Advice on Routes for Touring the West Coast

Hi Everyone !

Im glad I've found you, Im just hoping its not too late. My husband and I will be arriving in San Francisco (from Wales, in the UK) in just under 2 weeks to celebrate his 40th birthday. We have a convertible car on hire and already have an itinerary, with hotels booked en-route. We are now getting to the nitty gritty of the planning stages and just wondered if anyone out there had any tips/suggestions for driving the following route.

San Francisco to Monterey; Monterey to Yosemite; Yosemite to Death Valley; Death Valley to Las Vegas; Las Vegas to Grand Canyon (South Rim); Grand Canyon to Lake Havasu; Lake Havasu to Los Angeles.

Any driving suggestions or must see attractions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to help.

Cheers
Lesley

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forums.

Your route, parts of it or close to the entire thing, has been coming up quite frequently lately. Rather than try to repeat or paraphrase all that has been written about it, let me direct you to a few of the more current, relevant threads:

San Francisco to Vegas -- What to do?
San Francisco to San Diego
San Francisco to Yosemite to Death Valley to Las Vegas
San Francisco to Grand Canyon to Las Vegas
Los Angeles to San Francisco to Las Vegas
San Francisco to Las Vegas to LA to San Francisco (with some special attention to the Yosemite to Sequoia to Death Valley route selections)
Las Vegas to San Diego (with information about some of the back roads routes).
More detail about Yosemite to Death Valley to Las Vegas
San Francisco Loop RV Field Report with Pictures
San Francisco to Las Vegas

AZBuck

Hi Lesley

Your trip sounds exactly like the one I am thinking of doing in May this year - can I ask who you rented your car from and how much it cost. We are thinking of getting a campervan for the convenience, and also as it appears to be cheaper but I am not so sure.

Good luck on your trip!

Hey!
I've been away for some time, but I'm back now. For those who do not know me, I'm Ricardo, from Portugal and I too am planning a Roadtrip, from Seattle to San Diego. Any tips from the creator of this topic specially regarding renting a car, booking hotels and sight seeings are mostly welcome.

THANKS

Not to be a wet blanket, but unless you plan on renting a boat and like to water ski, there isn't a good reason to go to Lake Havasu. No, London Bridge isn't worth the trouble. It isn't an interesting drive, and a lake in the desert is a lake in the desert.

Spend that few extra hours at the Grand Canyon, or in Yosemite, or even in Las Vegas.

Regarding the drive from SF to Monterey, be sure to drive down Highway 1 through Half Moon Bay, not 101 through San Jose. A classic lunch stop is Barbara's Fishtrap in Princeton-by-the-Sea, just north of Half Moon Bay. After you go through Montara and Moss Beach you'll see a small airport on the right. A little further, at the stop light, turn right and go a couple of blocks until you see the orange building on the left. Park across the street. If the line is just too long, the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company is good, as is Meza Luna, just a little further down the road. Another good place to eat, with a view of the ocean, is the Miramar Beach Inn, just a mile or two south. Keep an eye out to the right for the building a block off the highway.

If you aren't hungry yet, go on to Davenport, another 40 miles. There is a funky, but very good restaurant there.

Monterey is OK but, except for the aquarium, its not worth a lot of time. 19-mile Drive from Monterey to Carmel is worth whatever they are charging these days. In Carmel, visit the Mission and browse the art galleries. Cute town and nice restaurants.

Near Monterey you'll see artichoke fields, which are pretty intresting if you haven't seen them before. And the drive east toward Yosemite takes you through lots of crop land. You may even smell garlic roasting near Gilroy, depending on your route. Note that highway 140 east of Mariposa is down to 1 lane (controlled access both ways) because of a rock slide. Highway 120 may be your better bet.

Craig
Author of America's Living History: The Early Years

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Originally Posted by RedCorral

there isn't a good reason to go to Lake Havasu. No, London Bridge isn't worth the trouble. It isn't an interesting drive, and a lake in the desert is a lake in the desert.

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There are a bunch of us, who are active on this Forum that would disagree -- the Colorado River provides a beautiful counter-setting to the harsher desert surrounding it. Here is a report from a recent traveler and here are some photos of London Bridge in the morning light.

But given the short time you have in the area, I would recommend that you give this particular attraction a miss as recommended by RedCorral above.

