penel523

We are visiting LA this winter to be near our son but would like to take a week- or ten-day trip from there, probably up toward Yosemite and/or San Francisco. Can anyone recommend a route? This will be in March.

tomfuller

A lot depends on how many feet of snow that Yosemite gets this winter.
If this is with a rental car, just drive US 101 and CA 1 along the coastal route with stops in Santa Barbara, SLO and Carmel/Monterey before San Francisco.

Jean

The landslide-damaged portion of Hwy. 1 north of Cambria won't be repaired by March 2018, so you'd have to detour and return to the coast farther north.

MoonFish

I'd go south during that time of year.
Santa Barbara, Ojai, Malibu, Palm Springs, San Diego.

jamie99

With only a week, stick to NorCal or SoCal, since you are visiting LA in March I would stick to that area and add San Diego.
With 10 days you could maybe do Yosemite or SF. Yosemite books up a year in advance and will have snow, so you would have to use chains which are prohibited by most rental car companies. SF would be easier.

dbdurand

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DebbieDoesDulles

By mid-March weather usually warms up nicely and it's a nice time to head up the coast from Los Angeles...crowds are light, lodging prices are low, things are greening up. Santa Barbara for a couple or three nights, then the wine country (Los Olivos/Santa Ynez) for a night or two, then the Shell Beach area or Morro Bay. Cambria maybe, and a tour of Hearst Castle in San Simeon. Paso Robles if you want more wine & vine. Then up to Monterey/Carmel which will be a bit cooler than SB & the central coast, ie 60 degree days instead of 70.

A nice route would probably be Santa Barbara 2 nights, then Cambria for a night, then Monterey for 2 or 3 nights. On the way back stop in Morro Bay or Shell Beach for a night, and in Santa Ynez/Solvang for a night.

Try to get back to the L.A. area between noon & 3pm so that you don't hit lots of traffic around the city...or do it on a weekend day.

dbdurand

Instead of heading north or south more or less along the coast, I recommend you head east to the low desert. In March the weather will be great, with very low chance of rain and ideal temperatures. (As contrasted with summer, when it gets hot hot hot.) Here’s a possible route.
Death Valley NP, Las Vegas, Valley of Fire State Park, Lake Mead and Hoover Dam, Joshua Tree NP, Palm Springs, Salton Sea , Anza Borrego Desert State Park, Then back to LA via the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and Mission San Juan Capistrano. This makes a sorta big circle. You could easily break it off at Palm Springs and head back to LA.

Sorry for the late response.

StuDudley

>> I'd go south during that time of year.
Santa Barbara, Ojai, Malibu, Palm Springs, San Diego.

janisj

I would not make ANY plans for driving the coast until we see how much more rain we get in the next month+ The last storm caused catastrophic mudslides and road wash outs and currently 101 is closed. That plus there is a long term closure of hwy 1 in Big Sur. There was soooooo much fire damage between the Santa Barbara and Ventura country areas that any rain storm will probably cause more slides, road closures and evacuations.

So - wait until the beginning of March to decide re the coast.

If you eliminate the coast option -- March is a FABULOUS time in Yosemite. However rental agencies do not allow chains so you might be out of luck there (but if you enter the park via Merced that is the low altitude route and is impacted by snow much less often)

If you want a sure thing (or almost sure anyway) head to the desert - Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Palm Springs are all good at that time of year.