That depends -- the drive alone will only add a little over one hour to the total. But of course it will take much longer than that with stops at Point Arena, Ft Ross, etc. IRL it would be about an 8+ hour (gorgeous) drive. So I personally wouldn't do it unless I had a spare night to say over mid way.

I would take Rt. 128 across to Winters (I-505). You can see the Petrified Forest and the Old Faithful Geyser of California near Calistoga. You can go north on I-505 to get on 16 east to I-5 at Woodland.

>>I would take Rt. 128 across to Winters (I-505)

Digbydog, I've been following your thread with interest since we are planning a somewhat similar trip. I'll start my own thread for questions, but this one last thing caught my interest. I'm thinking of driving down to Point Arena Lighthouse for a final night on the coast, and then on to Sacramento for a final night before flying out. Do you also have an extra night between Mendocino and Sacramento? For us, I'm not sure of our optimal routing, but it would be nice if you could drive down a bit further and enjoy the area, if you have the time.

This is also my (much) preferred route for getting from US 101 to I-5 in northern California.

Sludick—we will not have another night between Mendocino and SMF, so we will have to skip that part of the coast. Hopefully, we will get a good taste of coastline further north in California and Oregon.

Just looked at the map—is the drive down 128 through Healdsburg, Calistoga, and Napa especially pretty? Looks like it’s not too much longer. If it makes a difference, we would be doing the drive on a Friday. Not sure whether that would mean extra traffic.