andreadee

I'm spending 2 or 3 days in each city. Can anyone recommend a place to stay for a family of 5. We love the water so access or a view would be great. We don't want to break the bank...any suggestions? While your at...any "must sees" in that general area? We have never been to northern California. We fly into Reno Nevada and then heading straight to Triinidad and then working our way down the coast. I would love any suggestions you might offer re; what to see, where to eat and where to stay. After Trinidad and Mendocino we head to San Francisco until we fly out of San Jose. We have a total of 7 nights...thx.

roundthebend

You may be surprised by how
1. Small, and
2. Beautiful
Trinidad is! I was there for the first time a couple of months ago and it's now one of my favorite places for scenery on the whole North coast. The view from the old light house on top of the hill is a great photo op, as is the scenery near the beach. There's a little beach cafe on the pier that's just fine for lunch or casual dinner...nothing special but the site is spectacular. Lots of history here, so do a little homework and you'll enjoy it even more. I think the population is less than 400 souls, so not much in town, but lots nearby. We stayed in the Hampton Inn in Arcata, and it was great, and not expensive. Easy access to Trinidad from there. Check out TOMO Japanese restaurant in the old Hotel Arcata on the square in downtown Arcata. http://www.tomoarcata.com/

In Mendocino we stayed at The Little River Inn. http://www.littleriverinn.com/ It sits on a hill overlooking the beach about a mile south of Mendocino. The rooms are very nice...some furnished with beautiful antiques. They take care of your every need...plus they have a little 9 hole golf course. Their restaurant is wonderful. We had Mother's day brunch and they made it memorable.

I'm sure there are good VRBO places available, and I assume you'll check those out as well.

spirobulldog

We stayed north of Trinidad a bit in a whole in the wall. There isn't much to stay at anywhere there.

See Patricks Point State Park and do some tidepooling there.If you have never tidepooled it is awesome. Go at Low Tide. Its' worth getting up for if low tide is 6:00AM. You'll have about an hour before the LT and an hour after. The best place to tidepool there is Palmers Point-which is in Patricks Point State Park. I would also go to Agate Beach there.
By all means take a day(or two) to see Redwoods National park. I would start at Prairie Creek Visitor Center. There is a hike there called James Irvine Trail-It is 4 miles one way and ends in Fern Canyon. You can have someone meet you at the other end of the trail near Fern Canyon so you don't have to hike back. Fern Canyon is an excellent hike that you can start at on the other end and it is only a short hike. I say don't miss either. There are many other good spots like Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Another part of The Redwoods is Jedidiah Smith Redwoods. There is an awesome drive there on a very good well maintained dirt road to The Stout Grove which is a short hike there too.

The Redwoods National Park is a little different because it is comprised of 3 State Parks, FYI.

We loved the area just north of Trinidad. Not a whole lot of eating options along the way either, take a picnic for a couple of meals and you'll find a few fresh fish options along the way.

Since you mention you are coming from Reno. I would see Lassen Volcano National Park and Burney Mcarthur Falls State Park. See Bumpass Hell area. It is a mini-Yellowstone.

Below are trip photos with my 11 year old nephew last year.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...0IatW7FqybsWF9

We did all of that in a 4 day long weekend, BTW.

happytrailstoyou

We stayed north of Trinidad a bit in a whole in the wall. There isn't much to stay at anywhere there.

I was glad to read this because it sums up my reaction when we stayed in Trinidad a few years ago.

Have you considered visiting the Redwoods?

Mendocino is a charming town, but you won't (or won't easily) find a room with ocean view there. You may find an ocean view in Albion or Little River, but it would probably "break the bank."

HTTY

spirobulldog

http://redwoodadventures.com/

The above link is to Redwood Meadows. They looked great. They are I'm guessing about 30 minutes north of Trinidad. There were elk everywhere, just like the picture, when we drove by there. We stopped in and bought a coke and t-shirt there.

Shanti

What timing - I just went up there last week - and I stayed Elk Meadows. Three bedroom houses. spirobulldog isn't kidding about the elk. I haven't downloaded my photos yet, but I have approximately one gazillion photos of elk.

Trinidad was very pretty and we lucked out when we were there on Saturday. Nice and sunny. Had a lot of fog the previous day when we went to Patrick's Point State Park.

Also heartily agree with visiting Lassen and Burney Falls. Absolutely beautiful places.

When are you going? If the whale is still hanging out under the Klamath River Bridge in Klamath, you really, really, really should drive up there. Both momma and baby whale were there when we went on Friday and Saturday - but evidently the baby swam back to the ocean right after we left.

http://www.triplicate.com/2011072511...Gone-baby-gone

Will you be driving down 299? It's a pretty ride along the Trinity River. I had never been there before and am looking forward to spending more time there.

november_moon

For the Trinidad area, my favorite things are Patrick's Point and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Parks. Fern Canyon at Prairie Creek redwoods is esspecially neat.

In the town of Eureka (or actually Somoa over the bridge) is the Somoa Cookhouse, which is great for breakfast.

For the Mendocino area, if you find that lodging in Mendocino is too expensive, check out Fort Brag.

janisj

You've received lots of good info -- but I just had to smile . . . "I'm spending 2 or 3 days in each city."

"city"?

Boy, are you in for a surprise.

andreadee

I think I am in for a big surprise janisj....hahahah. I have to be a sport about it. I am a city girl and my husband is dying to explore this area. We really are lost. We fly into Reno (am mentioned) and can't figure out if we should travel directly to the coast or go the round about way. He had planned on stopping at some of the points mentioned but then thought time was too short to see all of that. We don't know what approach to take....where to stay each night, etc. Is it better to settle in and take day trips from one spot for 3 days or each day travel somewhere different. Our girls range from 10 - 16. I'm not sure all this nature stuff will be up their alley if they're driving each day or if it's better to break it up with some shopping? lol....i would love it if anyone could suggest our route. We are totally open. We fly into Reno at 8ish on a Saturday nite. We fly out of San Jose the following Sunday super early in the morn...so Sat night and Sunday are kind of shot. Should we spend one night in Reno or hop in the car and drive a short way to Tahoe? or elsewhere? Help! This territory is all very new to us. Thx
...and by the way...I appreciate all the previous posts and took many notes

Shanti

It's about a 6-7 hour drive from Reno to Trinidad. I hated spending that much time in one day being in a car with my kids, but perhaps yours behave better than mine did.

And I hope your daughters like all "this nature stuff" because you won't exactly be rolling in opportunities to go shopping during most of your trip.

janisj

If you don't land until 8PM you won't have your car sorted out and be on the road until at least 9PM so I definitely think you want to stay that night in Reno. Reno Airport to Kings Beach at northshore Tahoe will take about an hour over the very high and pretty twisty Mt Rose Road, not a road you want to tackle for the first time in the dark, and a bit longer over the easier I-80. (southshore makes no sense for the rest of your journey)

So I'd just crash that night in Reno and get an early start the next morning. But my goodness, that will be a looooong haul. From Reno through Susanville/Lassen/Redding and across to Trinidad is about a 7 hour drive. That is behind-the-wheel-time, so basically an all day drive w/ any stops at all. And you will want to stop several times.

Any reason you aren't flying into Sacramento -or even San Francisco/Oakland.If you can change your flights into SMF w/o huge fees, it will save you a few hours of road time.

If shopping is important to the girls you may have a revolt on your hands. There are a few cute shops in Ft Bragg/Mendocino, but where you are going is mostly very rural/remote/sparsely populated. No places to stop for shopping breaks really . . .

(The reason I smiled -- Trinidad has a population of about 300 -maybe 400 at the height of the summer)

november_moon

I'd definitely change the flights to Sacramento if you won't get hit with big change fees. Alternatively, just stay in Reno the first night.

