Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Driving to Whitney

How long is the drive from San Fran to Whitney Portal? Can someone point me to directions, point to point? I can't find a Whitney Portal address that mapquest understands.

Try Lone Pine. Whitney Portal is due west out of Lone Pine 12-15 miles.

I just got back - yesterday from Whitney. Summitted on Sunday via the MR.
8-9 hours door to door.
do NOT try the 120 - the Tioga pass is still closed.
take the 101 to Gilroy - then the 152 to the I5.
al the way to button willow - cross over to Bkersfiled. then the 58 to Mojave, the 14 north connects to the 395 to Lone Pine.
550 miles total.
Have fun.

During the summer (when Tioga Pass is open) it would take about 8 hours, going east on 120 through the park.

From San Francisco, take 80E, 580E (towards Hayward/Stockton), 205E to Tracy, 5N (very short), 120E (through Yosemite), and 395S. In summer you can also take 108 to Sonora Pass (from 120E)if you want to bypass Yosemite. 108 then connects to 395S and you come down 395S to Lone Pine.

Depending on traffic, it takes anywhere from 6 to 8hrs.

I just drove down there this past weekend from Oakland and made it there in 6 hours. I took 580 East to I5 South to 46 East (Lost Hills) to 99 South (Bakersfield) to 178 East to 395 North until I got to Lone Pine. I left at 3:15am so traffic was not an issue.

If traveling 120 through Yosemite, try scheduling your trip through after 8:00 PM and before 7:00 AM. You will avoid a lot of traffic and probably fewer lo**** loos.

That was L o o k i e Loos. It blanked out the O K I E.

I don't know what the time would be, but wouldn't the shortest route in winter be I-80 east to Reno and then us-395 south to Lone Pine?

Or as an alternate from Sac. use US-50 to Carson City and US-395 South to Lone Pine?

In the winter, I've found that it's quickest to go from SF to Lone Pine via I-5 to Bakersfield, 178 to Lake Isabella, then to 395. 6.5-7 hours. This is probably quicker in the summer than via tioga pass, but the scenery is so much worth the extra 30 minutes. I-5 kills me and driving in the Owens Valley along the Palisades and then the Williamson/Whitney area is a required part of the trip for me.

In Winter, Lone Pine via Reno probably adds an extra 45-75 minutes, but it's infinitely prettier. However, you do run the risk of needing chains either along 395 or 80.

Thing to remember about getting to Tioga Pass via the Bay Area in the summer is that the worst traffic is always going to be 580 from Livermore to Tracy, unless you leave before noon on a given day. the approach to Yosemite can get annoying, but you can usually pass people.

The quickest I've ever made it from Bishop to SF was in 5 hours. That was a Saturday morning at 6 AM. More likely, Bishop will take you 6-7 hours due to traffic. Lone Pine is another hour south from there.

In the winter if you want to take the northern and more scenic route you either have to go by way of So. Tahoe or Reno. The So. Tahoe route takes me about 7.75 hours from San Jose (1/2 hour less from SF). From SF the times would be:

SF to So. Tahoe via 80/50: 3.5 hrs.
So. Tahoe to Mammoth via Kingsbury Grade/395: 2.25 hrs.
Mammoth to Lone Pine via 395: 1.5 hrs.

MapQuest understands (and I have used successfully) the following for Whitney Portal:

"Whitney Portal, CA, US" (without the quotes, but *with* the spaces and commas I have used here)

Try putting that into the "to" part of your MapQuest from wherever you are starting in SF.

CaT