Redwood Forest/Sequoia National Park/PCH??
Aug 1st, 2011, 08:08 AM
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Redwood Forest/Sequoia National Park/PCH??
My husband and I are traveling to San Francisco in September for 6 days. We are planning to rent a car for the first 2-3 days and drive down the PCH to the San Luis Obispo area. (suggestions on where to stay in this area are appreciated!) We are trying to decide if we should drive from there to Sequoia National Park or make a trip to the Redwood Forest. Do any of you have any suggestions or prefer one to the other? I am going crazy trying to finalize our itinerary. I know that we arrive at 9:30am on the 1st and want to be back in San Francisco for dinner on the 3rd until we depart the evening on the 6th. Thank you!!
Aug 1st, 2011, 08:18 AM
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Which redwood forest?? We have many. I have 3 redwood trees in my back yard, and around 60-100 in the immediate neighborhood. I live close to the San Francisco Airport.
You won't have nearly enough time to drive down the Cabrillo Highway (no PCH up here) to SLO AND visit Sequoia. If you arrive at 9:30 on the 1st, you won't get on the road till around 10:30 or 11, getting you to Carmel at 1PM or so. You should consider staying overnight in Carmel, visit Carmel and Pt Lobos. On the 2nd, drive down Hwy 1, have lunch at Nepenthe, stop at spots along the way, and get to SLO around 5PM. Stay overnight there. Next day, head back to SF on 101/280 and visit one of the redwood forests near SF.
Don't rush things - quality not quantity.
Stu Dudley
You won't have nearly enough time to drive down the Cabrillo Highway (no PCH up here) to SLO AND visit Sequoia. If you arrive at 9:30 on the 1st, you won't get on the road till around 10:30 or 11, getting you to Carmel at 1PM or so. You should consider staying overnight in Carmel, visit Carmel and Pt Lobos. On the 2nd, drive down Hwy 1, have lunch at Nepenthe, stop at spots along the way, and get to SLO around 5PM. Stay overnight there. Next day, head back to SF on 101/280 and visit one of the redwood forests near SF.
Don't rush things - quality not quantity.
Stu Dudley
Aug 1st, 2011, 08:22 AM
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> any suggestions or prefer one to the other?
One reason NOT to go to the coastal redwoods, after having gone south from San Francisco, is because the main body of coastal redwoods are well north of San Francisco.
And let me make certain I understand your plan.
Day 1 -- leave SF, drive down Hiway 1 to San Luis Obispo.
Day 2 -- leave SLO and go somewhere that's almost a day's drive from SF, either Sequoia or the coastal redwoods
Day 3 -- visit that somewhere, but be back in SF in time for dinner.
Because half of both Day 2 will be spent going from SLO to somewhere, and half of Day 3 will be spent going from somewhere to SF, you won't have a lot of time to spend at wherever you end up going.
I honestly think you're being a bit ambitious.
One reason NOT to go to the coastal redwoods, after having gone south from San Francisco, is because the main body of coastal redwoods are well north of San Francisco.
And let me make certain I understand your plan.
Day 1 -- leave SF, drive down Hiway 1 to San Luis Obispo.
Day 2 -- leave SLO and go somewhere that's almost a day's drive from SF, either Sequoia or the coastal redwoods
Day 3 -- visit that somewhere, but be back in SF in time for dinner.
Because half of both Day 2 will be spent going from SLO to somewhere, and half of Day 3 will be spent going from somewhere to SF, you won't have a lot of time to spend at wherever you end up going.
I honestly think you're being a bit ambitious.
Aug 1st, 2011, 08:28 AM
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You can stop at redwoods on your way from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo. Here is a link to an area of redwoods near Santa Cruz: http://www.bigbasin.org/
Aug 1st, 2011, 09:01 AM
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I strongly recommend that you NOT try to arrive in SFO, drive down to Carmel, and then drive down Hwy 1 to SLO all in 1 day. If you stop anywhere along the way (redwoods, Carmel, Pt Lobos, Spanish Bay, Pacific Grove Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Pfeiffer Beach, Nepenthe) you won't get to SLO till well after dark - and you will be exhausted, IMO. You could easily spend a very active 4 days doing this. Be sensible - there is just too much "stuff" to see between SFO & SLO.
BTW, there are redwood trees at Pfeiffer State Park in Big Sur - on Hwy 1.
Stu Dudley
BTW, there are redwood trees at Pfeiffer State Park in Big Sur - on Hwy 1.
Stu Dudley
Aug 1st, 2011, 09:17 AM
#6
OK -- a map is in order here.
SFO > Carmel > Big Sur > SLO > Sequoia > SF is NOT a 2.5 day trip. That would take a week.
Sequoia is waaaay too far to even consider.
Redwoods National Park is hundreds of miles north of SF so that also isn't an option.
In your very short time you could manage Big Basin Redwoods State park, Carmel/Monetery, and big Sur. But even that would be a rush
SFO > Carmel > Big Sur > SLO > Sequoia > SF is NOT a 2.5 day trip. That would take a week.
Sequoia is waaaay too far to even consider.
Redwoods National Park is hundreds of miles north of SF so that also isn't an option.
In your very short time you could manage Big Basin Redwoods State park, Carmel/Monetery, and big Sur. But even that would be a rush
Aug 1st, 2011, 10:40 AM
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Yeah - way too much on this itinerary. You have 2 nights out of SF. At the absolute most, I would go to the SLO area and back - spend the night of the 1st in Carmel/Monterey, drive through Big Sur on the 2nd, spend the night of the 2nd in Cambria or someplace, then head back to SF on the 3rd. If it were my trip, I probably wouldn't even go that far - instead I'd spend both those nights in the Carmel/Monterey area and just take a day trip into Big Sur, but not drive all the way though.
