Review my No. Cal itinerary please!
 

We are arriving at the SFO airport on July 26. We would like to see the following: 2 days in Mendocino, 4 days in Sonoma Healdsburg area, and 3 days in city of SFO - at this point in that order based on what I see on the map as far as driving a reasonable route. Somewhere in this trip - we want to go to a Redwood Forest. So..

Question - if we arrive at 10:30AM, on the road by noon after luggage/car rental - do we have time to make it to Mendocino at a decent hour? Given that rooms are runnning $250+ a night, I don't want to get there too late.

Second question - or would you recommend stopping and overnighting somewhere along the way to Mendocino? If so where along the way?

We have our rooms - except for Mendocino where we want to be directly on the water - any recommendations? For Healdsburg we have booked the Best Western and for SFO the Hotel Monaco.

Last question - from Mendocino to Healdsburg - we may want to add another day - any recommendations on which city? Or is this close enough to the Healdsburg stop that it would be a waste of time - is the Redwood forest near there?

Thanks so much. It is so hard to look at a map and figure out truly how far everything is - and not knowing about traffic. We are trying to do Sonoma County during the week as recommended on the board and do Mendocino and SFO on the weekends. Any advice? Thanks.

First of all, it should be very easy to drive to Mendocino if you arrive at 10:30. I think it will be about a 3.5 hour drive. You should miss traffic.

Mendocino to Healdsburg is about half that so I wouldn't think it's necessary to stay a night inbetween. I'm not sure where you'd want to stay if you did.

There are a couple of good choices for redwoods forests. On your way to/from Mendocino, on Route 128 you'll pass briefly through a Redwood Forest. There are two or three small state parks that have nice redwood groves. Paul M. Dimmick was the first place I ever camped, as a very small child.

When you are in Healdsburg, take a drive to Guerneville and go to Armstrong Redwoods State Park. It has a really great old grove of redwoods, one of the best in the area. Use www.wineroad.com for a great interactive map of the area.

It sounds like a good plan!

Since it looks like you are arriving on Saturday you should be able to make it to Mendocino. According to Mapquest the drive to the town of Mendocino is about three hours. It's summer so the sun will be up until 7:30

As for redwoods the "must not miss" drive is the Avenue of the Giants. It is about 30 miles of nothing but huge trees and ferns.

It is a little way north of Mendocino, but you could do it the day you go from Mendocino to Healdsburg.

The Avenue of the Giants is a section of road (Hwy 254) that runs alongside Hwy 101. It takes off from Hwy 101 at exit 645 near Phillipsville and ends up near Pepperwood. But you can jump back over the Hwy 101 at several places along the route if you need to be somewhere.

If it were me, from Mendocino I would take Hwy 1 north to Leggett (Hwy 101) then go north, exit and drive the Avenue of the Giants, jump back on Hwy 101 and come back south to Healdsburg.

Pretty east one day drive with plenty to see.

I'd like to recommend the Albion River Inn - www.albionriverinn.com My husband and I stayed there on our trip in that area and absolutely loved it. Great restaurant there and the view was beautiful.

Thanks everyone. Great recommendations. I'll continue on with my planning with all this in mind. Thx so much.

Hello
We are doing a similar trip in July. Our flight from the east coast gets into San Francisco at 10:00am. I am staying in San Francisco for the first two nights then heading to Mendocino. I plan to take 101 up to Santa Rosa then take Hwy 12 to Hwy 116 which I believe is the wine road and come out on the coast by Jenner. From everything I have been reading the scenery from Jenner to Mendocino is spectacular. From mendocino you should try to include Ave Of The Giants for the redwoods a little north of Mendocino then come back down 101 to Healdsburg. I think all would be very doable in the amount of time you have.

mmouse, just so you know, you've added a couple of hours to your trip to Mendocino by taking the coastal route. That's going to be a long curvy road. Yes, it's beautiful coastline, but be prepared for a lot of it.

For anyone driving the California coast, the only suggestion that i have would be to do it from north to south.

This way you'll be along the shore and having unobstructed views of the ocean. Also you don't have to cross on-coming traffic to get to the pull -outs.

If you drive the coastal route from south to north, then you'll be on the landside lane and you'll see less of the ocean scenery.

Just a suggestion.

Grasshopper
Yes I realize it will take longer going this way to mendo but I figure I have all day and plan to stop along the way armstrong redwoods and korbel winery although I won't be having any wine knowing we have that drive ahead of us. I think I feel better going south to north because I am not on the oceanside and away from the edge. Just curious is hwy 116 very curvy too or just when we reach the coast?

116 has some very curvy parts at the 101 end. Then it straightens out until you get to the coast. You'll go through the Anderson Valley Wine region on 116.

Korbel is really beautiful and Armstrong Redwoods is great.

