California Coast Rd.- Oregon to San Diego?

As I have posted in another thread, my wife & I are planning to drive from Vancouver Island to San Diego sometime in the next couple of weeks or so.

On the way down, I'm planning to drive along the coast highway, from Florence, OR to San Diego, CA.

I know what the Oregon section of the highway has to offer, so for the California part of the trip, I would like to know what is worth stopping to see along the way, what to avoid, free or inexpensive camping places (preferably in scenic areas) and any other advice you can offer.

Once you get down to CA, there are few dry camping spots, and the campgrounds charge $25-35/night. Prairie Creek State Park is well worth visiting, stop in at the visitor center to get the lay of the land. Just South of the park, before Orick, there is a road going West to the Skunk Cabbage trail. I have never been rousted spending the night at the trailhead there. If the idea of Bigfoot(s) bother you, you may pass on this spot; there are numerous stories of encounters at this trailhead. I've only heard whoops and knocks there, nothing has come up and rocked my van in the middle of the night. One tip: the park police go off duty by 9-10pm. They WILL roust you if you try to spend the night at the elk viewing area or any of the National Park parking lots (Redwood Creek, Ladybird). Across from that road, closer to Orick, is Bald Hills road. Lady Bird Johnson Grove is a few miles up there, and is an excellent 1 mile flat loop hike in the redwoods. A mile or two South of Orick is the Redwood National Park visitor center, kind of on the beach.

Take the Avenue Of Giants route south of Eureka.

At one point, you need to decide to stay on 101 or go over to highway 1, which runs along the coast. It's a curvey road all the way down from that point. You can cut back across to the 101 in a few places or go all the way passed Bolinas and connect to the 101 about 10 miles North of the Golden Gate. If you go on the 1, stop at the North Coast Brewing company in Fort Bragg and have their 16 beer sampler. Stop in Mendocino and poke around, but it's not much more than tourist stores, in my opinion. It gets pretty rural after that, and I'm sure you can find a turnout to dry camp between Mendocino and Sea Ranch. I use Google Earth to look at satellite images to find a likely spot before going on a trip.

I've done this exact drive twice. Washington and Oregon have better camping options and prices than California, which is dreadful in comparison. What may surprise you is just how beautiful the Northern California coast is. Like Surlyoldbill said you will make a decision to hug the coastline above San Francisco. The slow switchbacks will make you dizzy but you will be rewarded with fresh oysters at Point Reyes. www.roadtrippers.com has all the notable things to see.

jostalli said:

I've done this exact drive twice. Washington and Oregon have better camping options and prices than California, which is dreadful in comparison. What may surprise you is just how beautiful the Northern California coast is. Like Surlyoldbill said you will make a decision to hug the coastline above San Francisco. The slow switchbacks will make you dizzy but you will be rewarded with fresh oysters at Point Reyes. www.roadtrippers.com has all the notable things to see.

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Sadly, the oyster farm at Point Reyes is no more. Their lease with NPS expired and they were forced out. All that is left now is a big cleanup job as they rip out the farm beds.

Pack everything tightly, as the curves and switch back will throw everything around, including passengers. (trade the van for a Porsche 911 would BR more fun!)

Icarus

South of Mendicino, about 30 miles inland on hwy. 128 you'll find Hendy Woods state park. My wife & I camped there several years ago and had the place pretty much to ourselves. A fine redwood grove and a really interesting history involving a hermet who lived there for several years. The lack of crowds allowed us to enjoy this redwood forest more than any other we've visited.

One of the ten tallest trees in the world is in Hendy. The tallest is in Prairie Creek, as is at least the 3rd tallest (unmarked, 1/4 mile from visitor center on East side of road, along trail to Big Tree).

Lost Coast road if you have time
Also Old Coast Road in Big Sur

You can park overnight at Samoa Cookhouse in Samoa (just north of Eureka). Lots of all you can eat food. Best to just order soup & salad at night and then there is room for breakfast in the morning. You do not have to eat there to park but I do.

I have not parked at the boat harbor in Crescent City but that should work. There is a public rest room there. Stopped numerous times during the day.

Stayed overnight at an abandoned gas station in Orick.

Are you stealth and city camp? If so I can explain places to park in SF, Moss Landing and Pacific Grove.

If you PM me with more information, you can park on our 5 acres in Occidental if we are home. 15 minutes from Bodega Bay. I also know where I would park in Bodega Bay.

There are two FS campgrounds between Lucia and Gordo south of Big Sur that I regularly use. Best is Kirk Creek with spectacular views.

We just came back from doing this in reverse. On the way down we overnighted at Albany KOA, Redding & Oroville riverside parks (lots of birds there), Gilroy, and Pfeiffer Big Sur under the trees. Lots of poppies blooming in the pass over to Gilroy. Elephant seals just north of Pismo beach.

