howRya3943

I don't see many posts for trips to Northern CA in this forum. My family - myself, wife and two girls (12 & 15) are heading to CA this summer. Dates are not set yet but most likely on July 4th - 11th.

We have decided to just to San Fran north this trip and take the South another trip.

We are an active family and like seeing natural sites, hiking, redwoods, mountains, waterfalls, etc.

Fly to San Fran or Sacramento
Day 1 - Arrive - drive to San fran - Pier 39, the Wharf, Alcatraz (Columbus Motel?)
Day 2 - go to the Six flags in Vallejo (Hotel in Vallejo)
Day 3 - Head up to Humboldt Eureka area. Leisurely drive through red wood, hike, etc (haven't decided where to stay this night)
Day 4 - 6 - Head to Redding (Mount Shasta Resort)
- Some things we were thinking of doing - Hiking (Lassen, Mount Shasta, waterfalls??)
Day 7 head to airport to fly out.

Questions:
- Are there any thing we shouldn't miss with an itinerary like this?
- Is this too much driving?
- I've heard that Eureka is not a good place to stay the night - is this true?
- Any suggested places to stay in the general vicinity of Mount Shasta?
- What is the weather generally like on a trip like this? I assume both blazing hot and cool on the coast.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. I've never been north of San fran

november_moon

Some thoughts on your itinerary...

July 4th is a holiday, so most people will have the 5th off as well. That will make traffic and lodging a bit difficult those days. Rental cars may also be in short supply. If you can shift your dates to a couple weeks earlier or a week later, you would miss the holiday and probably have a better trip.

If you can get good flights into SFO, I'd do that rather than Sacramento since SF is your first destination. Save you some driving. Flying out of Sacramento at the end of your trip makes sense though since it is the closest major airport to the Redding area.

For your SF portion of the trip, I'd plan 2 nights in SF rather than just the one. The way your plan is set up right now, you'll only have a half day in SF, which is really a shame. Plus, even with teenagers, I would not trade a day in SF for a day at Marine World. This park is ok, but not great. It sort of has an identity problem - used to be exclusively and animal park before Six Flags took over and added the rides, now it is sort of a hybrid, the result being both aspects get shortchanged. With 2 nights in SF, that will give you a day and a half to see the city.

I am not very familiar with the Humbodlt area, so I can't give any advice there, although it does seem like a long haul just to spend 1 night there. Maybe someone else can weigh in on that.

In the Redding area, I am familiar with Lassen park, which is really neat. There is lots of good hiking there - if you are up for it, hike to the top of Mt. Lassen. We have a plan to do that this Labor Day weekend. Bumpass Hell is another interesting hike - takes you to some neat thermal features. And then there are hikes to a bunch of lakes from trails that start at Summit Lake. And a nice thing about Lassen is that it is not as heavily visited as many national parks, so even in the height of summer, you don't have a lot of people. We went a few years ago over Labor Day weekend and on Saturday afternoon only had a short wait at the entrance.

For weather, you are right on the mark. The coast will probably be cool and inland it will be hot. Higher elevations wont be as warm though - like at Lassen, I would be surprised if it is more than 85°F.

PotenzaRon

If you do decide to spend time at Marineworld, I suggest you head north to spend the night rather than in Vallejo. Any number of wine country towns are within a short distance and are a lot nicer than Vallejo - no disrespect meant to my Vallejo friends.

sf7307

>>

Although, if you stay at Marine World until closing time, it will likely be late, so a motel nearby would not be a bad idea.

Suzie

The city of Mt Shasta has a great 4th of July celebration.
So if you find yourself there you should definitely stick around. Very old fashioned and family oriented. Craft & Street Fair on Mt. Shasta Blvd & Castle Street. Live music, food. Runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday in 2010. "Mt. Shasta Mountain Runners"fun-run/walk at 8:30 am on Sunday, parade at noon "Mt.Shasta Fourth of July Fireworks" over Lake Siskiyou at dusk.

Mossbrae Falls out of Dunsmuir is pretty amazing. You do have to walk next to the railroad tracks and I have never visited the falls when a train didn’t go by so you have to be aware. http://www.dunsmuir.com/visitor/outdoor.php


Burney Falls is really worth the effort: http://www.burney-falls.com/

elnap29

I encourage you to spend some time in SF. It is really fun for everyone. (Have you been to SF before)?? Pick up a copy of "Stairway Walks in San Francisco" by Adah Bakalinsky, and take your family on some great hikes in the City! Each one is anywhere from 1 to 2 hrs and the views are wonderful. There is so much to do in SF - even a live show would be a fun experience for your kids. I'd completely skip Marine World (which I am very familiar with). Your kids will enjoy SF much more.

Allow plenty of time for your Redwoods excursion. The walking/hiking is beautiful. You could consider staying somewhere along the Avenue of the Giants, like at Miranda Gardens Resort. Or the little town of Ferndale. Eureka and Arcata would have more of the run-of-the-mill motel chains.