Mark

Tour Hoover dam Southeast of Las Vegas.

Hi Lesley!

I highly recommend taking Hwy 1 from San Francisco to Monterey/Carmel.

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Originally Posted by RedCorral

Regarding the drive from SF to Monterey, be sure to drive down Highway 1 through Half Moon Bay, not 101 through San Jose. A classic lunch stop is Barbara's Fishtrap in Princeton-by-the-Sea, just north of Half Moon Bay.

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I second Craig's recommendation for Barbara's Fish Trap - it's a humble establishment with fantastic food! From Hwy 1, turn right at the stoplight at Capistrano, the Fishtrap is a few blocks down on the left.

Also, a little further south on the Hwy is Sam's Chowder House (on the right.) Good food, a little more upscale though.

If you're up for a little side trip, on a very windy road, you could visit Alice's Restaurant- Go about 15 miles south of Half Moon Bay on Hwy 1, take a left on Hwy 84 (Woodside Road) and drive till you get to Hwy 35 (Skyline Blvd.) It's on the left- can't miss it.

In the Monterey area, 17 mile drive is really nice. Also, if you like wine, there are actually a lot of wineries in the Monterey area that are worth a visit.

Have a great trip!

Here is our trip:

Thur - SanFran - staying at hostel
Fri - Redwood NP
Sat - Point Reyes
Sun - Calistoga
Mon - SanFran
Tues - Leave

My question: Would it make more sense to switch Sat and Friday? Does anyone know the milage from Redwood to Point Reyes and then either to Calisoga/Napa? Thanks so much

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Originally Posted by katesmom

Thur - SanFran - staying at hostel
Fri - Redwood NP
Sat - Point Reyes
Sun - Calistoga
Mon - SanFran
Tues - Leave

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San Francisco to Redwood NP is 345 miles (it is nearly to the Oregon state line). Point Reyes is only about 20 miles away -- Calistoga & Point Reyes are less than an hour from San Francisco.

Mark

Here's a brilliant website for mapping places and giving directions:

Kind regards,
K

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Originally Posted by Silvermouse82

Here's a brilliant website for mapping places and giving directions:

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Well... mapquest has its fans -- but we are not in that camp -- As a rule, this service has far more problems than any of its competitors. Here are the services we have rated and tested.

Mark

I probably use Mapquest more than the others these days, although its certainly not perfect.

Google just added a new feature that I really like: You can click on any point on your route, and manually drag your path onto another road. So for example, if you are going to go from Denver to San Francisco, it will come up with a route along I-80, but you could pull your route down and get the mileage estimate for using US-50 instead.

The downside is that it is still google, and it is, in my opinion, the least user friendly when it comes to plotting your original points.

after you see Las Vegas take highway 93 East and tour hoover dam then continue on 93 to the Dolan Springs turnoff and follow signs to Grand Canyon West Skywalk !

A caveat - the road to the Skywalk is not paved and is in lousy condition. It's not part of the national park, it's on Indian reservation land.

And the actual trip took place over 3 years ago !

Yep, but it's still a sticky so it's fair game for comments!

Not only is this a sticky -- the road is even more beat up than it was three years ago.

mark

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Originally Posted by glc

Yep, but it's still a sticky so it's fair game for comments!

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An old thread doesn't need to be a "sticky" to add updates, comments or questions, the point being was that the post made previous to yours was offering advice [appreciated] to the OP whose trip is long since done.

Scratch the lake havasu and add Sedona, Arizona, you will love it. Of course you can't miss the California redwoods.

Thanks for good advice of west coast. Because i am visit this place next week. Thanks

I'm a londener..... and i never knew our bridge was bought up by America! Thats pretty cool. I'd want to see it! Simply to appreciate the poor poor men that had to put that thing back together again!

Lesley, There were some majjor storms this winter, and some of the roads around Big Sur were washed out. (This is not unusual.) before you head from San Feancisco to Montery, and Monterey to Yosemite make sure that HWY 1 and your other route has highways that are good-to-go. Call the local California Highway Patrol after you get to the states, and they can let you know.

And, you might want to consider Sedona from Grand Cyn in addition, or as opposed to, Lake Havasu. It's incredibly beautiful. Monument Valley is not far from the Grand Cyn--anoher option- Here you'll be able to get into real Indian country and see some Navajo art, lifestyles, etc.

