Have only time to do part of the California coast...help me decide

[dodade]

Hi! We will be in the Anaheim area on the 16th of August but have to be in Northern Washington (Bellingham) by the 22nd. My family has never been in California. With our limited time and in a 31 ft RV what would you recommend? Should we just spend a couple days on the southern California Coastline (recommendations for must see areas there appreciated) and then hit I-5 and head home or should we hit I-5 and then venture over to the coast in northern california (Red Woods Area) and maybe do the seal caves in Oregon?

Thank you sooooo much!

[amara]

Hi! We will be in the Anaheim area on the 16th of August but have to be in Northern Washington (Bellingham) by the 22nd. My family has never been in California. With our limited time and in a 31 ft RV what would you recommend? Should we just spend a couple days on the southern California Coastline (recommendations for must see areas there appreciated) and then hit I-5 and head home or should we hit I-5 and then venture over to the coast in northern california (Red Woods Area) and maybe do the seal caves in Oregon?

Thank you sooooo much!

I definitely like the Oregon area! It is beautiful there! The Redwoods are amazing! I would also visit Twin Peaks! :)

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Trying to navigate the Los Angeles area in a 31' RV will prove difficult and frustrating at best, and utterly impossible at worst. Understand also that you would need almost three days to get from L.A. to Bellingham even if you just stuck to I-5, so even if you did spend a 'few' days in the L.A. area and then drove north, all you'd see would be a lot of concrete and other people. That's not really what RVs are for or typically why people go to the bother and expense of having them. If that is your only transportation option, then I would strongly recommend that you get out of the LA area as soon as you can and enjoy the scenery and beaches on the way north.

What I would suggest is that you leave L.A. almost immediately by the I-5, get around the Bay Area as best you can {e.g. I-580/US-101(south!)}, get on CA-1 north early enough to visit Point Reyes National Seashore, and start your discovery of California there. Yes. that will mean that you miss the Big Sur coast, but you also will have missed out on a lot of the worst California coastal congestion and will be in a position where there is little but scenery between you and your final destination.

As you work your way north on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH/CA-1/US-101) you will find a wealth of scenic and historic venues that will be a far better use of your time than sitting in L.A. traffic, as well as a host of state and national parks and forests that will offer a better place to park your rig than a Walmart parking lot. Some of my personal favorites besides Point Reyes include the town of Mendocino, the redwood parks around Orick CA, Fort Clatsop near Astoria OR, the Historic Columbia River Highway Scenic Byway, and Olympic National Park.

AZBuck

[Utahtea]

Original poster asked this question back in 2010 so I'll bet he's already done the trip. ;)

Wonder what he did.

Utahtea