Best weather and tips to roadtrip to west coast USA
 

Hi all !
We plan a roadtrip to the west coast, starting from Portland, Oregon down to California ( Yosemite, San Francisco, Big Sur, Los Angeles ) then couple of Utah NP, Wyoming and back to Portland.
Can anyone give an advice regarding the weather between
18th Sept and 6th October in theses regions ?
We already have visited this part of Usa but in aug - sept.
Then the weather was excelent.
Thanks for help !

It kind of depends on "where", exactly. And when. I'd say mid/late September might be the turning point for the weather in the mountains, but SF is probably nicer in October than it is in July (clearer).

But in terms of WY and Utah there's no real way to predict it. I'd say the only thing I would expect would it to be chillier at night. But it really depends so much on the year. This last fall the weather broke much earlier than the year before. That time of is usually more mild but it could also be a mix of cold and hot.

Have you mapped out those driving times? Did you do a similar trip before? Because my initial thought is that's a lot of ground to cover in that time frame. But I don't have any idea of what you're trying to see in Utah or WY.

If you haven't been keeping track of what's going on with the big sur, look it up. It's going to be more time consuming to drive than in the past- can't go straight down it.

marvelousmouse, thanks for good tips, In 2015 we had a trip in that part of USA ( Portland, Yellowstone, Salt Lake City, Arches NP, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland ) in 2 weeks. That's true it was a bit in a hurry but it was amazing. But it was in august - september and the weather was ideal. Now we would like to visit the places we could not then due to time adding others like Yosemite, Crater Lake, Big Sure, Zion NP etc
Now we cannot go in august that's why we are a bit afraid of weather.
I don't know what's wrong with Big Sure but I'll look for infos.
Thanks again !

Is there a reason you want to drive from Portland? I think you could find a more convenient place to start. I would skip Crater Lake.

We are from Europe and I have a cousine in Portland. We are thinking also a second option, to start in LA but I've read in reviews that car renting is chaotic in LA (?) Is it true ? Last time in Portland the car renting was very simple, haven't needed to make a reservarion before. Right at the place we get a car in 20 minutes. We are not obliged to start in Portland. What city would be the best option ?

*i mean car renting on LA airport

I'd maybe rent in Salt Lake City. Go to WY , then west to Yosemite.

Then you can return the car right after whatever NPs you're seeing in Utah.

I just think it's kind of a waste to fly into Portland and drive all that way just to see Crater. Unless you want to see family, that is.

It sounds good your proposal, we'll think about that, have to check flights and rates :) By the way, I've just read about Big Sur ... hmmm is quite annoying that all these happens right now ... 2 years ago We had in our plan this road but there were no time for it, We hope they can manage the situation by September ( they've said in the news ... by July (?) )
Thanks again for good suugestions, I appreciate your help !

There was recently another landslide and even if there hadn't been, I'm fairly skeptical that the bridge will be open to traffic by then. You can see most of the road though, detours will just take longer. Pfeiffer State Park was one of my favorite places and it's open again. Good luck!

It of course depends on rental car prices and fares, but I would choose either Portland or one of tha inland airports (Sacramento, Vegas, SLC, Denver, Phoenix) to fly out of. You might want to look into open jaw too.

There are 3 major problem areas on Hwy 1 through Big Sur. The target date for completion of Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge is the end of September but that's not guaranteed. The mudslides to the south may take much longer. Right now you can drive 26 miles of Hwy 1 south of Carmel before reaching the collapsed bridge and having to turn around. September/October is a great time of year on the CA central coast. It's actually typically warmer and sunnier than July/August which can be foggier here.

Where in WY did you want to go? If you decide to include Crater Lake, I'd go there at the beginning of your trip. Snow can hit early there (as well as in WY).

>>We hope they can manage the situation by September ( they've said in the news ... by July (?) )<<

The road will definitely <B>NOT</B> be open by September. It probably won't re open until next year. It will take months and if we have another rainy season there could be additional slides delaying things even more. You can drive a short way south into Big Sur from the Monterey/Carmel end and then have to turn around and go back north to either head east towards Yosemite or if you plan on going farther south on the coast a big detour around the entire Big Sur region.

I'd heard October was the target date for the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge replacement but have my doubts. However even if the bridge is in place there is still the Mud Creek slide to deal with which is much more recent than the bridge collapse.
http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads....&submit=Search
BTW I do NOT recommend using Nacimiento-Ferguson Road, it is narrow and two lanes and may be closed from time to time to allow shipment of supplies.

We drove the Nacimiento-Ferguson Road from the coast to Hunter Liggett M.R. a few years ago. It was really scary, even though the weather was great, the surface had just recently been re-done, and we met no other cars on the road.

It's so narrow in some sections that two cars can't pass (you'd have to back up or down to do so), there were no guard rails in some sections, and it's very winding and twisting with a sheer drop off.

My younger sister used to work at Ventana Inn, and when there was a mudslide, they told people about this alternate route. She had one guest come back later and they were quite upset that she hadn't warned them how frightening it would be. (She didn't know this at the time).

When I was a kid, we frequently vacationed at the Hacienda at Hunter Liggett. My parents always chose the less scenic inland route from San Diego, and know I know why!

It seems to be quite comlicated to approach the Big Sur. Is it worth in this situation to drive there to see only the northern part ? Regarding WY two years ago we couldn't visit Grand Teton NP, that is an option now or another choice could be Trail Ridge Road in Colorado. Which one is better ? Or is it too long way to drive to Colorado ?

Sept and October in Los Angeles (and San Diego) can be our hottest time of the year. It is when the hot desert winds (called Santa Ana Winds) change direction and blow westward toward the ocean. It is not my favorite time of the year as it is excruciatingly hot and uncomfortable.

>>Is it worth in this situation to drive there to see only the northern part?<<

Absolutely Yes! It isn't that complicated really. You can visit the northern part of Big Sur and then just return to Monterey/Carmel and head east a bit to catch highway 101 south. Even if you only visit Point Lobos it would be 'worth it'

While the northern section of Hwy 1 through Big Sur is definitely worth seeing, I'm still trying to figure out how you're going to fit everything on your list in with less than 3 weeks. I haven't been to Rocky Mountain NP but I wouldn't go as far as CO. It could be beautiful or it could be snowing in Grand Teton (or it could both) at that time of year. You never know. Southern UT and southern CA will still be warm to hot then.

>>I'm still trying to figure out how you're going to fit everything on your list in with less than 3 weeks.<<

There is that :)

I agree it is an AWFUL lot.

janisj, you are right, probably there is too much in the list, We haven't decided exactly everything about the trip yet but as from We'll fly about 20 hours to get there and the flight is not cheap at all We try to see as much as we can :) Personally I love the US, the beautiful nature and the kindness of the people there. Thats why I opened this topic to ask for good ideas :) As you maybe've read in one of my before post, two years ago We had a same roundtrip and We've seen a lot a lot of attractions. I think the single problem was to drive that big distances.
This time I think We'll start in Portland again, than part of Oregon coast, then Crater Lake (?), Yosemite, Tioga Road, San Francisco, partly Big Sur, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Zion NP, Grand Canyon, and back to Portland, depending on time and weather go north and drive trough other NP or Grand Teton (?). But everything is flexible. We make usually the reservations for hotels 1 - 2 days before when we already know the next destination. So if We are not in the schedule We could select and skip one or two destinations we consider less important or choose another one. But if you can give another tip for us you are welcome :) ... sorry for my english, it's not the best ;)))