Compiled and reviewed by the US Trip Planner planning team at COD Solutions Oy · Last reviewed Apr 21, 2026 · Editorial standards
Drive Time
1h 19m
Distance
61.6 mi
99 km
Drive Score
9/10
Great drive
Same Day?
Yes, doable
Fuel Cost
$14
one way
EV Charging
Unknown
Estimated drive times based on typical traffic patterns. Actual times may vary with weather, construction, and real-time conditions.
San Francisco, CA
Wikimedia Commons
Rio Vista, CA
Fernando Silva
San Francisco to Rio Vista is 61.6 miles and takes about 1 hour 19 minutes via CA 4, CA 160, and the Caldecott Tunnel, with a fuel budget near $14 and enough daylight to finish in a day. This drive takes you from the Pacific Coast region into another part of the same state, California. It's a straightforward trip that's easy to accomplish in a single day, making it a convenient option for a quick excursion. You'll spend a good portion of the drive on highways, so expect a relatively quick pace for most of the journey. This route is ideal if you're looking for a simple drive without complex navigation or extended travel time.
| Road | Distance | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| CA 4 | 15 mi | 17m |
| CA 160 | 13.6 mi | 18m |
| Caldecott Tunnel | 9.8 mi | 11m |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway | 5.8 mi | 8m |
| CA 242 | 3.9 mi | 4m |
| Senator Daniel E Boatwright Highway | 3.8 mi | 4m |
| Grove Shafter Freeway | 3.4 mi | 4m |
| Route 80 | 0.9 mi | 1m |
Step-by-step road directions between San Francisco, CA and Rio Vista, CA.
Start on Market Street
Turn right onto 11th Street
Turn left onto Bryant Street
Take the ramp
Merge onto I 80
Continue on I 80
Take the exit
Merge onto I 580
Take the exit
Keep slight left at fork
Merge onto CA 24
Keep slight left at fork onto CA 24
Continue on CA 24
Merge onto I 680
Keep slight right at fork onto CA 242
Merge onto CA 4
Keep slight right at fork onto CA 160
Turn left onto CA 12
Take the exit
Turn slight right onto CA 84
Turn right onto North Front Street
Turn right
Arrive at destination
Rest stops, refuel points, and overnight suggestions along this route.
Mid-route town
Meal stop
31 mi into the route
Best for: Lunch, fuel, and a longer reset
This sits close to the middle of the route, so it works well for the longest stop of the day.
A short stop after about 14 miles helps settle the day before fatigue starts building.
The midpoint is around 30.8 miles from San Francisco, CA, which is a good place for a longer meal and fuel stop.
These stop ideas are pacing suggestions — the exact town or exit can change with traffic, hotel plans, and fuel range.
5 decision points cluster between mile 1 and 46.6 — GPS handles the exact turns, but know they're coming. Your lane choice matters more than the turn itself.
Take the ramp toward I 80 East: Oakland
Lane positioning matters here
Take the exit toward I 580 East: Downtown Oakland, Hayward-Stockton
Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one
Take the exit toward CA 24 East: Berkeley, Walnut Creek
Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one
Keep slight right at fork onto CA 242 toward CA 242 North: Concord, Pittsburg
Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one
Keep slight right at fork onto CA 160 toward CA 160: Rio Vista, Sacramento
Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one
Regular Gas
$14.16 one way
$28.32 round trip
| Fuel Type | $/gal | One Way | Round Trip |
|---|---|---|---|
| midgrade | $6.02 | $14.59 | $29.18 |
| premium | $6.18 | $14.98 | $29.96 |
| diesel | $5.61 | $13.60 | $27.20 |
No toll roads detected on this route.
Drive Cost (one way)
Fuel
$14
Estimated CO2 emission: 21.6 kg one way. Prices: EIA weekly data, 2026-04-13.
Driving Electric?
About $6 in charging · 0 stops · 68% less CO2
| Vehicle Type | kWh | Stops | DC Fast | Home Charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average EV | 18.5 | 0 | $6.47 | $2.96 |
| Efficient EV | 15.4 | 0 | $5.39 | $2.46 |
| EV Truck/SUV | 24.6 | 0 | $8.62 | $3.94 |
Gas CO2
22 kg
EV CO2
7 kg (68% less)
This trip is well within single-charge range for most EVs. No charging stops needed if you start fully charged.
