Better PCH Road Trip Option?

In My Humble Opinion
101

Man, I haven’t been up to the Bay Area in so long, and this making me really nostalgic! I don’t remember any tricky driving between Muir Beach and Bolinas, but I’ve driven through Muir Woods, and there are quite a lot of hair pin curves.

The scariest (and I think this is only because it’s a childhood memory) drive was Latigo Canyon (in LA County). My mom was yelling at my dad the whole drive, and I think that impressed me more than the drop offs. It became a family joke for a number of years…bad behavior would get you sent to Latigo Canyon.

102

If camping is at all on the menu, Harris Beach state park just north of Brookings is absolutely gorgeous, excellent beach, and the campground features possibly the best on demand hot water showers extant. They have yurts too, but those pretty much get booked up as soon as they come available to reserve. Sunset Beach is also wonderful and has yurts but those are even more popular than Harris.

103

BUMP.

CalTrans announces that the washed-out section of State Route 1 through Big Sur will be re-opened by the end of April.

104

Well, we are back from the road trip. It was pretty epic. Thanks again for all of the great tips and advice! Quite a bit of it worked it’s way into our itinerary and was spot on (the Bremerton ferry; Howland Hill Rd (which was literally 3 minutes from our hotel in Crescent City)) to name a couple off the top of my head.

Some of our favorite parts of the trip include:
Lake Crescent
The Oregon coast (especially between Lincoln City and Newport)
Portland
The Redwoods
San Francisco

We didn’t spend enough time in Seattle to really get any feel, and we hit it at the tail end of the historic heatwave, but in general we found it to be dirty, expensive and pretty sketchy.

While Portland seemed to have a similar homeless problem, it just felt safer and more laid back. Everything seemed more reasonable there.

We really enjoyed San Francisco. It was a bonus that our hotel gave us a great view of the 4th of July fireworks (the Chinatown portion of which went on until about 2am…)

The coastal scenery was by far our favorite part of the trip though. So different than what we are used to on the Atlantic coast. Just tremendously beautiful.

105

And thank you for giving us this follow-up. We’ve had plenty of threads like this, with someone asking for advice for planning a road trip. And only rarely has the traveler posted a review of the trip afterward.

106

Glad you had fun! Thanks for the update.

107

I’m glad you enjoyed the Bremerton Ferry-It is a great trip for sightseeing, and turning that last corner as Seattle comes into view is something you never forget.

108

So glad you had fun! Some of us were traveling vicariously with your family…

By the way, the last time we went to Seattle, we had so much fun in the city we never did our planned road trip… Pike Place Market, the cool shops underneath the market, Golden Age Collectibles and The Olde Curiosity Shoppe for the kids, a Mariners game, Alki Beach with some great restaurants (you’re on a peninsula there, looking across at the skyline), the Experience Music Project and Sci-Fi Museum, and so much Asian food (even at the grocery stores, like Uwajimaya’s food court). Oh, and Easy Street Records (a cool record store that serves cheap, hearty breakfasts).

109

I’m bumping this thread because in a week I’m planning on doing a part of the same trip the OP did but in reverse. After a few hectic months at work, the project I was working on is finally wrapping up, so I said “that’s it, I’m taking vacation before I get too busy on my next project!” and made some pseudo last minute plans. Since last year I went south, as discussed in this older thread, this year I’m going north.

As with last time, I’m planning it so I only have to do a couple of hours of driving per day. I’ll be driving a Miata, which I’m sure will be a blast to drive on that trip, but also isn’t exactly the most comfortable car to spend hours and hours in. And I don’t want to feel like I have to rush to get somewhere, and give myself time to stop and explore if I see something along my route that strikes my fancy. My plan is to start at Bodega Bay, and spend a day there exploring that area. Spend the night there. Then drive up to Ft. Bragg and use that as a home base for exploring the Mendocino area. Then drive to Garberville and spend a few days exploring the Humboldt Redwoods. Then drive home from there. .

So that’s the basic plan, but I welcome any specific recommendations around those areas. Good hikes, restaurants, kitschy tourist attractions, whatever…

110

We have done this section on our bicycles (recently - in August, going southbound).

Bodega Bay has Hole in the Head, where PG&E once had a project to build a nuclear power plant (!), but scuttled the idea after local opposition (this also started the whole anti-nuke movement). Now it’s just a scenic area with nice views, and a pond where the silo was being built. On the drive out there you can stop at Spud Point for seafood and beers.