I love the north coast and I hope you do too - maybe the magnificence of the trees and the rugged coastline will win over the city girls

Maybe try an itinerary like this - it will allow you to see pretty much every place on your list, but you won't be moving hotels every night - you'll have a couple 2-night stays along the way to it won't feel as rushed:

Sat: Arrive in Reno in the evening, stay over in Reno.

Sun: Get an early start, drive to Lassen, tour Lassen in the afternoon, spend night in that area.

Mon: Another early start, drive to coast. Explore the area in the afternoon - maybe Patrick's Point for a good dose of awesome coastline. Overnight in Eureka or Trinidad.

Tuesday: More exploring of the area - perhaps Prairie Creek Redwoods state park. There are elk herds there, giant redwoods, a largish beach, and fern canyon. Overnight in Eureka or Trinidad.

Wednesday: Drive to Mendocino/Fort Bragg in the morning, afternoon exploring the area. Stay in Mendocino or Fort Bragg. This is probably your best bet for shopping before you get to SF.

Thursday: Drive to SF, stoping along the way, arriving in SF in the late afternoon.

Friday: In SF

Saturday: Day in SF, drive to SJ late afternoon/evening.

Sunday: Fly out from SJC.

sf7307

The only change I would make to november moon's lovely itinerary is to stay over in San Francisco Saturday night, too, and drive to San Jose in time for your flight on Sunday (unless your flight out is very early, in which case it might be better to stay in San Jose Saturday night). It's about an hour drive from San Francisco to San Jose, very little traffic on Sunday, and I wouldn't want to give up any of my time in San Francisco.

november_moon

I'd stay over in SF that extra night too if possible. The OP says the flight is "super early" so I am thinking it is the first flight out of the day - our airport curfew lifts at 6:30 am.

For a flight out that early, they are going to have to get up at o'dark-thirty no matter what though.

traveler24

Did not have time to read all posts, so someone could have mentioned this...
Ft.Bragg has lots of lodging choices (only 11 miles north of Mendocino)...
My favorite is Harbor Light right at bridge at Noyo river...overlooks harbor and out toward ocean bay..Clean, convenient and reasonable price as compared to Mendocino.
Great breakfast--waffles, fruit, cereal etc.
"Downtown" access to Skunk Train--goes inland thru Redwoods etc...Could be boring
for your older kids??. could check it out on google.
Most familys enjoy renting bikes to ride the "haul' road..(this was a road built by lumber company years ago to transport BIG logs to mill--Trucks to haul these BIG logs were so large were illegal to be on regular road) just a little local history !!This road starts immediately north of town and extends 2-3 miles ..area to stop( nice bathroom) is Mac kerricker State Park. Beach and bluff access-even a wood structure on bluff to watch seals and whales (in season)
Hope this helps....
PS lodging in San Francisco is very expensive, limited choices on weekends AND parking fees-$20 to $40 a night--maybe try Priceline???

janisj

"PS lodging in San Francisco is very expensive, limited choices on weekends AND parking fees-$20 to $40 a night--maybe try Priceline???"

Priceline isn't an option since they are a family of five. PL only guarantees doubles in SF.

andreadee

Wow....I love these forums. Lots of great info everyone. Thanks. I have to admit that I'm more a shopper than a nature gal and a bit worried about that. Oh well....maybe the ending in San Francisco will make it all worth it. I do love to comb the beaches though. I hope the coast if user friendly and I can at least pick up some weathered beach glass or cool stones. Thanks again everyone and if there is anyone else with additional info...I'd love it!

Shanti

Then you might like this beach near Trinidad:

http://redwoods.info/showrecord.asp?id=1724

november_moon

This area is very user-friendly, and because the beaches are not crowded, you are very likely to find some interesting rocks, shells, and glass washed up on the beach.

spirobulldog

Then don't miss Agate Beach. People actually crawl on their stomachs searching here for the agate.