Started North from Pismo Beach Feb 28 just south of San Fancisco ($25 a night best bargain in California complete with monarch butterflies and blooming iceplants)

So back up by 101 to a very expensive but beautiful Costanoa KOA just north of Santa Cruz, two days there, then looped around san francisco to Bogega bay and continued up Hwy 1 from there. Our favourite campsites in the California stretch were:

Wrights Beach (35-45) near Jenner, (full up, beautiful scenery, lots of flowers, nice trail on the headlands and back on the beach, ended up at nearby Casini Ranch $55)
Salt Point State Park absolutely beautiful well spaced spots, we parked in day use for dinner right next to the surf $33
MacKerricher Park near Cleone Lake and boardwalk, nice trails, $33,
Also stopped at Agate Beach lots of fog $33,

Passed many many others on the way that all would have been great places to stay and walk the beaches. You may never make it to San Diego unless you put the blinders on!!!

I suppose our philosophy is more like having spent hundreds or even thousands including the RV to get here, we weren't going to scrimp on beautiful places to stay when we could find them.

What we try to avoid is to drive too far in any one day, so we always have a pleasant afternoon someplace, the spring weather might affect this for the good or the bad, so if the sun shines we try not to drive too much at all.

We had internet roaming plan on our phone and found this very useful, but there were lots of dead areas along the 1 north of Bodega Bay, and no wifi at the state parks. If you have a smartphone, get a nav app with downloaded maps, it is nice to know how far remains to your target destination.

The man is right about the winding roads, the worst was the very last stretch of the 1 from Hardy to Legett, you will be thinking the steering wheel bearings need replacing once you're done with that piece!

Rob S said:

The man is right about the winding roads, the worst was the very last stretch of the 1 from Hardy to Legett, you will be thinking the steering wheel bearings need replacing once you're done with that piece!

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It's also the best piece of highway depending on your point of view. I go out of my way looking for windy twisty roads and this stretch is one of my all time favorites.



I will confess that the last time I drove this section was in a Honda S2000 on the way home from 3 days at Thunderhill Race Track

2008 Navion J for us, 24' over 11,000 lbs, 154 hp, and I refuse to floor it because I want to keep it for a while yet, so used lots of pullouts to prevent road rage from happening behind us.

Actually though, it is totally amazing to me how that little 3 litre diesel moves that rig along when you ask it to go.

Yes, very scenic, but much like here at home, unfortunately raining when we passed through there.

Winding scenic roads we love to drive being one of the reasons for owning a Navion (sprinter based RV), it gets excellent fuel mileage even on these kinds of roads, and handles very well for an RV.

We were getting just over 15 US mpg on this stretch, around 16mpg average for the trip (between 14-16 litres per 100kms, average 14.6)

icarus said:

Pack everything tightly, as the curves and switch back will throw everything around, including passengers. (trade the van for a Porsche 911 would BR more fun!)

Icarus

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My Audi A4 quattro would also be a good choice for the 'twisties', but sleeping in it, not so good.

Graphite Dave said:

You can park overnight at Samoa Cookhouse in Samoa (just north of Eureka). Lots of all you can eat food. Best to just order soup & salad at night and then there is room for breakfast in the morning. You do not have to eat there to park but I do.

I have not parked at the boat harbor in Crescent City but that should work. There is a public rest room there. Stopped numerous times during the day.

Stayed overnight at an abandoned gas station in Orick.

Are you stealth and city camp? If so I can explain places to park in SF, Moss Landing and Pacific Grove.

If you PM me with more information, you can park on our 5 acres in Occidental if we are home. 15 minutes from Bodega Bay. I also know where I would park in Bodega Bay.

There are two FS campgrounds between Lucia and Gordo south of Big Sur that I regularly use. Best is Kirk Creek with spectacular views.

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Thanks for the offer. I will PM you when our plans 'firm up'. My van is definitely not 'stealth' & I know my wife wouldn't be happy about city camping. We do occasionally overnight in WalMarts or Casinos.

If you are traveling after May 1, Albee Creek State Park is absolutely gorgeous, with an excellent chance of seeing wildlife, including deer, elk, bears, raccoons, maybe a fox, and the ever present ground squirrels. Our favorite state park in CA. No hookups, nearest dump is a few minutes south in another section of Redwoods Park.

