I’m driving up north from San Francisco next weekend with really no destination in mind. The main things I want to see is a lot of the coast and water, and lighthouses, definitely lighthouses.
Are there any good scenic routes you’d recommend? Must-see sights along the way? Hotels?
I am not so keen on Highway 1 and hope it’s not my only option. I’ve driven on it before and it’s not much fun after a few hours of narrow winding cliffside road.
I won’t need to come back until Tuesday so it’ll be great if I can make it all the way to Vancouver and back. Not very high hopes though. Maps say it’ll take 14 hours, but if I were to take lots of detours and stops, how good are my chances of making it across the border going at a leisurely pace?
The good news is that if you’re interested in lighthouses, the Oregon coast is thick with 'em. See here.
The bad news is that if you want a lot of coast and water, Highway 101 is pretty much your only option. It’s not as bad as Highway 1, and it’s not all that windy through Oregon (I’ve never driven it in NorCal), but it’s two lane and anything but a high-speed road. If nothing else, you have to slow to 25 frequently to go through small towns.
As far as being able to reach the (Oregon/Washington?) border is concerned, you should be able to do it in a 3+ day trip with no real problem. Depends on how much time you spend out of your vehicle.
As said, 101 is Lighthouse El Camino Real. Head north, take a right at Astoria, then hiway 30 into Portland. You can cross the border there into Vancouver (the original one), then it’s a straight shot down I5 back to frisco. I’d say that’s about the best you could do in 3-4 days, if you want to get out of yourcar at all.
If you get a chance, drive through the rain forest on the Peninsula in Washington. We stayed there for our honeymoon, and loved it. Crescent Lake and Crescent Lake Lodge are where we were, and would go back in a heartbeat.
Er, yeah, which Vancouver? Popping up to Vancouver BC for the weekend is probably a bit ambitious.
This time of year, the weather is more likely than not to be pretty miserable, the more so the further north you go. Not only is driving and touring in a cold coastal drizzle not fun, but there might be snow along I-5, making blasting home on the interstate a little slower. If I were you, I wouldn’t get too ambitious with getting all the way up to Washington, let alone BC.
Do you live in (or around) San Francisco, or are you just passing through?
I recommend taking Highway 1 from Sausalito as far as Jenner (at the mouth of the Russian River), then turn inland there over to highway 101.
If you don’t live around the area, then this portion of Highway 1 is a very scenic coastal stretch that you should not miss, and won’t add too terribly many hours to the drive. AND there’s a lighthouse waiting for you at Point Reyes!
But of course, if you do live around the Bay Area, that stretch of road is a simple day-trip that you can do any time (and you already know all this), so you’ll skip it for this trip.
ETA: And I think there’s another lighthouse in Sonoma County also, before you get to Jenner.