California trip

[earl_cantwell]

My husband and I are planning a trip for the end of the summer. We want to start in San Fran, drive down the coast a bit to San Simeon (to check out hearst castle), cut up to Three Rivers, drive over to Vegas, stop in Palm springs and end up in LA. Any suggestions of great routes or sights?

[cool]

Hi,
You are going so long to visit Hearst Castle...Why not continue a little longer along Hwy 1? If you have the time, you can drive all the way through 1 and then 101. Maybe you could visit LA and then go to Vegas?
The cities by the coast are really very pretty. (I just came back from a trip to Morro bay).

If that is not possible, may be you could take Hwy 1 upto San Luis Obispo and then take 101 from there on.


If you are the hiking kind, there are lots of spots along Hwy 1. If you do not like much of a hike, there is a short walk to a nice waterfall(Mcway) in Julia Pfeiffur Burns State Park--waterfalls falling into a beach. I would suggest Limekiln falls in Limekiln State Park. There are so many bridges along and stopping along every possible vista point along 1 will take you 1 day. Its so beautiful.

I am suggesting this part as I just did this. Its still fresh in my memory.
Also, since you are planning the trip in summer, CA coast might give you a breezy welcome!

Have fun, planning.

Cool

[Mark Sedenquist]

My husband and I are planning a trip for the end of the summer. We want to start in San Fran, drive down the coast a bit to San Simeon (to check out hearst castle), cut up to Three Rivers, drive over to Vegas, stop in Palm springs and end up in LA. Any suggestions of great routes or sights?

Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum! Since your interim destination is Three Rivers, you probably don't want to go much further south than Cambria and so I would head east on SR-46. Question -- where is your first night's lodging -- is it Three Rivers? It will take you virtually all day to travel down the coast from San Francisco, especially if you plan on visiting Hearst Castle. If, on the other hand you are staying over-night near San Simeon I would proceed on down to Cayucos -- have breakfast at the Waystation and then follow Old Creek Road from PCH to SR-46. The valley along SR-46 is rapidily becoming a "winery" road and you might enjoy have a taste or two as you head northeast. If you are a James Dean fan, you can stop and offer a moment's reflection just south of the intersection at SR-46 and SR-41....

Zipping across the famous central valley on SR-41 to SR-198 (see how many agricultural products you can name) and past Lake Kaweah to Three Rivers.

From Three Rivers, take SR-190 into the Giant Sequoia National Monument and then take the Western Divide Highway to the Sherman Pass road and head east. The Sherman Pass road is awesome -- watch for motorcyclists who like to imagine they are jet-fighters and follow the very curvy road up to Kennedy Meadows and then down J-41 to US-395.

At US-395, you have some choices, but I would go south to SR-178 through Ridgecrest. Just before you reach the Searles Dry lake bed, turn south on the dirt road headed for the Trona Pinnacles Natural Landmark. An amazing landscape at sunset -- the movie "Planet of the Apes" was filmed here...


Retrace your path to SR-178 and head north. Again, you have a couple of choices. If you stay on SR-178 it will reach SR-190 just east of Panamint Springs for a very nice paved drive up Towne Pass. If you are feeling a little adventurous -- when you reach the Trona-Wildrose intersection -- turn right and head up the canyon. It is paved most of the way, but there is a 2.5 mile section that is back to dirt, due to the springs in the area. {If you do this section -- DO IT DURING THE DAY -- those springs have cause some minor washouts that are darn hard to spot at night!} After Wildrose, follow the paved road up Emigrant Canyon (narrow, twisty, but paved) with awesome views....where you will re-join SR-190 at Emigrant campground. Proceed through the park (we have a dozen articles about our favorite places in Death Valley on this site). If you have time for nothing else -- stop at Furnace Creek Inn (ice-tea)

Zabriskie Point and take the 20-Mule Team Drive.

And then it is a hop, skip and jump to Las Vegas.

Happy Planning!

Mark