Salt Lake to Los Angeles roadgeekery

[CL]

I'm driving down to LA in a few days (straight down I-15) and was wondering if there's anything I should keep an eye out for in terms of roadgeek novelty, even if it includes pulling off the freeway for a bit. I'm already planning on driving the Southern Parkway in St. George and the new Hoover Dam bridge, but I'd definitely welcome some more suggestions. What about anything in terms of general travel advice for that stretch of road (i.e. if there's a huge gap in services available along the road, etc)?

[agentsteel53]

I'd tank up at the Nevada state line (exit 1), as gas gets pretty scarce between there and Barstow.  At the very least, top off - gas will be 30-60 cents cheaper than in CA.

in California, check out old 91/466 in Baker, maybe stop along some 66 spots from Barstow onwards.  How much time do you have?

[Quillz]

You can visit the Calico Ghost Town or drive along the National Trails Highway. Once in Barstow, the N.T.H. will more or less parallel I-15 southbound towards Victorville.

Also in Baker, visit the "World's Largest Thermometer."

[CL]

I'd tank up at the Nevada state line (exit 1), as gas gets pretty scarce between there and Barstow.  At the very least, top off - gas will be 30-60 cents cheaper than in CA.

in California, check out old 91/466 in Baker, maybe stop along some 66 spots from Barstow onwards.  How much time do you have?

Thanks for reminding me of California's exorbitant gas prices! I'm not that in a rush so I'll have plenty of time. I'll definitely check old US-91/466 while in Baker and probably take old 66 from Barstow to Victorville, at the very least.

You can visit the Calico Ghost Town or drive along the National Trails Highway. Once in Barstow, the N.T.H. will more or less parallel I-15 southbound towards Victorville.

Also in Baker, visit the "World's Largest Thermometer."

Calico looks doable, I'll be sure to stop by that. And since the NTH works out with my Barstow-to-Victorville plan I'll check that out too.

[TheStranger]

There's also the old US 91 routing where I-15 goes straight through the Virgin River Gorge...

[agentsteel53]

There's also the old US 91 routing where I-15 goes straight through the Virgin River Gorge...

this is one of the rare instances of a replacement freeway being more scenic than the old two-laner it supplanted.

[NE2]

I-68 across Sideling Hill probably counts for that too.

[CL]

I was actually wondering about old US-91. I take it runs along Great Basin-type terrain, so in that case I'd probably not go on it. Actually, it was washed out today by the Virgin River so I guess that's not even an option anymore (P.S. the news media refers to this road as "Old Highway 91," which is great - US-91 still lingers in the minds of people in southern Utah).