cchamp

I am in the beginning stages of planning a 2-week (including 3 weekends) road trip for next June. My husband and I will be flying in from Chicago and renting a car. I would love some advice on what to include vs. what can be skipped. There are some sights that are must see for us and some we would like but are not critical. I'm wondering how can we make the best use of our time while experiencing the "must-sees"! We can fly into/out of San Fran, L.A, Portland, or Seattle. Obviously we will not do Seattle and L.A in the same trip. Still need help deciding what part of the coast to focus on. Trip is very flexible at this point. We are looking for a mix of hiking/nature and city sights/breweries.

MUST SEE:
San Fran (I have been here, but my husband has not. We would just want a couple days here to explore/visit friends).
Yosemite
Big Sur

WOULD LIKE TO SEE:
Portland
Crater Lake
Point Reyes
Sonoma
Catalina Island

IS IT WORTH IT?
Lake Tahoe
Redwoods
Mount Shasta

any advice welcomed! how would you best fill these 2 weeks + 2 days?

cchamp

Also- Lassen Volcanic National Park?

janisj

W/ 2 weeks you'll need to cut a fair bit. The main outliers are Crater lake and Catalina.

If It was me I'd maybe consider a big loop to/from SFO. You could hit Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur, Yosemite, Tahoe, Lassen, the Redwoods, Mendocino and back down the coast to SFO. That would be a terrific 2 weeks.


OR -- You could start in LA, go to Catalina, then up the coast as far as Monterey/Carmel, over to Yosemite, Tahoe, the Redwoods and end up in San Francisco.

If you want Crater Lake you could start in Portland > Crater Lake > Oregin coast > Redwoods > the north CA coast > SF > Monterey/Big Sur > Yosemite > SFO

cchamp

Thank you! That is exactly what I was looking for. The first option would likely make the most sense to avoid the one-way car drop fees.

Gardyloo

Following janisj's suggestion, here's a possible map - https://goo.gl/maps/KrWGxDUeN7u - which features...

- North to the redwoods and Eureka (or beyond) using US 101, including a drive along the Avenue of the Giants just south of Eureka. Look at Ferndale or Trinidad for overnight points. Note I've shown using CA 1 along the Sonoma/Mendocino coasts; this is negotiable as you'll be seeing a lot of beautiful coastline later, and might use the time elsewhere (an extra day's driving at least.)

- Across to Lassen but bypassing Lake Tahoe. Just my preference; I'd use the same days elsewhere and call it good.

- South to Yosemite along Calif. Hwy 49 through the gold rush country along the Sierra foothills. This is a gorgeous route in June; you'll pass through numerous picturesque and historic towns, it's an emerging big-time wine area, and you can detour to see the giant sequoias at the Calaveras Big Trees state park. (They're different species from the coast redwoods, and equally spectacular.)

- Then across to Monterey, with a day trip down to San Simeon/Hearst Castle, then back through Big Sur (or vice-versa.)

- Return to SF via Santa Cruz with its fab beachfront amusement park, surfers, more redwoods in the hills...

Terrific route, immense variety, history...

You'll need to book space in Yosemite as soon as you have your dates. Prime time for the valley.

jamie99

I'd drop Mount Shasta, drove there once for a wedding nearby, flew into Sacramento and rented a car, it is a LONG drive even from Northern California. It was also disappointing since the water levels were so low att.
You could see redwoods several places south of San Francisco such as Big Basin or Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Again Redwoods NP is a long drive north of SF.