Origin
Santa Ana, CA
Afternoon in Santa Ana on Saturday
Local time
1:58 PM
PDT
Current temp
72°F
Unavailable
Live forecast
Trip from Santa Ana, CA to El Dorado Hills, CA
Compiled and reviewed by the US Trip Planner planning team at COD Solutions Oy · Last reviewed Apr 18, 2026 · Editorial standards
Drive Time
8h 10m
Distance
434.3 mi
699 km
Drive Score
7/10
Good drive
Same Day?
2-day trip
Fuel Cost
$100
one way
EV Charging
Unknown
Best Time to Leave
4 AM
8h 2m
★
6 AM
8h 10m
8 AM
8h 26m
10 AM
8h 16m
12 PM
8h 14m
3 PM
8h 17m
5 PM
8h 26m
8 PM
8h 5m
Estimated drive times based on typical traffic patterns. Actual times may vary with weather, construction, and real-time conditions.
Santa Ana, CA
Wikimedia Commons
El Dorado Hills, CA
Stephen Leonardi
Trip Overview
The drive from Santa Ana, CA to El Dorado Hills, CA covers 434.3 miles and takes about 8h 10m behind the wheel. It usually feels better as a 2-day road trip than as one long push.
The route leans on North Broadway, West Santa Clara Avenue, I 5 North for much of the mileage, and the overall profile is mostly surface roads. At current regular gas prices, budget about $99.82 one way before food or hotel costs.
Trip Pace
Best split across 2 days
Treat the return leg as its own travel day rather than an afterthought.
Break Rhythm
2 planned breaks
Plan on a short reset every 3 to 4 hours to stay fresh behind the wheel.
Midpoint
217.2 miles from Santa Ana, CA
A natural place for your longest stop of the day , about 4h 5m into the drive .
Main Roads
| Road | Distance | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| North Broadway | — | — |
| West Santa Clara Avenue | — | — |
| I 5 North | — | — |
| Santa Ana Freeway | — | — |
| Golden State Freeway | — | — |
| I 5 | — | — |
| Westside Freeway | — | — |
| CA 4 East | — | — |
Some road-level metrics are being recalculated.
Longest stretch:
North Broadway
— detailed segment metrics are refreshing.
Turn-by-Turn Driving Directions
Step-by-step road directions between Santa Ana, CA and El Dorado Hills, CA.
1
Start on West 1st Street
0.1 mi
·
16 sec
·
West 1st Street
2
Turn right onto North Broadway
1.5 mi
·
2 min
·
North Broadway
3
Turn right onto West Santa Clara Avenue
0.1 mi
·
14 sec
·
West Santa Clara Avenue
4
Continue on I 5 North: Los Angeles
0.3 mi
·
27 sec
·
I 5 North: Los Angeles
5
Merge slight left onto Santa Ana Freeway
8.9 mi
·
10 min
·
Santa Ana Freeway
6
Keep slight right to continue on Santa Ana Freeway
18 mi
·
20 min
·
Santa Ana Freeway
7
Keep slight right to continue on Golden State Freeway
25 mi
·
29 min
·
Golden State Freeway
8
Keep slight left to continue on Golden State Freeway
2.2 mi
·
2 min
·
Golden State Freeway
9
Keep slight right to continue on I 5 Truck North, CA 14 Truck
1.5 mi
·
1 min
·
I 5 Truck North, CA 14 Truck
10
Keep slight left
36 mi
·
41 min
11
Keep slight left to continue on Golden State Freeway
22 mi
·
25 min
·
Golden State Freeway
12
Keep slight right to continue on Westside Freeway
226 mi
·
4 hr 1 min
·
Westside Freeway
13
Keep slight right to continue on Westside Freeway
26 mi
·
27 min
·
Westside Freeway
14
Take the exit slight right toward CA 4 East: Downtown Stockton
0.2 mi
·
27 sec
·
CA 4 East: Downtown Stockton
15
Keep slight right
0.4 mi
·
57 sec
16
Keep slight left
0.2 mi
·
31 sec
17
Merge slight left onto Crosstown Freeway
2.5 mi
·
2 min
·
Crosstown Freeway
18
Take the exit slight left toward CA 99 North
0.6 mi
·
1 min
·
CA 99 North
19
Merge slight left
29 mi
·
33 min
20
Take the exit slight right toward Grant Line Road
0.3 mi
·
45 sec
·
Grant Line Road
21
Turn right onto Grant Line Road
2.2 mi
·
3 min
·
Grant Line Road
22
Turn left onto Bradshaw Road
2.6 mi
·
3 min
·
Bradshaw Road
23
Enter the roundabout and take exit 2 toward Bradshaw Road
92 ft
·
2 sec
·
Bradshaw Road
24
Exit the roundabout onto Bradshaw Road
8.7 mi
·
12 min
·
Bradshaw Road
25
Take the ramp straight toward US 50 East: South Lake Tahoe
0.4 mi
·
45 sec
·
US 50 East: South Lake Tahoe
26
Merge slight left onto El Dorado Freeway
16 mi
·
17 min
·
El Dorado Freeway
27
Take the exit slight right toward El Dorado Hills Boulevard
0.4 mi
·
47 sec
·
El Dorado Hills Boulevard
28
Continue on El Dorado Hills Boulevard
2.5 mi
·
4 min
·
El Dorado Hills Boulevard
29
Turn left onto Governor Drive
0.2 mi
·
28 sec
·
Governor Drive
30
Turn right onto Stanford Lane
0.1 mi
·
27 sec
·
Stanford Lane
31
Arrive at your destination
Trip Plan
Morning Departure
Start early — leave by 6-7 AM to arrive at a reasonable hour.