DC fast charging avg $0.35/kWh. Home charging avg $0.16/kWh. US grid CO2: 0.39 kg/kWh.
Current conditions at both ends of the drive.
Origin
Late night in San Francisco on Tuesday
Local time
5:18 AM
PDT
Current temp
53°F
Mostly Cloudy
Destination
Late night in Rio Vista on Tuesday
Local time
5:18 AM
PDT
Current temp
51°F
Unavailable
50°F
Lafayette, CA
31 mi in
Time zone
Origin and destination are on the same clock, so arrival timing is easier to judge at a glance.
Temperature spread
A meaningful temperature swing is a good cue to rethink layers, water, and how soon you want to arrive.
Road read
The weather snapshot is not static. If you are leaving later, give both cities one more quick forecast check before departure.
Weather data from the National Weather Service. Conditions may change; check closer to your travel date.
This is primarily a highway-focused drive, with 62% of the route utilizing larger roadways. You'll encounter the Caldecott Tunnel early on, which is a significant feature of the initial part of your journey. The longest uninterrupted stretch you'll experience is about 15 miles on CA 4. As you progress, the character of the drive shifts from more urban approaches to more open highway conditions. Expect a consistent pace for the majority of the 1 hour and 19 minute drive time.
This is a straightforward highway drive that stays mostly on CA 4 and CA 160. This route has several spots where lane changes, forks, or exits need your full attention. The trickiest moment comes around 1 miles in.
Demanding - stay alert through the decision-heavy sections
Balances navigation complexity with total wheel time.
This drive requires moderate attention. Across 61.6 miles you will encounter 18 spots where lane choice or exit timing matters. Not difficult for experienced highway drivers, but worth previewing the tricky sections before you go.
Where does it get tricky?
The main spots that need attention: at 1 miles: Lane positioning matters here; at 8 miles: Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one; at 9.6 miles: Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one.
Based on OSRM destination-sign hints, not a full list of every settlement the road passes.
Between San Francisco, CA and Rio Vista, CA, road signs point toward Hayward-Stockton, Walnut Creek, Pittsburg and Sacramento.
Hayward-Stockton
Walnut Creek
Pittsburg
Sacramento
“Frisco” · Founded 1776
The centerpiece of the Bay Area, San Francisco is one of the most visited cities in the world, and with good reason. The cultural center of northern California, San Francisco is renowned for its mixture of scenic beauty and unique culture that makes it one of the most vibrant and desirable cities in the nation, if not the world. Sandwiched between the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean on a small square of land seven miles (11 km) on each side, San Francisco offers a wealth of treasures for the visitor, from the windswept and often foggy bay to the steep hills lined with Victorian homes that overlook the spectacular scenery of the city.
Top landmarks
Rio Vista is in the California Delta in Solano County in the Sacramento Valley region of California. Rio Vista sits on the northwest bank of the Sacramento River. It's a quiet town which is beginning to suffer from overdevelopment of tract houses built to house the overflowing populations of Sacramento and the Bay Area. Ships headed from the ocean to Sacramento routinely pass by the waterfront. Rio Vista briefly made international headlines during the 1980s when a wayward Humback Whale took it upon itself to swim upstream before becoming a spectacle. The Whale spent about a week near Rio Vista before being led back to the ocean 100 miles away. The area around Rio Vista in the Sacramento Delta has often been used in films as a stand-in for the Mississippi delta when it's too expensive for a Hollywood production to film in Louisiana.
City content from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0).
Weekend Trip
Doable as a same-day drive at 1h 19m. Total distance: 61.6 miles.
Family Friendly
Moderate complexity with 0 natural rest stops along the way.
Solo Traveler
1h 19m drive, comfortable solo distance.
EV Driver
0 DC fast chargers along the route. Coverage: unknown.
First-Time Driver
Mostly highway driving (62%). Some complex stretches to watch for.
Compiled by the US Trip Planner planning team at COD Solutions Oy from open government datasets — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for geometry, EIA for fuel prices, and NPS for national parks. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.
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