Fort Ross - the old Russian fort is interesting to explore if you have some time.

Mendocino - well preserved little town overlooking the Pacific. A nice place to take a walk and have lunch. Good market right in the center of town.

Fort Bragg has everything you need. The North Coast Brewery is there. North of town is the Old Haul road, with a rebuilt trestle over Pudding Creek - the trail is probably best on a bicycle and leads to MacKerricher State Beach. You can also walk along the bluffs on a new trail the town just built.

Westport - stop in this hamlet to see the Westport Whale. You’ll know it when you see it.

In Leggett, there is the Drive-Thru tree (your Miata should fit!), The Peg House (built with pegs, not nails) which has a store, and nice patio for beers, burgers, and oysters, and Confusion Hill, which should address your whole kitsch need. :crazy_face:

I don’t know much about Garberville except we rode thru there quickly. You can probably score some weed there, if that’s your thing, tho. Just north of there is the south entrance for Avenue of the Giants - be sure to take that instead of Hwy 101.

All along Hwy 1 there are spectacular views - be sure to stop, savor, and enjoy!

111

While you’re in Ft. Bragg, you might check out Glass Beach, a quirky beach that was once the city dump. Most of the junk has been cleaned up (but still, DO NOT go barefoot there!), but all the broken glass items have been worn down into multi-colored pebbles there.

If you have a day to kill, check out the world-famous Skunk Train.

112

BTW – I saw some articles a few weeks ago (you can easily google up a dozen of them) discussing that the town of Mendocino is FLAT OUT of water. They are literally (yes, literally literally) having to truck water in.

Apparently, the town is still open for tourism, but it does look like times are getting hard there.

113

@WildaBeast , you’re in the Sacramental area aincha? From your post, it’s not clear if you have some familiarity with the coast area, or none at all. Have you been to Point Reyes? If not, you should surely start your trip there, as it’s just a short ways south of Bodega and is a fabled beach and hiking area. (Some trails may still be closed because of the fires.) There is a visitor center there you could start with, with some hiking trailheads immediately nearby that. I don’t know what’s open these days after the fires, though.

114

Correct.

I have been to Point Reyes before, but I haven’t ever been to the coast north of there (that’s part of why I decided to skip Point Reyes and start at Bodega Bay). But if I run out of stuff to do in Bodega Bay I might well head down there.

115

I’ve driven a Miata on Hwy 1 from Ft. Bragg to Leggett. It’s heaven.
If you get as far north as Arcata, the food at Wildflower Bakery is fantastic.

116

The stretch of Hwy 1 from Jenner at the mouth of the Russian River up to Fort Ross definitely has roller coaster nature, and is good for raising up some adrenaline.

117

First, good move to stay in Fort Bragg instead of Mendocino. I’ve stayed in both, and prefer Fort Bragg. Alas, our favorite restaurant there seems to have vanished.
I’ve been to the Glass Beach - not as interesting as I expected. Wind and Weather had a catalog store there if you like that kind of stuff.
I used to go to a small invitation only conference in Bodega Bay, and besides looking at the ocean there isn’t much there. There are some nice small state parks to the north, with pull outs to look at the waves breaking. The schoolhouse from “The Birds” is in Bodega, a bit inland. We always had an afternoon off at the conference and I went inland to Sebastopol and other places inland - mostly for the used book stores.

118

By all accounts I’ve read, the tourists have pilfered much of the glass pebbles when they think no one is looking, although it’s illegal. The Wiki article I posted above mentions that there are actually three Glass Beaches in the area. It also mentions that there is a movement to replenish the glass with fresh broken glass junk. You REALLY shouldn’t go barefoot there!

119

I initially though that was just a joke about Humboldt County’s most famous crop, but after spending some time there, you really weren’t kidding. I swear that whole town smelled like weed. :laughing:

120

Oh yeah, Garborville has long been a central hub for marijuana with essentially open sales and use long before the state legalized even medical marijuana. I don’t know if they still do it but the DEA has done ‘pot burns’ that clear out square miles of fields leaving a looming haze over the mountains, and it doesn’t even make a dent in supply. I personally don’t care for the smell of it but its your basic entry and most convenient supply point heading into Kings Range and the central Lost Coast area.

Stranger