San Fran to LA in 5 days

[W. Larrison]

The weather along the coast can be variable in the October or December time period. The usual weather is to have low clouds and possibly fog in the mornings, which typically burns off in the afternoon. It's not uncommon to have bright blue skies in the afternoons and a nice breeze. But.... if the jet stream shifts and California starts getting a chain of storms then you can have a week of rainy/ cloudy weather. The farther north you go near SF, the more likely the skies will be grey.

I've driven the coast road numerous times in the winter -- and its been usually pretty nice (usually the Xmas-New Years week). I do recall getting rain once, but it was intermittent showery and the blasts of sun between the clouds was quite dramatic lighting along Big Sur.

You can drive from Death Valley to SF in a day, but its a rather long day's drive. As mentioned elsewhere, the Tioga pass over the Sierras most probably will be closed by snow at that point, so your fastest route is around the southern end of the Sierras through the high desert to Bakersfield, and then up the central valley. That does give you the option of stopping at somewhere like Yosemite, or perhaps some of the agriculatural areas through the central valley. There's an amazing variety of crops grown in the central valley -- grapes (wine, eating or raisins), fruits of all types, nuts of all types, cotton, row crops of a large number, vegetables and etc. California Olive Oils are a very rapidly developing commodity and VERY good, as are California Rices. There's a place near Sacramento I've stopped at that had 20 different varieties of rice for sale, all grown in the central valley.

Most folks, including myself will recommend going inland up to SF and then back south towards LA along PCH through Big Sur. However... there is the option of cutting over via California 41 to come out at Paso Robles, and then over to PCH at Cambria. That takes you through the wine country near Paso Robles and gives you the best part of the PCH up through Big Sur. From SF its a day's drive back to LA via I-5 (the fastest route). That is an option, but not a recommended one.

[viv1969]

Thursday 4th Drive to Yosemite (Any suggestions of the best way to go?)Is it worth going via Death Valley if we've got a standard hire car? will tioga pass be open? is that the best way to go?

The park has a policy to keep the Tioga Road and the Glacier Point Road open until the first major snowfall after November 1. During September and October, there may be temporary closures due to snow. After November 1, both roads will close when predicted weather indicates a series of snowfalls that would necessitate continuous plowing. The 20-year average for closing of the Tioga Road is November 15.

Frday and Saturday Yosemite (is this enough time/too long just to se the main sights?

In my (limited) opinion, 2 days will give you time to have a nice leasurely look around the park at a FANTASTIC time of year. It's not enough time to see every single thing, but that just means you'll be gagging to go back!

[redhead]

Thanks for all this amazing info!

If we're traveling back down the PCH after Christmas, do you think it'll be too cold/wet to camp? We have subzero sleeping bags, so I guess the real concern is the weather...is it generally crowded at that time of year...wil we have trouble finding an open hostel/motel if it's too rainy to camp outside?

Thanks again! What a great resource!

[W. Larrison]

Thanks for all this amazing info!

If we're traveling back down the PCH after Christmas, do you think it'll be too cold/wet to camp? We have subzero sleeping bags, so I guess the real concern is the weather...is it generally crowded at that time of year...wil we have trouble finding an open hostel/motel if it's too rainy to camp outside?

I did a quick look at the almanac data for Monterey and Cambria CA (nothern and southerly ends of the Big Sur section, just about) for the last week in December. Typical temperatures will be a high in the mid 60's F, to a low around mid 40's F. To my mind, that's prefectly acceptable temperatures for camping.. However, the dew pointis around 50 or so, so you will have lots of dew in the mornings on everything, and you do have the possibility of rain that week (average is around 1/5th to 1/4 of an inch -- but a max recorded of a 3/4" of rain). So.. be prepared for damp weather if you're camping. Sweaters and warm bags and waterproof/ windproof jackets and some type of hats IMHO.

Other than the week between Christmas and New Years, you probably won't have any problems with availablity of a camping site -- December is one of the off winter months. But a lot of folks travel the week of Xmas-New Years. If you're concerned, you can reserve a site over the internet for just about every campground that takes reservations. Most of the state and county campgrounds can be reserved at www.reserveamerica.com The costs are typically quite low -- $20 or less for a night, for a tent camping spot

In the past, when there's be a lot of rain in the forecast, I'll give up my reservation (with no expectation of a refund) and find a motel for the night. You've got the campground reservation anyway -- so you know you can stay there. If you're flexible about staying in a location (say within 20 miles of driving or so), you shouldn't have any problems finding a room, if you call for a reservation that afternoon and try a couple of places in the worst case. (I've never had to go to a secondary motel that time of year in California, unless its somewhere very popular like next to Disneyland or in a high demand/ low availability area like Death Valley).

