Giant Redwoods

Along the coast where the redwoods are found you will have the best chance for sunshine and avoiding coastal marine layer gloom in April and early May. Plan on temps in the mid 50's except around the Willits to Rio Dell section where it can be cooler at night and warmer during the days.

Most scenic route is from Pt Reyes up Hwy 1 past Mendocino and then cutting inland through Anderson Valley and over to Hwy 101 near Leggett and continuing on Hwy 101 up past Orick and to Prairie Creek State Park with its two herds of elk. If your RV is short enough the campground at Gold Bluff Beach is a great place to stay. This is as wild a beach as you will find anywhere.

Don't miss Mendocino and Ferndale on your travels.

sky_free wrote:

1stgenfarmboy wrote:

where exactly is the most beautiful coast on 101, just for reference.

It's not on 101. Highway 1 between Morro Bay and Carmel is a classic choice, but our favorite is 1 from Bodega Bay north to Ft. Bragg.

101 is mostly inland except for parts of it from Arcata north to the Oregon border, and you seldom see the ocean from the road. The highlight is probably the area around Patrick's point and Big Lagoon. The section where it travels east-west through Santa Barbara is coastal also, but it's way different from the northern parts.

many get the 101 and Highway 1 mixed up.
Highway 1 spends the most time on the coast and has the best stretches.

101 is the main coastal highway in California and the easiest to drive, especially with a RV.
Highway 1 is a part of it but splits off a number of times, when 101 goes inland.
the first main one going north, is at Dana Point until Oxnard, where it rejoins 101.
then it splits off again, north of Santa Barbara until it joins 101 in Pismo Beach, then at San Luis Obispo where it splits off again, for its most famous stretch, through San Simeon, Big Sur, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Marin County, Bodega Bay, Mendocino, Fort Bragg and then finally ending by re-joining 101 in Leggett.

101 does go along the coast in a number of place, especially at Ventura, Pismo Beach and the northwest part of Northern California.

"Where exactly is the beautiful coastline in California"

This cracks me up. We live in Carmel, and taking 1 south of us to say Morro Bay is gorgeous, curvy, (car sickness galore). It is the "beautiful coast" that everyone talks about near Big Sur. BUT, I have to say, that for us, the most beautiful west coast is the whole Oregon coastline!!! It is far more accessible then the California Coastline, in my opinion....

Now back to redwoods. There are some amazing groves in Big Sur, but Humboldt and Calaveras have them beat....the Mariposa grove in southern Yosemite is pretty darn amazing, too!

thank you skyfree.....ok back to the big trees.

Our favorite trees so far have been at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. We've been to Kings Canyon/Sequoia and wouldn't go back again.

1stgenfarmboy wrote:

where exactly is the most beautiful coast on 101, just for reference.

It's not on 101. Highway 1 between Morro Bay and Carmel is a classic choice, but our favorite is 1 from Bodega Bay north to Ft. Bragg.

101 is mostly inland except for parts of it from Arcata north to the Oregon border, and you seldom see the ocean from the road. The highlight is probably the area around Patrick's point and Big Lagoon. The section where it travels east-west through Santa Barbara is coastal also, but it's way different from the northern parts.

I agree, and even with the people, when your from as far away as I am you just have to deal with it because those two parks are something a person just can't miss.

one more little thing with the coast on 101, you folks that are from the area, please be specific when you say "see the beautiful coast" because I drove 101 from Olimpic N.P. all the way to LA just to see this beautiful coast of yours, didn't see any for 3 days of driving, asked the desk gal at the CG where in the world the senic views are on 101 she said "OH YOUR ALMOST THERE" as luck would have it the day we got to ( the fabulous 50) as she called it, it was so foggy you couldn't see the edge of the road..oh well at least we stayed off the interstate.

where exactly is the most beautiful coast on 101, just for reference.

Farmboy, if I can add another two cents -- yes, Yosemite is very crowded (and hot) during the summer. But Sequoia is much cooler and many fewer folks. On the other hand, Yosemite has those spectacular waterfalls; Sequoia and Kings Canyon have waterfalls, too, but not as many and not as high.

donn0128 wrote:

sremsing wrote:
Thanks for all the input. Our plan is to head to northern California to see the redwoods then head south along the coast and stop to see anything of intetest to us. Been to yellowstone and grand canyon. Plan to head down south as far as los angeles. We will be in no hurry.

If your in no hurry, and have never been to the north coast, you might consider heading to Portland first. From here it is only a couple hours to US101 and some of the most beautiful coast scenery out side of New England. The big difference is our beaches are all free to the public.

My goodness if your going to be down in the southern part you really need to jump across to Yosemite and the Sequoia NP,s...by far two of our favorite spots in the country.....well except for all the people in the mid summer.

Andy, good point about the mist! The coastal redwoods are often misty all year round -- this was taken on the James Irvine Trail in Prairie Creek in September, just after a rainstorm:



The Sequoias are often misty in the spring but not in the summer -- this was taken in May in Muir Grove: