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I have an extended family member who uses a wheel chair and has done road trips up to 3 months. He uses a minivan with a short metal ramp to enter the sliding side door of the van. This eliminates the need to climb or be lifted into vehicle. Sorry I don't know if the side ramps can be rented from an agency (car rental or services to disabled). They make their reservations through the actual hotel locations so that they know the features of the room (there is some variation) and the hotel knows they need the ADA accessible room. As others have stated, public places and transportation will have accommodation (check on cables cars in SF). Many parks and beaches have paved paths. In the national parks the roads closed to vehicles will have accommodations on shuttle buses or allow entrance for vehicles with handicapped placards.
You'll have a great trip.
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Some more resources
Some more comments and resources can be found in this thread
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Thank you so much to for the advice so far. We have decided to abandon the RV ($500 per day without adding fuel and camp fees!). I have booked flights into SFO and out of LAX. We will stay in SF for 4/5 nights then go to Napa, Yosemite, Santa Cruz or Monterey then carry on down stopping along the way.
We haven't booked hotesl yet but am feeling more confident that there will be accessible room in most hotels. Next question I would like to know which places on the coast are considered unmissable and how many nights we should allow to do the inland loop.
Thanks for the blue badge info - good to know mine will suffice in Ca.
Debbie
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Wheelchair Getaways is a company that rents wheelchair accessible minivans in SF, LA and SD. Look them up online to see if that would suit your needs. You may do fine with a standard van or SUV as you previously mentioned.
When we visited Southern California we visited Hollywood (Grauman's Chinese Theatre and Walk of Fame along Hollywood Blvd), Santa Monica Pier and 6th Street Promenade (a pedestrian only street with shopping & restaurants), Venice Beach, the Queen Mary ship (very accessible including the ghost tour) and Disneyland (A++ for accessibility) to name a few. We spent a lot of time along the oceanfront as there are many beaches.
California has a network of beach wheelchairs that can be borrowed free of charge. Search for California Coastal Commission Beach Wheelchairs and you will find close to 100 beaches that have chairs available on a first come first serve basis. You may need to leave ID with the lifeguard while you have the chair. Most beachfronts have paved walkways for bikes and pedestrians and are very accessible.
In San Diego, we visited the zoo, Balboa park and Old Town. Unfortunately we did not visit north of the LA area so I cannot give you any recommendations there. We spent 8 nights in CA and loved it.
Note that CA traffic especially near LA is very congested and driving takes considerable longer than Google says it will so plan accordingly.
