California Coast Drive

I will be pulling a 26 ft. FW. Do you know what the length limits are for that section?
Thanks for all the input. I see that it will be useful to several people.

A hitch and hop wrote:
I am looking at driving north from LA to Seattle following the coast road in June of 2014. I am in no hurry and I normally drive from about 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Can I get ideas on where to stop for the night and places to visit along the way. I am not planning on stopping in San Francisco at this time. My first stop would be about 100 mile north of LA.

Thanks for any of your thoughts.

Are you driving a RV, if so what type? for example reconnecting with PCH (Hwy1) above San Francisco has a lenght limit for the first few miles, it's a very curvey road and after that it's a great senic drive with a few small resturants along the way.

msmith...Thanks again for all the great information. I'm planning on using Hwy 1 most all the way down the coast. I am in no hurry and just want to enjoy the sights and scenery. Your suggestions will be a big help, especially places to park south of the SF area.

Also, if you take the Great Highway Route, it hooks back up with Highway 1 at the South end of San Francisco and you'll have a few miles of freeway through Pacifica and then you're back on two-lane Highway 1 along the coast again. The first little town in Half Moon Bay and there are quite a few RV parks there, but they are usually pretty crowded and the spaces aren't huge. If you head on down the coast maybe 40 or so miles, there is a KOA RV park in a remote area along the coast. I have never got the chance to stay there, but I did drive through it and it looks really nice with nice big sites. It's maybe a third of a mile from the beach, but they have a trail to walk to the beach from the RV park. Looks like a nice place and it's not a far drive from Santa Cruz.

It's only a mile or so and it's on Geary Blvd which in that area is mostly four lanes. There's plenty of room for an RV. Take a look at it on Google earth. You vear off on Pt Lobos Ave and then you hit the ocean right at the Cliff House. Once you come down the hill past the cliff house is Ocean Beach which has a big parking area. There may be room to park an RV there for a while, depending on if you're there on a weekend or not. If you can't find a place there, it you take a left on JFK Blvd into Golden Gate Park, there is usually street parking available on JFK drive and at least last time I was there, there was no time limit and it was free. So you could leave the motorhome there for a while and explore in the toad. Otherwise if you keep heading South you come across Fort Funston. They also have a giant parking lot where you may be able to leave your motorhome for the day while exploring in the toad. And that is also very close to the zoo. All of these places will be pretty crowded on weekends in the summer, and mildly crowded on weekends in the other times of the year. You should be able to find room on weekdays.

Thanks msmith....I'll check out the route that you described as I don't mind driving on surface streets as long as it is only a few miles and not 10 or 20. How many miles through downtown streets before I would get to the Great Hwy?

hotjag1 wrote:
I am planning on doing the same thing next month, except I will be going north to south. My question may help the OP too. According to a map, it looks like staying on Hwy 1 through SF would be a straighter and easier route than following Hwy 101. Is the map deceiving? I'm wondering why no one suggests staying on Hwy 1 through SF?

Because most people don't want to drive their RV through San Francisco. But through the City itself either way you go you'll be on surface streets. The only way to avoid that is take 580 off 101 and cross the bay and go South that way. That's the only way to stay on freeways.

But to answer your question, I wouldn't hesitate to come across the Golden Gate and just stay on 1 at least part way. What I would do is take 1 through the Presidio and then turn right on Geary Blvd and go over to the Great Highway. That takes you back along the coast and there are places there with enough parking room to accommodate a motorhome if you want to park and look around.

I am planning on doing the same thing next month, except I will be going north to south. My question may help the OP too. According to a map, it looks like staying on Hwy 1 through SF would be a straighter and easier route than following Hwy 101. Is the map deceiving? I'm wondering why no one suggests staying on Hwy 1 through SF?

Just as a word of caution, if you're going to travel the California coast in June you may have a difficult time finding RV spaces without reservations. And overnight parking is prohibited almost anyplace you would find a spot big enough to pull off on.

Another tip, I don't know your total route, but if I wanted to tour the west coast like you're doing I would prefer to start in Seattle and go south. Most of the things you'll want to see and the places you want to stop are on the ocean side of the road. If you're in a motorhome most of these places will be impossible to get into while going north.

Thank you for the information and route suggestions. While I want to see as much as I can, I don't want to waste my time driving through uninteresting roads.