On our January trip down to (almost) SF and back, we stayed at:
Tacoma,WA,Tacoma Point State Park
Brighton,OR,Kellys Landing,Funky little no-frills marina squeezed between Hwy and water
(Bar View City Park has camping, we didn't stay there)
Roosevelt Beach,OR,Carl Washburne St Park
Port Orford,OR,Cape Bianco St Pk,westernmost tip of oregon
Brookings,OR,Harris Beach St
(when you pass through Crescent City, try the Hawaiian BBQ at First x hwy101 southbound)
Trinidad,CA,Emerald Forest RV
(Redway CA has food and shakes, not long before the turnoff to Hwy 1)
Caspar,CA,Caspar Beach CG, (quiet, off the main drag, across the street from a beach, on road to PtCabrilloLighthouse)
PointArena,CA,ManchesterBeach KOA,$45 (our most expensive night) (just north of Point Arena Lighthouse access road,PointArenaCafe at that intersection was decent)
(we drove down to Gualala, did our U-turn and headed back north)
Westport,CA,WestportRV,nestled in hairpin loop of Hwy 1, yet quiet (surf buried traffic) <-- good for "just after the twisty bits" when you're southbound on Hwy 1. It's an ex-KOA (not all of the KOA signs are gone yet )
GoldBeach,OR,Turtle Rock RV, stunning beach and surf (campground so-so, but then you walk under Hwy 101 to a windswept beach)
Coos Bay,OR,Sunset Beach St Pk, on road to cape arago, whales,seals,sea lions,elephant seals,surf
Newport,OR,SouthBeachStPrk
CapeLookoutStPark
CannonBeach,OR,NorthBeachRV (no great shakes, but a herd of Elk wandered through the campground in the morning)


Mendocino is worth a visit for two things: (a) the galleries and shopping (b) drive around the Mendocino Headlands.. many spots to pull off and watch surf and wildlife .. we stalked a coulpe of vultures on the ground.
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens is just south of Ft Bragg, just north of Caspar Beach. "Glass Beach" is near here.

We drove "as slowly as possible", we have a 118" wheelbase Sprinter, so the squiggles at the north end of Hwy 1 were not a problem.
We only averaged 100 miles per day (longest was 250, shortest was 27)

In Oregon we prefer state parks (and were seeking electric hookups for our heater)
Since we were out-of-season, many CGs were closed for repair or the winter.
Prices were lower, too.

have fun
--dick

Graphite Dave said:

......There are two FS campgrounds between Lucia and Gordo south of Big Sur that I regularly use. Best is Kirk Creek with spectacular views.

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Thanks for this one!! Booked site 7 for 3 days in September. If it's even half as nice as it looks we'll love it!

John

We're currently in a KOA outside Lassen Volcanic National Park after having done the PCH from about Grays Harbor in Washington down to the Golden Gate Bridge. I have to give both thumbs up (as well as someone else's thumbs) for the Mendocino Botanical Park in Fort Bragg; you'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer one. Be sure to allot a good half day to it--and it will be a very, very good half day indeed!

We drove long days, as we have a time frame to get back to the Seattle area for our son's birthday, but have stayed in commercial campgrounds. Definitely a LOT more expensive in California than in either Oregon or Washington, but we kind of expected that. Figure consistently $40-$55 per night at the commercial sites. (Look for Discounts with KOA or Passport America, if you subscribe to them.)

We also found the driving in San Francisco to be harrowing, especially since it seems the SF city planners didn't accommodate for connecting any of the interstates inside the city. It made for a really fun time with a Class B motorhome on the city streets to connect from 101 to I-580. I'm glad we did it on a Saturday instead of a weekday with rush-hour(s) traffic!

However, I just kept telling my wife all the way down that these were good Porsche roads! (Too bad her back won't tolerate taking our 911 convertible!)

Rock Doc

Great info from so many...... We are also looking at a future family trip to visit friends in Torrence (LA) and want to drive the 101 and the 1 from Oregon down....

thanks for all the input, I will certainly bookmark this page for future review.

Nice to be a part of such a great group of people.... Derek

Rock Doc said:

We're currently in a KOA outside Lassen Volcanic National Park after having done the PCH from about Grays Harbor in Washington down to the Golden Gate Bridge. I have to give both thumbs up (as well as someone else's thumbs) for the Mendocino Botanical Park in Fort Bragg; you'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer one. Be sure to allot a good half day to it--and it will be a very, very good half day indeed!

We drove long days, as we have a time frame to get back to the Seattle area for our son's birthday, but have stayed in commercial campgrounds. Definitely a LOT more expensive in California than in either Oregon or Washington, but we kind of expected that. Figure consistently $40-$55 per night at the commercial sites. (Look for Discounts with KOA or Passport America, if you subscribe to them.)

We also found the driving in San Francisco to be harrowing, especially since it seems the SF city planners didn't accommodate for connecting any of the interstates inside the city. It made for a really fun time with a Class B motorhome on the city streets to connect from 101 to I-580. I'm glad we did it on a Saturday instead of a weekday with rush-hour(s) traffic!

However, I just kept telling my wife all the way down that these were good Porsche roads! (Too bad her back won't tolerate taking our 911 convertible!)

Rock Doc

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RockDoc--

If you have occasion to connect from 101 to 580 and points east or south (and don't need to see SFO or the Golden Gate) the slick way around is to take the Richmond Bridge east from 101 then connect to the route you want once in Richmond. Easy connection to I80 east, I5, I580, and either 101 or 680 South.