Driving LA to Vegas Middle of the Night- Safe?

[WDW Princess 71]

I need some advice about the road to Vegas from Santa Monica. My sister and I are planning to leave sometime in the middle of the night to get to Vegas early in the morning- you see, we are taking a 3 week round trip cross country road trip, so we only have limited time in each place- only 1 day in Vegas, and we want to make the most of it. I am totally used to us leaving at like 3:00 AM from NJ when we do our drives to FL, and feel perfectly safe stopping at the rest stops along the way. However, I am not familiar with the drive on I-15 through the CA desert, and I've heard some areas are kind of sketchy. Can those of you who live there and are familiar with the drive please give me some advice about whether you think it is safe for us to drive in the dark, leaving around 3 or 4 AM to hit the road through this area? Are the rest stops safe or are the desolate in bad areas?

 

[usnuzuloose]

Yes you are safe in fact I went afew years ago and left at 4 in the morning. My husband and I will ge going in august. Hope you have a great time. Jo

 

[jlima]

There are two rest stops on the 15 between Barstow and Stateline and honestly, they may be closed in the middle of the night. I would plan on stopping at the Lenwood exit in Barstow, or in the town of Baker, or at one of the three Stateline properties.

The Lenwood exit is about and hour and a half from Orange County; and there are truck stops and several fast food options plus a few restaurants. Baker is a tiny town in the middle of the desert, but there are a few travel plazas and many restaurants and gas stations. Stateline has three casinos with 3 gas stations and several outlying restaurants, and also a convenience store that is actually in California and does a huge lottery ticket business.

Try and make the drive with out stopping - it may take less than 4 hours.

 

[skiingfast]

I wouldn't worry about anything except andodd deer or jackrabbit on the road. There will be a lot of truck traffic until Barstow and some the rest of the way.

Like PP said there is really only a few places to stop so keep that in mind. Also If you think of it stop at a dark offramp (that has an onramp) and take a look at the stars while you are in the high desert.

 

[Tanzanite]

Ithink its fine done this drive many times not at night but lots of people do i know when need to make most of their time.Its dark but well travelled.Have a great trip love driving cross country so much to see.

 

[gabrieltorres]

i have done the drive several times on both directions, never had an issue. Unless it's sunday night back from Vegas to LA, at that time of the night traffic is perfect

 

[rodfromhawaii]

It is very safe driving at night. Driving times are a lot less, but that may be because my wife could stop and shop at Barstow

 

[MelanieC]

I grew up driving that road and did it many times at night once I got married. I wouldn't hestitate driving it at night at all. I've always felt very safe.

 

[woody73]

There will not be much traffic and it's a safe drive.

Woody