pati

Hi all,
For a short 2-day scenic getaway which
of the following is best in terms
of dry weather and scenery:

1. Fly to SFO and see Big Basin Redwoods
and Golden Gate park

2. Fly to Portland and see the Columbia River
Gorge

3. Fly to Seattle and see either Mt Rainer
or Olympic NP.

Or any other scenic short trips you recommend
for someone in east FL.
I've already been to GC, southern Utah and
niagara. Thx

Caitlin

Whether the weather is dry in any of these places si dry depends on what time of year you go. The coast near San Francisco should be dry until November, though October rains are a possibility. I can't speak to destinations 2 and 3, but a better scenic getaway from SF (assuming you have two full days) is to skip GG park and the city, and head south, visit Big Basin, head farther south to the Carmel area, spend the night there, and drive the Big Sur coast as far south as Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, with a stop in that park and at least one other north of it in Big Sur.

kam

Caitlin's suggestion is a good one, if you want to see trees and nature, but I would suggest you fly into San Jose rather than SFO. Then rent car and drive to Big Basin and over 17 to Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur. Stop at Pt. Lobos before Big Sur.

Glenda

We live in Portland and have just come home from a two week vacation in Florida. For two days that is completely unlike Florida I would suggest coming to Portland and driving up the gorge and then around Mt. Hood. There are some lovely places to stay in the Hood River area. Our really good weather is in July, August and the first part of September and the evenings get very cool which I think you would enjoy this time of year. We loved our trip to Florida, but were glad to get back to the cool evenings and that big old mountain.

pati

Thank you all for your suggestions.
But for anyone who had done both
Calif Redwoods/Big Sur and Oregon
Columbia Gorge, where is there
more stunning scenery?

If I may ask:

1. How accessible is Big Basin
State Park? My parents are not able
to hike for miles and miles.
Are there any easy (flat) hikes?

2. Is the drive to Big Sur easy from
San Jose? Or better, yet is there
any transportation or shuttle service
there?

Now, regarding Portland:

1. How easy is the drive to Columbia
River Gorge? Note that I'm from FL
where it is flat.

2. Is the Gorge easy to walk around?

Thanks!

Caitlin

Pati, let me give you some more info abut the geography of the area spanning San Jose to the Big Sur coast, which will answer your California questions. In order to get from San Jose to both Big Basin (in the Santa Cruz Mountains) and Big Sur, you need to drive over the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains. I'l be honest and say that the part of the drive over the mountain pass has a lot of curves and can certainly be nervous-making for someone not used to mountain driving. But if you take it slow, you'll be okay--this portion of the drive is not all that long. The Northern California and Noerthwest coastal areas have some of the country's most spectacular scenery, but they're just not flat, no getting around it!

As for Big Basin, getting thereinvolves another curvy mountain drive up from Santa Cruz, but again, you can take it slow, and this one isn't scary (IMO). The terrain in the park is varied, and while it's hilly, there are certainly level trails from which you can get a great sense of the majesty of the redwoods. Go to http://cal-parks.ca.gov/central/santacruz/bbrsp406.htm, the CA State Parks site for Big Basin; they have descriptions of the hikes available at all levels of difficulty, including indications for the altitudse change, etc., so you can find the shorter, level options.

I realize you asked about shuttles, but this is one trip where it makes a million times more sense to drive. There's not much public transit/shuttles, and it realy wouldn't work. You need to know that Big Sur is not a thing or a single place or town, but rather a stretch of the California coastline--certainly one of the more spectacular and rugged stretches there is. It's stunning, I guarantee you. The highway along which you drive to see it is also curvy, and much is right along the coast, but it's not very steep. You would want to stop at Pt. Lobos State Reserve at the north end, where you can take short walks to great coastal views, and at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to see McWay Falls. Carmel or Pacific Grove would be the best place to spend the night (south of San Jose and Big Basin, north of Big Sur). For more about Big Sur, please type "Big Sur trip report" into the search box on this page; just a couple of weeks ago, I posted a gfairly detailed report about a recent visit, and it should turn up easily in a search.

P.S. I understand your nervousness at the idea of mountain driving when you're used to flat Florida, but many, many people who have not driven such roads before tour the Big Sur coast, and they do fine--they just take it slow and stop often to rest and enjoy the scenery.

Y

The drive along Big Sur is truly stunning and is definitely worth seeing atleast once in a lifetime. The 17 mile drive along Pebble Beach should also be included in your agenda.

The drive along the Columbia Gorge isn't a difficult one. There are a few of the waterfalls that your parents would be able to see. However, the more remote ones require some hiking and are definitely not for everyone. But that said, the majority of the visitors only visit the main ones and are quite amazed just by that scenery. If driving up to Mt. Hood, make sure to dress warm (we encountered snow up there on a July day last year). Have lunch up at the Timberline Lodge and enjoy watching the snowboarders.

John

Pati, a great two day itinerary can be had in the Portland area by driving east on the "old" Columbia River Gorge highway, stopping at least at Multnomah Falls, then on to Bonneville Dam to see the monster Sturgeon penned up there, then on to Hood River for a return loop around Mt. Hood as Glenda suggested. However, I'd also recommend you continue east on the river (the Washington side past Cascade Locks) to the interesting Maryhill Museum near Goldendale, where you'll see original Rodin sculpture, artifacts from Victorian-era royal households (especially the Queen of Romania), a fabulous collection of Indian artifacts, and the fascinating "Theatre de la Mode" collection of postwar dolls made in 1946 in France in order to revive the French fashion industry, all located in a concrete Italian Renaissance villa overlooking the Columbia, with peacocks running around and crying their creepy call. Very strange and magical place, set in mountain and sagebrush scenery which replaces the trees and waterfalls just a few miles down the road. The same man who built the museum (and the old Gorge Highway) also built a cement replica of Stonehenge on a bluff a mile or two east of the museum. Worth a detour, IMO.

On a different note, you might consider adding another possible itinerary: San Francisco to the Muir Redwoods, then poke around the Marin and Sonoma coastlines for a day or two - even as far north as Mendocino on Highway 1. Wonderful rocky coast, very nice towns, gorgeous groves of redwoods, live oaks, eucalyptus, all set in the glorious golden rolling hills of this part of California.

You don't have enough time for Olympic NP, and although we live nearby we think Rainier is a nice day trip, nothing more.