The Desert Sun really, really, really like to talk about the so-called back way from Palm Springs to Las Vegas. That route, which some wrongly call a shortcut, is trash.
For years, I heard people tell me tales of how they were able to get to Las Vegas in record time on the back way which takes you through the High Desert, Amboy, and a bunch of sadness and despair until you hit the 15 Freeway at Stateline, Nevada. I have heard all kinds of crazy times in conversations that always go like this:
Yes, the back way is faster if you leave during rush hour on a Friday night or come back from Vegas on a Sunday afternoon when the 15 is backed up for days with hungover and broke drivers – but, if you are wise, you will travel to and from Las Vegas during those non-peak times when taking the 10 to the 215 to the 15 is just as fast or not faster than the so-called “shortcut.” You could also opt to travel up through Yucca Valley then over the Barstow to meet up with the 15 there, via Old Woman Springs Road. Both end up being about the same time.
The back way from Palm Springs to Las Vegas has nowhere to eat, nowhere to get gas, and nothing to look at besides an abandoned diner that’s used in music videos for terrible soft rock bands.
Oh yeah, the roads also suck, people drive like assholes through there, and don’t even get me started about how scary being on the highway gets when it rains (things don’t drain well in the open desert).
If you drive the back way from Palm Springs to Las Vegas, you will also have to keep your fingers crossed you will not have a problem with your car because, if you do, you will be stuck there for hours, days, weeks, or maybe ever.
But other than that, the back way from Palm Springs to Las Vegas is a great way to get to Sin City.
Related: If you are going to Las Vegas, be sure to check out this show and visit our favorite spot to grab some tasty and cheap food and beer.
