godisgood

We live in Australia and arrive San Fran 24 th august . We want to drive from san fran to seattle along the coast road incorporating the redwood forests but then diverting to Redding . I have a few questions we'd be grateful for advice.
Is this possible and worth it and will we still see the giant redwoods? Will the journey still be interesting and how much longer will it take ?

janisj

>>but then diverting to Redding >We want to drive from san fran to seattle along the coast road incorporating the redwood forests

tomfuller

The "normal" route if you are going through the Redwood National Park would be to take US 199 off US 101 to Interstate 5 near Grants Pass Oregon.
If you really had to see Redding, you could stop there on the way back south on I-5.
As janisj said how many days and do you plan to return to San Francisco?

BarbAnn

Going north from San Francisco, you would not even get to the Oregon coast before you had to divert to Redding. You would be able to see some of the redwoods if you took Hwy1/101 north to Hwy 299 just north of Arcata.

Do you have friends or relatives in Redding?

marvelousmouse

Ok. First of all:

The redwoods stop before the Oregon border. They need a distinct climate. So you don't even have to drive out of California for this.

Second: the coast road essentially stops at the Oregon Washington border. 101 goes inland in WA, so it's not scenic.

So no need to drive all the way to Seattle. Unless perhaps you mean REDMOND not REDDING. I don't know, I didn't think either place was a popular destination for aussies?

Finally:
The redwoods are not concentrated in a small area, and they are present in both state parks and their national park. So it really depends on how much time you have and what exactly you mean by seeing the redwoods. I think you need two nights in the Redwoods at least- its a lot of driving and there's a lot of attractions along the way.

Tell us where you're driving and we could figure out the time difference. A diversion from seattle to Redding is not a diversion- it's backtracking through three states. I'm not sure what you mean by the last part. I think you mean you are considering two options but you've only listed one if I'm reading it correctly...

godisgood

Thanks for your replies !
We are driving from SF to Seattle and then up into Canada and wont be coming back to SF.
We intend to spend six days for the journey between SF to Seattle and a couple of days extra in Redding visiting friends
We want to go at least partly along the coast road. Spending time in the redwood national park forests are a big must do.
Visiting out friends in Redding whilst we 're driving north looks like its definitely off our desired route and pretty inconvenient but we still want to try to do it. We need to examine the road maps closely and work out times and distances

sf7307

I would just take I-5 from San Francisco to Redding, and from Redding I would cut over to the coast, go up the coast and then cut over to Portland, and then up to Seattle. The Oregon coast is spectacular.

janisj

>>I would just take I-5 from San Francisco to Redding, and from Redding I would cut over to the coast,

tomfuller

If you just want to see some big Coast Redwoods, just go over the Golden Gate Bridge and visit Muir Woods. Maybe see Point Reyes while you are in the area.
Take Rt. 37 east to Vallejo to tie in with I-80 to I-505 to I-5 north to Redding.
If you want to visit some of the Oregon coast, take I-5 north to exit 120 in Oregon and take Rt. 42 through Coquille to the south end of Coos Bay.
The best of the Coos Bay hotels is the Red Lion IMO.

godisgood

To all those who answered me....Thanks so much for taking the trouble to write back for all the great info and advice
Certainly plenty of food for thought !
Yes we 'll wait and see how the road is going closer to the time re landslides

Gardyloo

You have a couple of options to get over to the coast from the Redding area, the main ones of which involve a degree of backtracking but not a deal-breaker.

The Coast Range and Trinity Alps, which lie between the Sacramento Valley and the Pacific coast, is very rugged country with only a few roads passing through it, so travel from the Redding area to the coast is slow going.

I would probably hustle up to Redding from SF, then backtrack to Red Bluff (half an hour) and take CA Hwy 36 over to US 101 south of Eureka. The drive through the mountains is quite scenic, but it will probably take half a day to complete the trip.

From Eureka you're good to go all the way on US 101 through the main part of redwood country and on to the Oregon coast.

Or as already mentioned, you could continue on Interstate 5 north to Grants Pass, Oregon, then reverse course back to the southwest on US 199 to Crescent City, then north on US 101. This would give you much less time in the redwoods (although the Jedediah Smith groves near the US199/US101 junction are exceptional) but the driving would be easier, if longer.

Map - https://goo.gl/maps/rzF15LcBVwR2

Bobmrg

www.avenueofthegiants.net

http://redwoods.info/showrecord.asp?id=3724


CA-299 is absolutely dramatic, but as gardyloo points out it is currently closed. I have not driven CA-36 but it looks like a viable option.

november_moon

36 is an option, but it is very narrow, so be prepared for that.

godisgood

Thanks so much Garylloo for your excellent advice and to the other people who replied.

We will backtrack to red bluff and tske the royte you have suggested . We 'll check the state of coastal road before starting