Just a detail about doing sfo on the weekend....if you wanted to do a cable car ride, it is extremely difficult. Long lines, never get on, etc.
South of Mendocino, a B&B called the Harbor House is very nice and is right on the water.

I think 4 nights in the Healdsburg area is a lot of time (perhaps too much) - considering you're only planning on 3 days in The City (SFO is the airport - not The City). If you're set on those nights - I would take my time getting there from Mendocino, take an all-day trip to the Napa Valley (via Alexander Valley) from Healdsburg, and then from Healdsburg head west to the coast & make your way to SF that way - unless there is a lot of fog - which is "normal" in late July.

Do you have a copy of my "North of San Francisco" drive??

Stu Dudley

Hi. Yes I do have a copy of it - printed it out a few weeks ago. We will follow it quite a bit.

The reasoning behind staying more days in Healdsburg was not only to see wineries, but also farms. We love the outdoors.

I want to relax on this vacation, as opposed to cramming everything in - and being in the car all day long touring. So hopefully if we stay put in one area, we will relax a bit. If so, it will be a first!

I changed my hotels around a bit - have them booked now! Two nights at the Agate Cove Inn near Mendocino, one night at the Best Western Dry Creek in Healdsburg (reason is that we expect to arrive late due to being in the Redwoods, and it is the least expensive I could find), and three nights at the Honor Mansion B&B in Healdsburg. Then we have one open night - thought we would leave a day/night open for a "whim" to see where we want to go. The last three nights at Hotel Monaco in San Francisco. (SFO I know is the airport, but it is a great abbreviation).

So any other recommendations - I am open ears. Thanks so much!

If my math is correct, your "whim" night is Friday, Aug 1. All the "whim" places will almost certainly be booked up then. Lots of hotels & perhaps B&Bs also require a 2 night minimum stay - especially on weekends (Fri & Sat, or Sat & Sun required).

I would not plan on a whim in peak tourist season - reserve ahead.

What had you planned to do on the Farms???

Stu Dudley

Hi Luckyladyh

Just a note on the Mendocino to Ave. of the Giants to Healdsburg day, that is one long road trip. I would skip going up one (the best coast is below Ft. Bragg) and cut over on 20. Then I would go all the way up on 101 to the Bull Creek area drive west on bull creek flats road to the tall trees area have a bit of a hike and maybe a picnic then drive the Ave. on the way back down. This will be an 8 to 10 hour trip.

Have Fun
GP

GP - thanks for letting me know that - I had no idea it was such a long drive. I guess I need to cut it down a bit - what would you suggest further? Is there another redwood forest that we should see? Is the issue the milage between the three cities, or just the time it takes due to road conditions - which you have somewhat addressed. How can I cut it down to about a 6 hour process - leaving Mendocino - seeing some redwoods and on to Healdsburg within the 6 to latest of 7 hours.

Also - Stu - thanks for the warning on the hotel on Friday. I think maybe I will book something in the town of Sonoma - since that is heading south and nearer our final destination of San Francisco. Or is there somewhere else you recommend? Thanks again everyone. I can't wait to go!

Maybe stay in Saucilito (sp), Fri. night, it's a nice opposite from SF, we stayed for one night on our way up to Mendocino a few years ago.

I know you booked your hotel in Mendocito, but I second the Harbor House recommendation, we stayed there when I was trying to find something on the water and could not. We were more than pleased, it's a beautiful place, and only about 20 minutes down the road.

Hi Luckyladyh

For a quick trip you can see some mostly 2nd growth redwoods along Hwy 128. Here is my suggestion it is a little adventurous but I have done it several times. This is a beautiful but slow drive to (IMHO) the nicest redwood grove in the world. Just south of Mendocino you head east on the Comptche-Ukiah road. This is a narrow 2 lane county road that ends up in Ukiah and 101 which is about 45 miles away. About 30 miles inland is Montgomery Woods State Park. It has a very small parking lot which will be on your right. You hike up an old logging road and then down into the grove. The hike is an easy one and less than a half mile. away easy hike. This grove contains many trees over 300 feet tall, at one time one of the trees the Mendocino Tree, was considered the tallest redwood in the world at 364 feet. I have spent the last 35 years hiking in the costal redwood forest of California and this grove is outstanding. Here is a great link http://www.redwoodhikes.com/Montgomery/Montgomery.html

Have Fun
GP

If you drive up 101 (North), you can take Hwy 128 from Cloverdale over to the coast just south of Mendocino. Between the town of Boonville and the coast, there are some wonderful camping/picnic areas along the highway in the middle of the redwoods. They are not THE Redwoods (old growth) but they are lovely and it's an enjoyable stop in the trees along a river. Then you can decide later if you want to take the time for Avenue of the Giants.

Thanks everyone - I'll add the roads to our drive. I know what will happen - once we start driving - we keep going and going - we love to look around - so possibly we will end up taking both routes during our 9 day stay in Northern California! Thanksf for the link also.

Take care!