Much the busiest
driving route
into Las Vegas is the
I-15
freeway from southern California. Traffic congestion, especially close to the state line, can mean that the 269-mile drive from LA takes as long as eight hours. Las Vegas Boulevard South, which becomes the Strip, begins to parallel I-15 well before it reaches the city, but the quickest way to reach your final destination will almost certainly be to stay on the interstate as long as possible. I-15 also connects Las Vegas with Salt Lake City, 421 miles northeast.
From the major cities of Arizona, direct access is provided by
US-93
, which leaves I-40 at Kingman, a hundred miles southeast. It joins
US-95
, running north from Needles, California, outside Boulder City; together, the two become
I-515
, which crosses I-15 immediately northwest of downtown Las Vegas.
Four hundred miles northwest of Las Vegas, US-95 meets I-80 thirty miles east of Reno. Using that interstate is the fastest way to get between Las Vegas and San Francisco, but threading cross-country via Yosemite and Death Valley national parks is a much more scenic option
