RV trip from Orange County, CA to Seattle, WA

First, we've traveled the Oregon coast during the summer without reservations and got into state parks with our 40' motorhome so it can be done. I'm sure you could find spots and get reservations. Don't rely on comments that 'you'll never find a site'. Not true.

From southern California I would suggest you get on Hwy 395 in California. It's a beautiful drive rather than I-5. You could even stay in Lee Vining and do a day trip to Yosemite via a gorgeous Hwy 120.

Near to Lee Vining is also Bodie State Park (no camping) but a wonderful ghost town.

Further north is Lake Tahoe and continuing north you could get to Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park and further north at Alturas pick up 139 to take you to Lava Beds Nat'l Monument. Continue on 139 into Oregon to Hwy 97. We've driven all these roads with our 40' motorhome.

Stay at Collier Memorial State Park and day trip to Crater Lake Nat'l Park. Continue north on 97 to Bend which you stated you want to go. From Bend you could stay on 97 into Washington picking up Hwy 12 west to Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park area or take Hwy 20/22 to I-5 straight to Seattle. The Seattle Aquarium is very nice. Continue north to Anacortes and then drive down to Oak Harbor where you could get on a short ferry with your RV to the Olympic Peninsula to Port Townsend, WA.

Fort Worden State Park at Port Townsend is awesome for a stay. Get on 101 and visit Olympic Nat'l Park at Hurricane Ridge. Continue west on 101 and follow it around the Peninsula and then taking it south into Oregon and the coastline of Oregon. You could stay on 101 down into California (a very good highway for RVers and not to be confused with CA 1, which is not RV-friendly in spots). 101 will take you through the redwood areas of northern California.

If you don't want to drive around San Francisco stay on 101 until Willits and pick up Hwy 20 which will take you to I-5.

Have a great trip!

In Oregon, Mt. Hood area across highway 26 and Government camp is a great campground and great fishing lake, called Trillium lake. Great place to camp. All paved sites. Use reserve America web site for reservations. Stop at Sandy Oregon's Donut shop called Joes Donut for the best donut. Better than Krispycream. South of Bend stop by La Pine at the Newberry Volcanic Monument. Visit the Lava tube there. Visit the Obsitian flow also in the area.

Take I-5 up to the 99 ( yes it's a little out of the way)
then take the 41 North outside of Fresno and see Yosemite Nat'l
Park.

I would think about breaking this in to two trips. Oregon & Washington coasts have enough to see & do, then add in Bend area. Get reservations ASAP!

We drive through the San Francisco all the time with our rig, not sure how long yours is total. Take 101 over the Golden Gate. The Bridge District will send you a bill in the mail based on the front license plate of your rig. It will be waiting for you when you get home to pay. Stay to the right and take 19th Ave, staying in the center lane. You will be fine, just lots of lights! I know there is a RV park in Daly City but I have never stayed there, its a good location to visit the city sights from.

With kids that age, they will like the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the Wharf for food and watching the surfers. Monterey can be fun at the Fisherman's Wharf and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. There is a KOA between Monterey and Santa Cruz that has a warm pool. Its kind of expensive but a nice spot to make visits in the area to Monterey, Santa Cruz and the Redwoods.

Take hwy 1 south from Santa Cruz to San Luis Obispo. Beautiful drive and views on the way. Good camping at Plaskett Creek NF park in Los Padres NF (they take reservations now). If you want to stay in Big Sur, try one of the private parks. There are quite a few and may not fill up as fast. Andrew Molera SP has a good hike to the beach for views.

From SLO you can stay on 101 to LA or cut over through Ojai to 5.

Have a fun trip

MikeInOregon wrote:
Here's some suggestions when you stop in Bend.

Drive the Cascade Lakes Highway. Start from Bend and drive the entire route to the Sunriver area or turn around and come back to Bend. There are great views of the Cascade Mountains and several lakes along the route. There are canoe and paddleboard rentals at Elk Lake.

Visit Sunriver Resort. They also have canoe rentals. You can canoe down the Deschutes River and the canoe rental folks will pick you up at a marked location and return you to the starting point.

The Mt. Bachelor ski area offers summer lift rides to the mid-mountain lodge. You can have lunch and enjoy excellent views of the Cascade Mountains. I think the summer lift rides start in early July.

Visit Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne north of Bend. Rock climbers come from around the world to climb the vertical cliffs. Just watching the rock climbers is very interesting. At the bottom of the cliffs you can hike along the Crooked River or take the Misery Ridge trail to the top of the cliffs. Misery Ridge is somewhat steep and not for people who are afraid of heights. It is best to visit Smith Rock in the morning, it can get warm later in the day.

