Road trip up the California coast

[deadwood]

So I'm about to start a road trip with my daughter. Planning on doing LA to Seattle. We have been trying to do this trip for a while and the chance just came up because my daughter is between jobs right now and just moved back to AZ. 

Has anyone done this drive recently. I know there are all the fires going in the Napa Valley. I'm wondering how much it might affect the drive. We'll have a good ten days to do the trip so we can go out of the way if necessary. But is anyone in the area to give an idea on what is like over there now. 

Also anything we have to see along the way that we might not hear about reading up on some of the touristy info online?

 

[Blanch]

I have no news on the fires, but my son and I did that trip. These are in no particular order:


The wreck of the Peter Irdale in Oregon is nice.

Also about 5 miles up hwy 199 in Crescent City is Walker Road. It has amazing redwoods and is the site of the Ewok Forest in the original Star Wars.

Also just off of 101 near Orick is Fern Canyon and it is amazing. Part of Jurassic Park was filmed there. It is a very cool spot. You'll find herds of Rosevelt Elk there as well.

Ferndale in Humboldt county has wonderful antique stores and turn of the century architecture.

Newport Oregon has a nice aquarium.

Seattle has a Troll street with a giant troll under the bridge.

These are just a few spots off the beaten path. Have fun, it is an amazing trip.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[95Astro]

I'm in the SF East Bay next to Oakland. I did that trip in 2006. I spent three weeks.

If you stick to route 1 along the coast you should be okay through west marin and mendocino counties, although you might experience some smokiness. Here is a fire map:

http://www.fire.ca.gov/general/firemaps

Things to see:
A few small quaint town along the route. Point reyes station, gualala, mendocino for sure! Fort Ross is cool (old russian fort). Point Reyes itself is a good place to visit. You could probably spend the better part of a day driving around there. Glass Beach where you can find beach glass. Cresent City and its lighthouse. At that point i started homeward.

Places to camp (provided they are not closed for the season):
Wrights beach
Dillon beach
Van damn
Salt Pond
Any thing along the Avenue of the Giants

I envy your trip. Have a great time!

 

[PineyCruisin]

I'm not anywhere near the west coast (just the opposite actually 7 mi. from the Atlantic Ocean) but I've been following some you-tubers who have been driving the opposite way. Their latest videos are now on the Oregon Coast (they drove from Washington) and they have not mentioned wild fires in a couple weeks and their road footage lately is crystal clear. They did show some of the damage done from the fires on their way thru. 

That is an absolutely breathtaking road trip --- did it in the 80's from San Diego to Olympic NP and want to do it again soon. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[sephson]

On the way to Big Sur, you'll find a view point where you can watch Elephant Seals lounging on the beach. I was there in October of 2014.

There's also a really cool little coffee house further up the highway somewhere between the view point and Big Sur. I don't know how far though. I went there the next day.

Stop by the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur.

 

[66788]

After 42 deaths and thousands of structures burned, the fires are almost all contained. In a few days it will be "back to business."

 

[MrNoodly]

On the way to Big Sur...

There are bridges out on Highway 1 in the Big Sur area, so you can only go so far up or down before you have to detour/backtrack. Check with CalTrans for current status.
There's what they're calling a river of storms stretching across the northern Pacific headed to BC, Washington and Oregon. Lots of rain.

 

[wagoneer]

just did SF to Seattle about 3 weeks back big fires in the Cascade Columbian river area ashes falling campgrounds closed, get back to more fires here in the North bay. Oregon coast is awesome as is the Olympic Peninsula good sea food and friendly folk. I really enjoyed Seattle but my Garmin was out of date, using the phone worked much better a lot of construction and roads re-routed.
That little coffee house is "Nepenthe" an old hippie outpost gone tourist.

 

[deadwood]

Thanks for the good info. Heading to San Diego this weekend and then will pick up my daughter on Monday to start the trip out of LA. Lots of things for me to stop and see along the way. Thanks all

 

[mert6706]

So I'm about to start a road trip with my daughter. Planning on doing LA to Seattle. We have been trying to do this trip for a while and the chance just came up because my daughter is between jobs right now and just moved back to AZ. 

Has anyone done this drive recently. I know there are all the fires going in the Napa Valley. I'm wondering how much it might affect the drive. We'll have a good ten days to do the trip so we can go out of the way if necessary. But is anyone in the area to give an idea on what is like over there now. 

Also anything we have to see along the way that we might not hear about reading up on some of the touristy info online?

Anchor Bay Camp at Gualalla. Great beachcombing. When I was there last there were giant logs and other stuff thrown up by winter storms. It's a wild beach, lots of tide pools, mussel picking, etc. Years ago there were hikes lead from the campground to a couple of beautiful, remote beaches, one of the called "bowling ball beach" for the incredible rock formations, giant boulders shaped like bowling balls and cheeseburgers .It would be worth checking to see if access is still possible.

It's been a long time since I was in Ferndale, but stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast "The Gingerbread House." For anybody traveling south, at Ferndale you could take a road down to the "lost coast" and drive along it for miles until you could head inland to the redwoods. You could, of course, reverse if you are heading north. I just don't remember where you would leave 101 to cut over to the lost coast. If you can find it, it's a very quiet, peaceful drive. We never met a single car when we did it in the 1980s.

 

[bigsallysmom]

After a large wildfire where I lived, I was astounded at how bad the flooding was afterwards. Two inches of rain caused a million dollars of damage in a state park as it swept away bridges and clogged dry creeks full of mud and burned trees. My luck, I'd be several miles away enjoying a beautiful gurgling brook then have to run for my life from a river of mud.

 

[Scout]

You have probably already left but adventure van man on youtube shows some places and gives gps coordinates.

 

[Minivanmotoman]

San Simeon or Hurst castle is well worth it.
Surfers in Santa Cruz. Any and all of the redwood forests. Point Reyes all over. Every Beach in Oregon, lol. Tidal pools and starfish seeking. Tillamook for the factory with free cheese samples, fresh ice cream and the nearby jerky outlet for $1 2ft treats. And the Cape Meares lighthouse at sunset with its red glass panels. And many other lighthouses if your thing.

 

[Minivanmotoman]

 

[Minivanmotoman]

View attachment 16651

 

[mert6706]

Wow, absolutely glorious photo. Thanks for sharing!