Important: Which route are you taking to get to Mount Shasta area? Keep in mind the roads from Eureka to Redding are two-lane, slow, and windy - and, I hear, very long driving. I have not driven this route but have read about this. It might be scenic and wonderful but may be more time in the car than you are planning. Perhaps someone else on Fodors can advise you.

janisj

I second all of suzie's comments about Mt Shasta over the 4th, and Mossbrae and Macarthur-Burney Falls. Burney Falls is absolutely amazing.

PLEASE - don't stay in Vallejo if you can avoid it. There are lots of better options - even doing it as a day trip from SF would be better. But Vallejo is a short drive from Napa, Sonoma or towns over along 101

There are lots of threads on here about northern CA - and now that the search function actually works, they are easier to find.

howRya3943

Thanks for all the replies. Its always amazing how the internet is full of information but it really takes real people responding on sites like this to help put this together. I'm taking this good advice to my family tonight to discuss our trip. I like all the advice. I was a bit worried about Vallejo. I'd prefer to stay in San Fran longer also, so maybe a day trip to the Six flags makes sense if that is what we decide to do.

howRya3943

Ok - thanks again.

Based on the comments from above we are thinking of this itinerary. The Six Flags is something I promised my daughter so that has to stay in the agenda. As advised, we will stay in SFO instead of Vallejo.

Day 1 arrive in morning at SFO - go straight to San Fran, stay at Columbus Motor Inn. Stay here for two days. arrival day spend getting situated, buying groceries, supplies, visit Pier 39, Fishermans Wharf if time permits
Day 2 go to Six Flags
Day 3 go to alcatraz, goldengate bridge and then take leisurely trip up coastal highway. Stop at Point Reyes. Skip Muir Woods. Stay in Mendocino for night
Day 4 Head further up the coast, stop at Humboldt, Avenue of the Giants, Fern Canyon, etc. Stay at Arcata or Trinidad
Day 5 head across 299 to Redding. Stay somewhere for two days here and spend most time at Lassen. Any suggestions for a relaxing place to stay that is cooler temps?
Day 7 head to SFO to leave

I wish we had more time and I know we are not doing everything.

janisj

Only time for a quick comment right now. In Mid July you do not want to be anywhere near Redding. HOT doesn't even come close. Chester, Susanville or Lake Almanor would be better. Even they could be hot, but nothing like what you might get in Redding.

Here is a B&B in Chester http://www.bidwellhouse.com/ There are also some motels in Chester and some nice small resorts at Lake Almanor.

Placename

janisj is right- July in Redding is beastly hot. I drove through there once when it reached 115. It regularly is over 100 in the summer.

elnap29

Oh, yeah. HOT! Redding and across the valley through Chico area is life-suckingly hot in the daytime. Perhaps you'd want to stay in the Trinities near Weaverville one night and then cross over the valley to Mt. Lassen. Your coolest temps will be at high elevations, like in the Trinity Alps and then Mt. Lassen area.
Actually, I think you have a lot of driving on this trip. I'd balance my time between SF, the coast, and the Redwoods with only a 7-day trip. We have always felt that 2 nights in the Redwoods is a bit too minimal to justify the long drive. Would you consider 2 nights SF, 2 nights on the coast, 2 in Redwoods? Or 3 in SF, 1 on the coast, 2 Redwoods? You have only 6 nights, right? I think it will be about a 5-hr+ drive from Redwoods back to SF on your last day.
If you are an active family (as are we), you'd enjoy having time to walk one of the trails at Pt Reyes, explore the beach and collect shells in Mendocino, visit (my most favorite) Mendocino Botanical Gardens - allow some time here, it's wonderful - and stroll/walk/hike the peaceful, fern-laden, oxygen-rich trails in the Redwoods. Truly you do not want to just drive through these places. The car ride from Eureka over to Redding will take a long time and I think you might consider whether you'd rather spend all that time in a car or really take time to experience the other places. I'm just sayin'...

howRya3943

Thanks - all good points and we are considering everything.

Keep the suggestions coming.
Like all travelers we want to do it all, and have not time to do it. I'm sure we will miss alot but my hope is to let my kids experience a couple of things all human's should see in their lifetime. Redwoods and the CA coast. I've been there and its breath-taking. My family is used to moving on from one spot to another so the driving won't be an issue and we know we will miss many things. Our original itinerary had us going to crater lake also but that seemed almost not doable. We also originally were going to go from San Fran to Trinidad in one day. Earlier posts prompted us to add another day to the coast trip and take 1 versus 101.
Good to know that Redding is not a place we want to be. We are looking at some lodging near Lassen - in Mineral or Paradise for our final nights.

janisj

Paradise -- nope -- at least not IMO. Paradise is just outside Chico and is not all that much cooler than Redding or Red Bluff - a bit better but not much. Plus it is not very convenient to Lassen.

Mineral is right outside the park so is fine location-wise - I have no idea about accommodations.

november_moon

Here is a list of lodging choices for Lassen from the NPS web site:

http://www.nps.gov/lavo/planyourvisit/lodging.htm

Of the choices, I have only stayed in the Kamping Kabins at the KOA campground, so I can't really recommend anything, but I thought having a list might help.