Just a couple miles north of Smith Rock on highway 97 is the Peter Ogden Scenic Overlook. This looks like a highway rest area but it has access to the great views of a canyon with the Crooked River at the bottom. A bridge that is no longer used for cars is now a pedestrian walkway to look down into the canyon. It's like a miniature Grand Canyon.

The Bend Tour Company offers tours of the downtown Bend area on Segways. They give Segway riding lessons and the tour guide is very entertaining.

On the east side of Bend, drive up Pilot Butte for great views of Bend and the Cascade Mountains.

Visit the High Desert Museum just south of Bend. It is an indoor/outdoor museum with educational talks about wildlife that are kept at the museum.

Visit the Old Mill in Bend. This was once a lumber mill that is now a nice area of shops and restaurants.

The downtown Bend area is very active. Take a walk through downtown. There are nice views of the Deschutes River from the downtown area.

Thanks. We are looking up all these things now.

Here's some suggestions when you stop in Bend.

Drive the Cascade Lakes Highway. Start from Bend and drive the entire route to the Sunriver area or turn around and come back to Bend. There are great views of the Cascade Mountains and several lakes along the route. There are canoe and paddleboard rentals at Elk Lake.

Visit Sunriver Resort. They also have canoe rentals. You can canoe down the Deschutes River and the canoe rental folks will pick you up at a marked location and return you to the starting point.

The Mt. Bachelor ski area offers summer lift rides to the mid-mountain lodge. You can have lunch and enjoy excellent views of the Cascade Mountains. I think the summer lift rides start in early July.

Visit Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne north of Bend. Rock climbers come from around the world to climb the vertical cliffs. Just watching the rock climbers is very interesting. At the bottom of the cliffs you can hike along the Crooked River or take the Misery Ridge trail to the top of the cliffs. Misery Ridge is somewhat steep and not for people who are afraid of heights. It is best to visit Smith Rock in the morning, it can get warm later in the day.

Just a couple miles north of Smith Rock on highway 97 is the Peter Ogden Scenic Overlook. This looks like a highway rest area but it has access to the great views of a canyon with the Crooked River at the bottom. A bridge that is no longer used for cars is now a pedestrian walkway to look down into the canyon. It's like a miniature Grand Canyon.

The Bend Tour Company offers tours of the downtown Bend area on Segways. They give Segway riding lessons and the tour guide is very entertaining.

On the east side of Bend, drive up Pilot Butte for great views of Bend and the Cascade Mountains.

Visit the High Desert Museum just south of Bend. It is an indoor/outdoor museum with educational talks about wildlife that are kept at the museum.

Visit the Old Mill in Bend. This was once a lumber mill that is now a nice area of shops and restaurants.

The downtown Bend area is very active. Take a walk through downtown. There are nice views of the Deschutes River from the downtown area.

Anthony Chabot Park it is a little out of the way (10 min drive to a freeway) and some of the RV spots are cramped (we had plenty of room for a 30ft RV with truck but some spots would barely handle a 20fter) but for the Bay area it is one of the few where you have space between spots.

San Leandro BART is fairly close for travel to San Francisco for sight seeing.

time_to_go_now wrote:

Executive wrote:

diazr2 wrote:
I would spend as much time on the coast as possible. Its not crowded that time of year /snip/

3 weeks-June 17 through JULY 4th Weekend....are you kidding me..?:h

If he doesn't already have reservations..he's out of luck with any of the Oregon State Parks along the coast....just sayin...Dennis

That is what I was worried about! And, no reservations as of yet.

It really doesn't start to get a lot of people here until the July fourth weekend. The state parks fill up because they are so nice but still not a lot of folks in the area. By that I mean no traffic jams or waiting to see anything. All kinds of places to park any time you want to. Pretty much open beaches lots of places to see and nobody in your way. Yes the parks can get full but there is always private RV parks that have space I guess crowded is a state of mind. When I hear crowded I think of Disney World or The Florida Keys in February, or perhaps San Francisco during World Series or during rush hour. Or Sturgis in August or Mardi Gras in New Oreleans Now that's crowded to me. But Oregon in June? Na place is pretty much wide open. Once you hit 4th of July then it's starts to get a little iffy but still no traffic jams or problems as far as I could see. JMO.

Executive wrote:
3 weeks-June 17 through JULY 4th Weekend....are you kidding me..?:h

If he doesn't already have reservations..he's out of luck with any of the Oregon State Parks along the coast....just sayin...Dennis

Good advice but we have gotten last minute reservations so it can work out just have a backup plan.

But those parks are very nice and very popular not to mention the 4th.