[The Taco Monster]

Maybe I lost the thread somewhere -- but did you just suggest that Chris can drive the entire PCH from San Francisco to LA in ninety minutes?

Thanks for keeping me honest, Mark. 7 hrs sounds about right if one hugs the coast all the way down. I let my personal experience with PCH get in the way .., i,e, coming from the S., I didn't try getting on it until near San Louis Obispo, and felt I'd arrived when I hit Carmel. Even that's 110 miles, so I had other filters on my memory that I wasn't aware of. But for sure, I encourage poking along while on this wonderful route. Last time, I believe we took four hours or so between Carmel & S.S. and had a terrific time, with lots of memorable shots.

Mark, if you are saying that there's much beauty to see S. of Santa Barbara on the PCH, I'll put 'er on my list next time I'm in the area. For people who have the time, the highway also has much beauty N. of S.F, (my wife and I tried some of it while visiting Santa Rosa), ... its a bit more crowded, not a problem if you are ther for the scenery, but based on our brief experince (Memorial Day weekend) slow is the only kind of speed you'll get.

Worth noting, when I went through from the N. again, in June, a portion of the PCH was closed between S.F. and Monterrey, due to slides from the unseasonable rains last Spring. Can any one provide the current status on that?

[cool]

If you are talking about the landslide and closure between Montara and Pacifica, its open now. They are still working on it, but it is open(at least one lane). Its been a month since they opened hwy 1 there.

[The Taco Monster]

yup thats gotta be it - we'd been warned by several people in Late May to avoid it. Really enjoyed the part we could be on, though. -ttm

[redhead]

Hi all,
My husband and I are going to CA for 2 weeks and want to spend about 4-5 days driving Highway 1 from San Francisco to LA. We are leaving SF on Monday and are hoping to be in LA by Friday.

So far we are thinking of leaving SF Monday morning and stopping in Monterey (sleeping over Monday night), the Big Sur (sleeping over Tuesday night), San Simeon (Wed night), and then I guess we have one night that's not planned yet.

Does this sound too rushed? Should we space out the stops more? Is the drive from San Simeon to LA do-able in a day?

I'm not sure of the driving times between any of the places I've listed so if anyone has any input or advice I'd love to hear it!
Thanks!

[W. Larrison]

Hello redhead and welcome to the board!

You've got plenty of time to do the trip -- 4 or 5 days gives you lots of time to stop and visit places and sightsee. The drive from San Simeon to LA is very doable in one day -- its around 4 hours drive time without stopping somewhere. However, depending upon what you're interesting in visiting or viewing, you can also plan a stop in the Solvang/ Santa Barbara area.

San Francisco to Monterey is from 2 to 4 hours drive time, depending upon traffic and the route you take. But you'll need to add in any time you spend sightseeing around the Bay area, or in Monterey (the aquarium, Cannery Row, etc.)

Monterey to Big Sur is anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending upon where in Big Sur you're heading.

Big Sur to San Simeon is about 90 minutes to an hour, depending upon where you start in the Big Sur area. Plus of course, any stops or sightseeing along the way. For example, at the Elephant Seal colony at Pedro Blancos or at Hearst Castle.

To be honest, if I had to pull out a night, I'll pull out the one in Big Sur, and just plan on Monterey to San Simeon area in a day -- its very drivable in a day, with lots of stops for sightseeing. Then I'd add in a stop somewhere around Solvang to Santa Barbara area to visit the wineries, Santa Barbara to visit the mission and perhaps shopping in the El Paseo area in SB. From SB to LA is about 2-3 hours (depending upon traffic and where in LA you want to go).

[redhead]

Thanks for the advice. I think we will probably stay overnight in Big Sur because we'll want to do some hiking and stuff and since we have a whole week to get down the coast we won't want to feel rushed.

We'll probably end up spending the Thursday night in Santa Barbara, so thanks for the recommendation.

So, on the earlier part of our trip, we'll be traveling from Joshua Tree to Death Valley and then to SF. Any advice on the shortest route from Death Valley to SF at that time of year (December)?

Thanks again!