder, higher speed limits and better maintained roads. However on highway 5 the grapevine area can offer weather concerns in winter. I like to take advantage of highway 5 south until highway 138, and cut over to 99 before the grapevine. If driving through LA after 9pm, take highway 5 all the way to the 210, to the 10 to palm springs. If driving through LA any time between 5am and 9pm you WILL hit traffic, the kind that takes 45minutes to get 5 miles, so skip LA and go through lancaster down into yucca valley.