Hwy 1 north of the bay area vs. big sur?

Thanks kazmir and profdant139!

kazmir wrote:
Here is a great website with pictures of the entire California Coast:

California Coastal Records Project

We camp almost monthly in Big Sur, heaven on Earth!

I called the OR national park service the ranger was really helpful with parks that will accommodate big toy haulers, the ranger suggested Drift wood , spineeral and Horsfell national parks there in the Siuslaw National forest North bend OR . What do you think of that starting place? Ill new to make reservations soon .

Naio, as I have said earlier, you will have no trouble with any part of this road, in your little van. But you asked for more detail on the north. The part from Marin to Stimson Beach is very twisty and slow, as is the part where the road leaves the coast and then heads inland to Leggett. (I have done that part with a small trailer. Not a problem, but not easy, either.)

The rest of the road is just fine. The views are fairly good -- the views are spectacular south of San Francisco to Morro Bay.

And just to whet your appetite for the area, this is a shot of the Lost Coast, taken above Mattole Campground:



Mattole Campground is just made for your van -- the road to get there is terrible, bad for trailers or big rigs, so you can take advantage of your small size and agility.

If you are interested in more photos and text, please feel free to click on my blog link below and use the search bar -- type in Big Sur, and Mattole, and Ft. Bragg, and Jackson State Forest, and Mendocino, and Humboldt Redwoods, and Prairie Creek, and Van Damme State Park, and Russian Gulch State Park, just for starters.

msmith1199 wrote:

CLAlvarez1956 wrote:
I would never attempt this drive in an RV. We did it in a Mercedes S-500 and I nearly peed my pants. There are portions of this road where the north traffic has to pull as far to the right as you can to let the southbound traffic go, and vice versa. It's a death wish in an RV.

I used to read these Highway 1 threads and see comments like this and I couldn't figure out why people were so afraid of such a nice scenic road. I've driven on it in everything from my 35' DP to my Harley. It's a great road and nothing to be afraid of. Then I did some travel back east and I figured out that people who aren't from California (or the west) don't have a clue about mountain driving and things like driving on the edge of a cliff. Most of the people who make these comments about Highway 1 usually are from the east where roads like this don't exist. So I guess they road can be intimidating if you aren't used to this type of driving, but just keep in mind that because some people are afraid of it, doesn't mean everybody will be.

I've lived in California for more than 50 years, in various places between San Diego and San Francisco. And just keep in mind that because some people aren't afraid of it doesn't mean everybody will be unafraid.

I maintain this is a very dangerous road. Granted, I'm not a fan of mountain driving. But this is beyond that. This is, IMO, a death wish in an RV. At the very least I would bet my last dollar that the vast majority of people driving an RV over this route (South to north, never have done it the other way) would not enjoy it and would white-knuckle it the whole way.

Here is a great website with pictures of the entire California Coast:

California Coastal Records Project

We camp almost monthly in Big Sur, heaven on Earth!

Thank you, ktmrfs :)

We are going to do this Hwy 1 trip next year I'm thinking April,my sweet and I rode the rocky MT national forest through Estes on the bike miserably traffic in July, back to Hwy 1 starting at Organ. I will have a combined length of 52 ft. Our plane is to boondock or reserve a site. I like to stay in one spot for awhile and move on south and ride Hyw 1. Im thinking Ill have to drive 101 a few 100 miles and find a place to camp.Is there any recommendations for camping or amazing places to see? Thank you.

Been there, done that and it needs to be on your bucket list.

But
1) do it north to south starting at the Oregon border, that way it's easier to get into the turnouts and outlooks going southbound. they are all on the west side of the road, and often with a entrance going south, so acccess northbound isn't always easy.

Course the advantage of going south to north is that the DRIVER is on the ocean view side!!! Not that you can take your eyes off the road that much

2) It's one of the very very very few trips that I'd rather do in a car, preferably, my SL500 with the top down, and stay at nice hotels on the way down, rather than in a trailer.

We did the south to north route after visiting our daugther in san diego. Even driving my Sierra 2500 cc/sb, took lots of fun out of the trip. it's a windy, narrow road and the truck took lots of enjoyment out of it. And I'm used to such roads. Towing a trailer just would take the fun out of it, and really keep you from hitting most of the turnouts and views.

3) we did it in 3 days. 5 days would have been better from LA to Cresent City. We did it in March, not in the high traffic season, not much traffic, but it is slow.

However, once you do it, you WILL say it was worth it, believe me.

It's a motorcyclists dream. Our son rides this route to races in california, and we probably saw as many bikes as cars.

msmith1199 wrote:
It's more remote to the north and generally less crowded. The road is up on cliffs in places but comes down to sea level in a lot of places too. I just like it a lot better. When you head South from Big Sur you eventually end up down in La La land and who wants to be there.

Thanks :).

I know what you mean... I want to explore the mountains above Santa Barbara, but then I look at the huge detour needed to get around LA...

It's more remote to the north and generally less crowded. The road is up on cliffs in places but comes down to sea level in a lot of places too. I just like it a lot better. When you head South from Big Sur you eventually end up down in La La land and who wants to be there.