Willits to Pismo Beach

In Willits is a nice KOA. Do not use the online KOA reservation system. Call them direct.

Twice the KOA system has fouled up my reservations and along the coast that can be a real pain.

Fuel and food are right at the main intersection in town. Don't be surprised by a long line of traffic as you enter town. This is normal. To get to the KOA from the North, turn right at the Highway 20 sign towards Ft. Bragg. You will see fuel stations on three corners and a Safeway to your left side.

You said Willits is a good stop as you head down the coast. Are you planning to take Highway 1 south from FT. Bragg? If you are, I would suggest you stop on the coast in the Ft. Bragg area. Lots of good places. If you are meaning to continue on 101 south of Willets, I would suggest going farther from Brookings for you stop...maybe Santa Rosa. This would give you an earlier start time through the bay area. You want to be careful on your timing to transit the bay area, traffic can be horrible and no fun with your size rig. There are lots of threads on routes through/avoiding San Fransico.

An alternate route to Pismo would be to take US 20 to I5 and drive the central valley to Hwy 46 to Paso Robles. This avoids the bay area but is boring as all gitout. This route is farther.

To get around San Francisco you would need to cross over from Hwy 101 to the I-580 near San Rafael and follow it down through Oakland and San Jose until it hits Hwy 101 and then follow 101 to Pismo.

Traffic can be bad on this route if you hit it during rush hour or a bad accident. Try to be at San Rafael by 10AM on a week day and you should be OK.

An alternative route is a little complex- take 101 to 37 and head west around Northern end of San Francisco/ San Pablo Bay through Sears Point. This will get you to I-80 south to I-780 south across the bridge at Benicia (may still be a toll bridge) to I-680 south to Hwy-101. This route will also have traffic during rush hour. Again try to hit Benicia around 10AM.

When we head that way we take 101 to San Rafael then 580 over the Richmond Bridge then 880 to San Jose then 101 to Pismo

Rocky2 wrote:
You said Willits is a good stop as you head down the coast. Are you planning to take Highway 1 south from FT. Bragg? If you are, I would suggest you stop on the coast in the Ft. Bragg area. Lots of good places. If you are meaning to continue on 101 south of Willets, I would suggest going farther from Brookings for you stop...maybe Santa Rosa. This would give you an earlier start time through the bay area. You want to be careful on your timing to transit the bay area, traffic can be horrible and no fun with your size rig. There are lots of threads on routes through/avoiding San Fransico.

An alternate route to Pismo would be to take US 20 to I5 and drive the central valley to Hwy 46 to Paso Robles. This avoids the bay area but is boring as all gitout. This route is farther.

This what I would do in less you plan on stopping for a few days along the way. Its not too bad going through frisco in car but I would avoid it at all cost in an RV.

I would take Hwy 101 all the way. Even the stretch through San Francisco is not too bad if you hit there after 9:30 AM or before 3:00 PM on a weekday. I would avoid this area on a weekend.

This is not all that difficult to do in a single day. If you want to it would be possible to stay at an RV park in Prunedale or two parks that are just south of Gilroy (one is the Betabel RV park) or at Moss Landing right by the ocean with a 10 mile detour). The easiest stopping point would be the Betabel but the nicest would be the RV park in the tiny town of Moss Landing where the RV park is yards away from the beach, the harbor, several excellent restaurants, and a very nice produce market.