It's about 72 miles from LAX, so not much further than from BUR; you'd have more options flying into LAX than BUR.
It's an easy 1-hr drive up the 405 and then the 14, as long as it's not afternoon rush hour when everyone's heading home towards Santa Clarita, Palmdale, and Lancaster, when it could easily turn into 2-3 hours.
2 other options might be Bakersfield (BFL), which is about a 90 mile drive to Lancaster (but no rush hour issues); looks like there's 1 or 2 SFO-BFL flights a day on UA; or Inyokern/Ridgecrest (IYK), about 75 miles to Lancaster, but you'd have to connect through LAX, so that makes it kind of moot.
Considering you could make the drive from the Bay area in about 5 hours, I think you're right, driving would be most time-efficient method, and give you total flexibility on time. I've made that (reverse-direction) drive before- for the scenic route, from I-5, I suggest cutting over to Bakersfield then take 58 through the mountains, then south on 14.
Last edited by Maxwell Smart; Jun 19, 2009 at 8:35 pm