Monterey to Sedona February

[RaymieUK]

My wife and I are travelling in Ca in February and will drive up from San Diego on Route 1. Following which we plan to go east ending up in Sedona for four days and then back to San Diego in three. Would welcome any thoughts and suggestions re routes and stop overs.
Thank you in anticipation

[DonnaR57]

You might want to reverse your trip, if you can, so that you are heading south on the PCH. BTW, much of the PCH between San Diego and Orange County no longer exists as it is part of I-5. There are some lovely coastal views along the 5, but only one scenic stop (and that's on the southbound side).


Donna

[RaymieUK]

Hi Donna thank you for your quick reply.
Would the rationale for reversing it be weather or that is more scenic going east from San Diego? As you can see we are from the UK and would welcome all and any advice. Cheers

[AZBuck]

The reason for reversing your direction of travel is specifically to make the best use of your drive on the Pacific Coast Highway. Driving south on this road from Monterey to San Diego will put the ocean on 'your' side of the highway making it much easier to pull off and get back on the highway, especially for spur-of-the-moment stops such as when you happen to notice a sea lion rookery. Otherwise, there's usually not a good reason to drive a loop in one direction rather than another - that's one of the beauties of a loop trip.

And as you plan your trip, in whichever direction you choose to go, here are a few other spots along the way that you might want to check out. Between San Diego and Sedona: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Yuma Territorial Prison State Historical Park, the Heard Museum. Around Sedona: The town of Jerome, Tuzigoot National Monument, Oak Creek Canyon. Between Sedona and Monterey: The Grand Canyon, a long stretch of old Route 66, London Bridge, Mojave National Preserve, Pinnacles National Monument.

AZBuck