L.A. to Crescent City via PCH

[Willyh]

This is my first post here. I've been reading other post and find this site to be invaluable for road trips. I've picked up several good tips.

I do have a question on a forthcoming trip my wife and I are planning for late September. We're giving ourselves 9 or 10 days to drive from Denver to Los Angeles then drive up Highway 1 up to Crescent City and the redwoods. From there we'll find our way back home.
Day 1. Denver to LA - 15-17 hours only stops for gas, bathroom breaks, etc.
Day 2. LA to Cambria HWY1 - 5-6 hours.
Day 3. Cambria to Salinas HWY1 - 2-3 hours.
Day 4. Salinas to SF HWY1 - 2-3 hours.
Day 5. SF to Eureka HWY1- 6-7 hours.
Day 6. Eureka to Crescent City HWY1 - 2-3 hours.
Day 7 - 9. Crescent City to Denver Whatever road catches our fancy - 25 hours drive time.

My brother, who lived in SF up until a few years ago, seems to think I'm over aggressive with my times up Hwy 1. Is he right, is this an overly aggressive trip. Are my drive times between towns unrealistic? Would I be better off slowing down and ending my trip in SF then head back to Denver? We've seen SF several times so we don't plan on doing much there, we may even bypass it and spend the night just north of SF. But we really do want to see the redwoods so we would hate stopping in SF. Any comments or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Willy

[Mark Sedenquist]

I've picked up several good tips.

Always glad to hear that! Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum!

Day 1. Denver to LA - 15-17 hours only stops for gas, bathroom breaks, etc.

How fast do you drive? I will buy you a tank of gas if you make it less than 18 hours (but the speeding tickets will be on you....)

Day 2. LA to Cambria HWY1 - 5-6 hours.

This would be 6 hours at the fastest possible.

Day 3. Cambria to Salinas HWY1 - 2-3 hours.

This is only about 121 miles, but you really ought to allow a full three hours

Day 4. Salinas to SF HWY1 - 2-3 hours.

That is about right

Day 5. SF to Eureka HWY1- 6-7 hours.

This is fine too.

My brother, who lived in SF up until a few years ago, seems to think I'm over aggressive with my times up Hwy 1.

Generally we say that it takes 8-10 hours to drive from LA to San Francisco on Hwy 1 -- I think your estimates fall within those parameters well.

What I would do is to take US-101 north from Salinas (miss that section of Hwy-1) and stay overnight in Mill Valley or Petaluma, thus allowing more time for the redwoods later in the trip.

Mark

[RoadTrippers A & R]

Willy your times look reasonable for September if ya stick to your longer side of the time estimate. Except Denver to LA looks like a real stretch for you.
IMHO I'd put a break in that leg of the trip.

Hwy 1 can be a very slow mover. Hairpin corners and switch back turns in many stretches.
But what a beautiful way to go.

[Willyh]

Thanks for the replies. Well, seems that the general consensus is that I'll be fine on the PCH leg of the trip but I've over estimated my Jeep in making the trip from Denver to L.A. I thought I had it the other way around.

Since we planned on leaving Friday morning and meeting friends in Wildomar California Saturday morning I may have to re-arrange my schedule.

We may be better suited if we left Thursday evening around 5ish. Drive 4 or 5 hours and spend the night in Western Colorado. Continue our trek Friday morning and hopefully reach L.A. (Corona off I-15) Friday evening.

I got my Den-LA times from Mapquest and Maps.com. One guesstimated the time at 15 hours, the other at 18 hours.

Once again, thanks for the replies. This is a wonderful, informative forum.