Fairfield, California -> Van Damme State Park, California

[roadnerd]

I actually found a thread from a few years ago about this, but figured I'd ask to see if there is any new tidbits from anyone.

For our 2nd trip in our new (to us) Keystone Sprinter 26BHS, we will be pulling from our home in Fairfield, CA to Van Damme State Park (near Fort Bragg). I'm a little anxious about route choice, so I'm wondering if anyone has any insight on 101->128->1 vs 101->20->1 (obviously, Hwy. 1 is a non-starter 😉 ). I'm pretty green on towing anything that big. I located convenient diesel along the way (also not looking forward to filling up with the trailer hitched up) at Jensen's Truck Stop in Ukiah
Thanks!

[roadnerd]

To close this out: Our trip started on 4/1/2015, and we returned today (4/4/2015).

I chose the 101 -> 20 route (via Willits). The route was good (plenty of turnouts) and provided a good workout out for my 2003 diesel F250 (If you know the 6.0 F250, you know they like to be run hard), on both the 101 grade into Willits and the 20 grade up and over to Ft. Bragg.

Van Damme is a great campground, we had a great time. Note that if you are staying in the upper campground (anything above site 30), there is a sharp left hander that is required to get onto the access road - it was too extreme to make with my 26' TT. Luckily, there is a turnaound area provided across from sites 23 and 24 that allow a many point turn. This was great practice.

We stayed in site 71, which is somewhat secluded from the other upper sites, and was advertised as a pull through, but did require some tricky backing in. Still a great campsite though...

Thanks to all for the tips - this was our 1st real outing!

[oldcat1]

128 is about 30 miles shorter to Van Damme than 20. Also it is a few less miles on Hwy 1, 8 miles using 128 vs. 11 miles using 20. Both are good roads. My experience has been that on week days there is less traffic on 128 than on 20. Take your time and use the turnouts. Safe travels.

[profdant139]

I think 20 is faster than 128 -- less time on PCH. If you are a mountain biker, both Van Damme and Russian Gulch have some great riding, and it is not difficult at all.

If you have a minute, check this out -- the first part of the blog post is about the northern redwoods, but then the rest is about the Mendocino/Ft. Bragg area:

Mendo coast blog post

[RognBon]

Either route will work fine for you. We have used both routes in our 40' DP towing a Ford Edge. Just take your time and you will be fine.

[jmtandem]

I actually found a thread from a few years ago about this, but figured I'd ask to see if there is any new tidbits from anyone.

For our 2nd trip in our new (to us) Keystone Sprinter 26BHS, we will be pulling from our home in Fairfield, CA to Van Damme State Park (near Fort Bragg). I'm a little anxious about route choice, so I'm wondering if anyone has any insight on 101->128->1 vs 101->20->1 (obviously, Hwy. 1 is a non-starter ). I'm pretty green on towing anything that big. I located convenient diesel along the way (also not looking forward to filling up with the trailer hitched up) at Jensen's Truck Stop in Ukiah
Thanks!

You should be able to make it to Fort Bragg (Van Damme) on one take of diesel. Unhook at camp and drive into town with just the truck to fill up if fueling with the trailer attached is an issue.

I would take US 101 to SR 20. Many drive SR 20 with RV's.