San Diego Travel Forum

I was born in SD and lived there for several years. Once in a while I go back. Sometimes I fly and sometimes I drive. But each time I drive I get stuck in traffic in Los Angeles.

Friends of mine tell me that there's a good route around LA, east of the mountains. Does anyone have suggestions for this?

You still end up driving through the Inland, so you may not totally escape traffic. It should be better than driving on I-5 the whole way though.
From I-5 (or 101, for that): CA 58 East to US 395 South to I-15 South. From there you can take either I-215 or I-15. It depends on traffic and construction, but I'd think I-15 would be better. You'll hit some traffic lights on US 395 around Hesperia, but it should be okay.
Another alternative is to drive the Angeles Crest (CA 2) from Palmdale, but that would actually take longer and should only be done if you're looking for a scenic route. Nothing scenic about Highway 58.
hth

Thanks, I'll hit my map.

It is the time that will make the difference, not the route. I do northern LA to SD and back at least once a week. Have been for years. Stick to I5.

Assuming that you are doing it daytime on a weekday: Your best bet is to leave LA about 9:30-10:00am. Before that you will hit remnants of rush hour traffic. After that the congestion slowly increases thru lunch hour, lightens a bit around 1-1:30, then gets steadily worse through 5:30. It does not get reliably good until after 8:00pm.
( If you start much later than 10:00am, take 5 south, then 605 south to 91 east back to 5. That skips some of the traffic that is generated by trucks coming out southern LA industrial areas around 10am. )

If you are trying to do it from SF to SD in one day, enter LA county after 7:30pm, go through downtown about 8:00pm. You'll be in SD by 10:00pm.

Sorry, but there is no magic back road that will avoid all the traffic.