Alabama Hills to Los Angeles

This is part 2 of Day 3 of the 6-days Las Vegas- Los Angeles- San Diego road trip via Death Valley National Park and Palm Springs. An answer to several queries for a nature + cities sightseeing tour of Las Vegas-Los Angeles-San Diego for 6 days. I have not personally done this road trip, I am just using my experience of these 3 cities on what natural wonders can be more realistically explored with these 3 cities in 6 days.

A little bit of summary:
Day 1- getting to Las Vegas ( which I presume, for most, would be flying to Las Vegas)

 

Day 2- Las Vegas to Death Valley National Park

Day 3- Death Valley National Park to Los Angeles
            first half of the day: Death Valley to Alabama Hills

            2nd half of the day ( this post): Alabama Hills to Los Angeles

From Alabama Hills, you will continue driving southwest on Hwy 395, and then, Hwy 14 to Los Angeles. In about 1.5 hour, you will pass by another out of this world desert landscape that am sure the formations would also catch your attention. Kind of different from Death Valley National Park and Alabama Hills. This place is the Red Rock Canyon State Park in Hwy 14.

Red Rock Canyon State Park

Red Rock Canyon State Park features scenic desert cliffs, buttes and spectacular rock formations. The park is located where the southernmost tip of the Sierra Nevada converge with the El Paso Range.When you reach this park, you are only about 2 hours away from Los Angeles. You can take a quick stop here to explore some desert formations amongst Joshua Trees if you have some time.

From Red Rock Canyon, you continue driving West on Hwy 14, and most probably, you will hit Los Angeles close to sunset. Where is the best place for sunset in Los Angeles? With the amount of time you have, I must say probably spend sunset by the ocean, and after sunset, either do stargazing at Griffith Observatory, or explore night lights at LA, or you can actually combine both if you still have the energy after a long day drive from Death Valley National Park. Assuming you have the energy, here is the more realistic activities you could do in Los Angeles with the very little time you got, from sunset to evening.

1) SUNSET AT SANTA MONICA ( I would love to say, sunset at Malibu, either at Point Mogu or Point Dume State Park, but I don't think there is enough time to get there before sunset ).

Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, CA

2) Explore downtown LA.

Grand Park, Los Angeles, CA

Little Tokyo, Hollywood Blvd and La Brea Tar Pit

3) Stargazing at Griffith Observatory.

from Griffith Observatory

I do not mean Hollywood stars for stargazing of course. I apologize I do not have the star pictures from Griffith, since the last time we were there, I did not have a tripod, there was just no way I could photograph the night sky without a tripod. 

Griffith Observatory is an icon of Los Angeles, a national leader in public astronomy, and one of southern California's most popular attractions. Free public telescopes are available each evening the Observatory is open and skies are clear.

**Note:
I purposely did not mention Universal Studious, Disneyland, and other theme Parks because of:
1. time constraint
2. those who requested to give them some itinerary ideas for a Las Vegas-Los Angeles-San Diego road trip via Death Valley National Park and Palm Springs asked for more of "nature exploring, with the cities as light sightseeing stop-over!" Besides, Universal Studios, Disneyland, and other theme parks can also be experienced in various parts of the world, but there is only one Death Valley National Park and Alabama Hills, nature's wonders that showcase God's artistry no man can equal.

~ coming in the next posts, the last 3 days of this proposed road trip~
Day 4- Los Angeles to San Diego 
Day 5 - San Diego to Palm Springs
Day 6 -Palm Springs back to Las Vegas

♥♥