Best!
MeredithBlevins

Agree about Lake Havasu. It is a must-miss as far as I can see. There is so much beautiful country around it. (Disagree about Vegas. The prices have gotten so high and it is such a cacophony of people.)
Meredith

Hello Meridith and welcome to the forums !

It's nice of you to offer advice to Lesley, but if you check the dates out you will notice the question was originally posted in 2006 and the trip has long since been completed.

Enjoy the forums and other RTA pages !

If you'll be coming down the 101. Try to work a side trip to Nipomo in. There is a steakhouse there called Jockos. It's amazing. Very casual

Somewhere or other, I know we have a thread of videos captured on road trips, but I can't seem to find it right now. So this is a temporary location. The following video was posted on the RTA Facebook page. It's a very nice compilation of images shot while on a road trip. Nice editing work too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLWYQP35N_U

Mark

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Originally Posted by Mark Sedenquist

Somewhere or other, I know we have a thread of videos captured on road trips, but I can't seem to find it right now.

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You mean I am not the only one who is forever looking for threads which I know exist, but cannot find.?

Lifey

The Moderators all maintain private lists of our favorite threads and posts -- but somehow, even that list doesn't have the video report thread on it.

OH, well.

Mark

Tour Hoover dam Southeast of Las Vegas.

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Originally Posted by gorn256

Tour Hoover dam Southeast of Las Vegas.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by rozxc

Tour Hoover dam Southeast of Las Vegas.

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These posts were seven years apart! I agree that the tour is worth doing (although parking a giant rented SUV in the multi-story car park was challenging) but that's an impressive level of dedication to the cause of promoting the place :)

good catch -- looks like a spam service

You have planned very well and I just want to add some places that are must see like, Alcatraz Island, Muir woods, red wood park in SF bay area. These are amazing sights you should not miss. Have a great time.

Google just added a new feature that I really like: You can click on any point on your route, and manually drag your path onto another road. So for example, if you are going to go from Denver to San Francisco, it will come up with a route along I-80, but you could pull your route down and get the mileage estimate for using US-50 instead.

Welcome to the RTA Forum Samran.

That is a handy feature, although it's not a new one. Googlemaps has had the drag and drop feature for at least 5, if not 10, years now. In fact, I'd say that "new" Googlemaps, as in the version rolled out in early 2015, makes the feature much more difficult to use, as you can no longer easily remove the waypoint(s) just by right clicking on them. The day that Google disabled "classic" google maps was a very disappointing day for me, and I'm still looking for an online program that was as user friendly as google used to be.

Google is the first, as far as I can recall, to allow the drag/drop feature, but the major competitors like Mapquest and Bing copied it years ago and also have it.

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Originally Posted by Midwest Michael

In fact, I'd say that "new" Googlemaps, as in the version rolled out in early 2015, makes the feature much more difficult to use, .....

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And all this time I thought it was something I was doing wrong. I too find Googlemaps no where near as user friendly anymore.

Lifey.

We had the drag and drop feature on the RTA Custom Mapping program as well, but it caused way too many problems with database management and therefore it is currently not enabled.

Creating a new route on the RTA program takes less than a minute on most routes and that provides the different mileage option as well.

Mark

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Originally Posted by Lesley Edwards

Hi Everyone !

Im glad I've found you, Im just hoping its not too late. My husband and I will be arriving in San Francisco (from Wales, in the UK) in just under 2 weeks to celebrate his 40th birthday. We have a convertible car on hire and already have an itinerary, with hotels booked en-route. We are now getting to the nitty gritty of the planning stages and just wondered if anyone out there had any tips/suggestions for driving the following route.

San Francisco to Monterey; Monterey to Yosemite; Yosemite to Death Valley; Death Valley to Las Vegas; Las Vegas to Grand Canyon (South Rim); Grand Canyon to Lake Havasu; Lake Havasu to Los Angeles.

Any driving suggestions or must see attractions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to help.

Cheers
Lesley

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I really like your choices for this trip. I'm sure it will be memorable. Good luck!

Considering that was posted in 2006, I would assume the trip was done a LONG time ago!

I’m fairly new here so don’t know all the ropes, but is there a reason such an old post has a sticky? What gives a sticky to some posts as I do see a lot of very old ones. Granted they are interesting and still can give info but probably no longer needs help either. Thanks.