Where to Stay Along the Way: So Cal to Portland, OR

Lots to do here in the Santa Cruz/Monterey area, as you probably know. Don't know how old your youngest DD is, but have you taken her to Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey? Or the big redwood trees at Henry Cowell? Or to Nisene Marks State Park? Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk?

Wilder Ranch, just north of Santa Cruz, is great for riding bikes & hiking; trails along the ocean and into the hills in back of the park.

You may be able to reserve a place to stay at Pinto Lake Park in Watsonville, it's very reasonable and has hookups. Take a side trip to Gizdich Farms nearby to pick blackberries & strawberries in season.

If your going to hang out in the Monterey area, there is a restaurant called Louie's by the Aquarium that was good and had good views. Kids had fun there.

Also at Moss Landing you can rent Kayaks and go up into the Elkhorn Slough. Lots of sea otters and wildlife up there!.

Have fun!

Oh, boy! Do I now feel like a schmuck! Thanks for all the great suggestions. As it turns out, my wife has to report back to work (she's a teacher, well, we both are but I start later in August) on Wednesday July 31st. We can't be in Portland on Sunday and be back home by Tuesday. So all our plans have changed. We may do a similar trip in the future. But, this Summer we’ll likely spend time in Monterey and San Fran the week prior to the MotoGP races at Seca and come home on July 23rd or 24th.

To respond to some of you:

ReferDog: Thanks. I would not have known that about the 99.

WyoTraveler: Rush is a band. And like bikendan said, a very famous one. Just got inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. But, if you’re not much of a Rock fan it’s not a surprise they’ve passed under your radar.

rocmoc: Thanks for the Valero tip. That may come in handy.

DesertHawk: Although it’s been a number of years since our last Seca trip, we’ve been many times. But, our youngest DD has not. We’ll likely do the Aquarium again and Phil’s sounds good.

downtheroad & nina_70: Thanks for the tip on Klamath Falls. In looks nice on the web, but we’ll check out Crater Lake instead if we end up being able to do this trip.

Road-Trekker: Many thanks for putting that together! The only thing I’d deviate from is the return trip. I am no stranger to the 101 and would like to come home either on I-5 (Ugh, but we’ve never seen the State Capital) or SH-395. Just so we don’t do the same thing twice.

Hi, we did same trip last year, but we also visited Mt. St. Helen and Mt. Rainier in washington before heading south of 101 to socal.

WyoTraveler wrote:
So what is the Rush concert?

Rush is a famous rock band.

We generally stay at Ainsworth State Park near Troutdale about 30 minutes to Portland, full hookups very scenic and near waterfalls in the Gorge. No reservations but if you get there early afternoon you can generally get in. Also Harris Beach State Park is our favorite, near the beach, and just before the border into CA. Most of the public campgrounds near the Redwoods are no hookups and the private ones like parking lots. Enjoy your trip.

One place that we've been that looks like it's on your route is Lava Tubes National Monument. We were only there for a couple of hours on a day trip, but would love to go back. You will need a good flashlight, we recently were given a LED Maglite that is amazing. When we were there we were given flashlights to use but I'd rather use the Maglite.

I'd also recommend Lassen National Park if you've never been there before. The hike into Bumpass Hell is spectacular. You have to get out of your car and hike around to really see what's there.

Hello Vapor Trails,
Great trip. My suggested trip route based on my own RV travels:
1. Yucaipa to Santa Barbara on Hwy. 101 up to some where around Pleasanton. Find an RV park, leave the RV and drive into San Francisco for sight seeing. I would not drive my RV into S.F. Then take 580 east to I-5. Too congested and "white Knuckle" driving. Can it be done, sure! just not my choice when towing the 5th. wheel.

2. continue north to Hwy. 20 (Clear Lake area) take 20 west to 101. There is an Indian Casino half way to 101. You can stay overnight free. Big parking lot and no need to unhook.

3. I would take 101 all the way through Calif. and Oregon. Suggest you make some reservations along the Oregon coast now! Very popular areas during the summer. Just past the Calif. border is the town of Brookings with some nice RV parks right on the coast. Seaside has a nice RV Park Circle Creek to stay and the explore the area. 20 miles north to Astoria, neat old ocean town. You can take a day trip over the Columbia River and visit some coast towns in Washington.
4. Take Hwy 26 from Seaside east to Portland, about 2 hr. trip.
5. On the return trip home if you take I-5, there are good RV Parks in Corning at the Casino with full hook ups and great Casino. Further south, about 30 miles past Stockton, stay at the Kit Fox RV park, full hook ups and resturants right across the street. If you need additional info, email me privatly. Have fun!

Most of the state parks either south of, or north of Eureka are great for dry camping. However, reservations would most likely be necessary - soon.

Rather than Klamath Falls I would stop somewhere a little closer to Crater Lake. THAT is something worth seeing and should not be missed. Several state parks not too far away (e.g. Collier Memorial State Park), all of which are excellent.

If you need to stop at Grants Pass, Valley of the Rogue State Park is quite nice. You can take a jet boat down the Rogue River from Grants Pass too.

But I also agree with the others that travelling along the OR coast (101) is really the prettiest option. It's not a big detour, but it's SO gorgeous with lots of excellent state parks along the way. My preference in OR is always to travel the coast whenever I can. I'd advise taking the coast all the way north to Astoria, then breaking off into Portland. On your way back you can stick w/ the 5 but plan to stop at Crater Lake.