Evening Departure
This is a long drive — plan for a morning departure or consider splitting it into two days.
This drive is better paced as a 2-day trip.
Plan roughly 2 meaningful breaks for fuel, food, and rest.
The halfway point lands around 217.2 miles from Santa Ana, CA, or about 4h 5m into the drive.
Consider an overnight stop or starting very early.
Departure
Before you leave
Start with fuel, water, and navigation already sorted so the first hour feels easy.
First stop
Around 96 miles or 1h 48m in
Use this first pause for coffee, a restroom break, and a quick traffic check ahead.
Halfway reset
Around 217.2 miles or 4h 5m in
This is the best place for your longest stop, a real meal, and a full fuel check.
Overnight split
Day 1 wrap after about 217.2 miles or 4h 5m
Stop before fatigue turns the last few hours into a grind. You want day two to start fresh, not just resumed.
Final approach
Final hour starts around 7h 2m
Traffic, exits, and arrival timing usually matter more near El Dorado Hills, CA than in the middle of the route.
Before You Leave
+
Open the route before leaving Santa Ana, CA so your first major turns are already loaded.
+
Leave with enough water and a charging cable within reach, not packed away.
+
Check your fuel range against the first long segment, especially if you are starting outside city service areas.
+
Pick one backup stop option before the midpoint in case traffic changes your pacing.
+
Treat this as a 2-day road trip and book the overnight stop before the busiest arrival window.
Day 1
Settle into the route from Santa Ana, CA
Aim for roughly 217 miles and 4.1 hours of wheel time on this day.
Day 2
Finish the approach into El Dorado Hills, CA
Aim for roughly 217 miles and 4.1 hours of wheel time on this day.
Your first comfortable stop window is around 96 miles from Santa Ana, CA.
This route usually feels better as a 2-day drive than as one long push.
Plan about 2 real breaks rather than only quick fuel stops.
Where to Stop
Rest stops, refuel points, and overnight suggestions along this route.
Mid-route town
Overnight candidate
217 mi into the route
Best for: Hotel check-in, dinner, and a fresh start
This lines up well with a realistic day-end stop if you are breaking the drive into stages.
Find hotels in Bakersfield, CAOvernight Options
Night 1
217 mi · about 4.1h in
A practical overnight split lands near Bakersfield, CA after about 217 miles or 4.1 hours of driving.
Find hotelsPacing Suggestions
Fuel and coffee
A short stop after about 96 miles helps settle the day before fatigue starts building.
Meal break
The midpoint is around 217.2 miles from Santa Ana, CA, which is a good place for a longer meal and fuel stop.
Overnight split
Hotel stopFor a steadier pace, wrap day one after about 217 miles or 4.1 hours on the road.
These stop ideas are pacing suggestions — the exact town or exit can change with traffic, hotel plans, and fuel range.
Fuel & Cost
Regular Gas
$99.82 one way
$199.64 round trip
$5.84/gal
25.4 MPG avg
152 kg CO2
| Fuel Type | $/gal | One Way | Round Trip |
|---|---|---|---|
| midgrade | $6.02 | $102.86 | $205.73 |
| premium | $6.18 | $105.62 | $211.23 |
| diesel | $5.61 | $95.89 | $191.78 |
No toll roads detected on this route.
Estimated Trip Cost (one way, 1 person)
Fuel
$100
Hotel (1n)
$80–$140
Meals
$50–$100
Total
$230–$340
Rough estimate based on US averages. Hotel $80–$140/night, meals $25–$50/day.
Estimated CO2 emission: 152 kg one way. Prices: EIA weekly data, 2026-04-13.
Driving Electric?
About $46 in charging · 1 stop · 66% less CO2
| Vehicle Type | kWh | Stops | DC Fast | Home Charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average EV | 130.3 | 1 | $45.60 | $20.85 |
| Efficient EV | 108.6 | 1 | $38.00 | $17.37 |
| EV Truck/SUV | 173.7 | 2 | $60.80 | $27.80 |
Gas CO2
152 kg
EV CO2
51 kg (66% less)
Plan for 1 charging stop. A 30-minute DC fast charge mid-route should be enough to complete the trip comfortably.
DC fast charging avg $0.35/kWh. Home charging avg $0.16/kWh. US grid CO2: 0.39 kg/kWh.
Travel Intel
Current conditions at both ends of the drive.
Destination
El Dorado Hills, CA
Afternoon in El Dorado Hills on Saturday
Local time
1:58 PM
PDT
Current temp
66°F
Unavailable
Live forecast
Seasonal Notes
Summer travel usually means heavier construction, hotter rest stops, and busier weekend traffic around major cities.
Winter travel shortens daylight, so a route that looks manageable on paper can feel much longer after dark.
Holiday weekends tend to make both departure and arrival windows slower than the raw route time suggests.
For long drives, weather on day two can matter just as much as conditions at departure, so check the whole travel window rather than only the first day.
Time zone
Same local time
Origin and destination are on the same clock, so arrival timing is easier to judge at a glance.
Temperature spread
6 degrees cooler at arrival
A meaningful temperature swing is a good cue to rethink layers, water, and how soon you want to arrive.
Road read
8h 10m on the road
This is long enough that the arrival forecast matters almost as much as departure conditions. Recheck both ends before you roll.
Weather data from the National Weather Service. Conditions may change; check closer to your travel date.
What kind of drive is this?
434.3 mi in 8h 10m across surface roads — expect steady turns and local traffic rather than long highway runs.
Only 0% highway — the rest is turn-by-turn surface driving.
31 navigation steps total — most of the decisions cluster near the start and finish.
Main road: North Broadway.
How Hard Is This Drive?
4/10
Expect a hands-on drive with frequent turns and local roads rather than long highway stretches. There are only a few real navigation decisions along the way.
Driving Effort
4/10
Easy - simple navigation with a manageable amount of wheel time
Balances navigation complexity with total wheel time.
The route itself is not hard, but at 8h 10m, endurance matters. Plan breaks every 2-3 hours. The 0 decision points are all manageable with basic attention.
Where does it get tricky?
This route does not have any notably tricky sections. Most of the drive from Santa Ana, CA to El Dorado Hills, CA is straightforward, with well-signed roads and simple exits.
About the Cities
Starting in Santa Ana, CA
Full guide →Santa Ana is a city in Orange County, Southern California and is the county seat of that county.
City content from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0).
Who Is This Route For?
Family Friendly
Moderate complexity with 2 natural rest stops along the way.
Solo Traveler
8h 10m drive, plan rest stops for pacing.
Scenic Drive
Mostly surface roads route profile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes — a 2-day pace is more comfortable than one long haul. A sensible stopping point is after roughly 217 miles on day one.
We did not find dedicated rest areas on this route. For a drive this long, plan bathroom and stretch breaks around gas stations, fast-food stops, or small-town downtowns — check the Nearby Places section for options.
It helps. This is a long drive, so arriving tired and in the dark compounds. If the last hour of the trip is on surface roads or mountain grades, aim to arrive at El Dorado Hills, CA before sunset when you can. Check the Trip Plan for departure windows that land you in daylight.
Only with planning. This is a long drive for kids — consider splitting it into two days rather than pushing through. Plan at least 2 meaningful breaks. Dedicated rest areas are limited, so plan gas or food stops as your bathroom breaks.
This route does not have any notably tricky sections. Most of the drive from Santa Ana, CA to El Dorado Hills, CA is straightforward, with well-signed roads and simple exits.
Not recommended in a single day. At 8.2 hours each way, a round trip means 16.3 hours of driving — that is an unsafe level of fatigue for most drivers. Plan at least one night at El Dorado Hills, CA before the return drive.
How this page is built
Compiled by the US Trip Planner planning team at COD Solutions Oy from open government datasets — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for geometry, and EIA for fuel prices. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.
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