Best Time to Drive from Rancho Santa Margarita to Garden Grove
Right now (5:49 pm PDT): about 38 minutes via SR-241 North and I-5 North, usually 33 at this time.
Only 60% of this drive is measured by working traffic sensors right now. The rest is estimated from nearby sensors, typical speeds and street traffic, so times can be off. Why so few sensors work.
Typical drive time by departure time
| Leave | 5am | 6am | 7am | 8am | 9am | 10am | 11am | 12pm | 1pm | 2pm | 3pm | 4pm | 5pm | 6pm | 7pm | 8pm | 9pm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 25 | 26 | 26 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 31 | 29 | 26 | 25 |
| Tue | 25 | 26 | 27 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 33 | 30 | 26 | 25 |
| Wed | 25 | 26 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 31 | 33 | 35 | 33 | 30 | 27 | 25 |
| Thu | 25 | 26 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 34 | 32 | 30 | 27 | 25 |
| Fri | 25 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 32 | 32 | 34 | 31 | 29 | 27 | 25 |
| Sat | 25 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 25 |
| Sun | 25 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 27 | 25 |
About this drive
On weekdays the 28-mile drive from Rancho Santa Margarita to Garden Grove (via SR-241 North and I-5 North) usually takes as little as 25 minutes and up to 35 minutes, when leaving around 5:30 pm on Wednesdays. The fastest times to leave are before 7:30 am or after 8 pm. Midday (11 am to 2 pm) it takes about 29 minutes. On weekends it is slowest around 6:30 pm on Sundays (30 minutes).
About 27 miles of it is freeway, where times follow typical and live traffic from our sensors, and about 0.8 miles surface streets (about 1 minutes), estimated from how jammed the freeways around them are at that time. Drive times are measured from central Rancho Santa Margarita to central Garden Grove along the route on the map. Starting or ending elsewhere in a big city can add or save several minutes.
Simulated from typical freeway speeds at each point of the drive for the time you would reach it, from every 5-minute reading we have recorded. We don't have sensors on surface streets yet, so the time on them is estimated from how congested the freeways around each end of the drive are at that time, in both directions: streets jam when the freeways do.
Questions
What is the best time to drive from Rancho Santa Margarita to Garden Grove?
On weekdays, leave before 7:30 am or after 8 pm. The drive usually takes about 25 minutes then, versus up to 35 minutes at the worst times.
How long does it take to drive from Rancho Santa Margarita to Garden Grove?
The 28-mile drive usually takes 25 to 35 minutes on weekdays, depending on when you leave, and about 29 minutes midday.
When is traffic worst from Rancho Santa Margarita to Garden Grove?
Leaving around 5:30 pm on Wednesdays is usually slowest, about 35 minutes.
Freeways on this drive
SR-241 North in Orange County (10 miles) · I-5 North in Orange County (10 miles) · SR-22 West in Orange County (4 miles) · SR-133 South in Orange County (3 miles) · SR-241 South in Orange County (1.3 miles)
Orange County traffic right now · Orange County traffic tomorrow
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