What to see on a California road trip?

[Low Elco]

At Tahoe, coming up 395, stop at Genoa. Neat little town, with Nevada's oldest bar, the Genoa Bar. Neat spot , and gorgeous place. Go 7 miles back south an go over the mountains on 207, awesome road and crazy views! At the north end, Go out to Truckee on 89 down the Truckee River. WOW, that's pretty. I 80 into Reno is pretty impressive. For a neat stop look up the bridge above Donner Lake just west of Truckee.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by REDROCKER652002

The only thing I would say is to stay the hell away from San Francisco. Dirty and really not what it used to be. Santa Cruz is fun, but not sure if the Boardwalk is open. Haven't been to San Simeon in years, but a good time and tour Hearst Castle if you go. If you like wine, check out the Napa Valley, but not sure what is open after all the fires they had out there. But once again, stay out of San Francisco. The mayor and the DA have make it an absolute Crap hole, unless you like drug addicts shooting up and crapping on the street, then go for it LOL

Also, allow yourself a dump load of time to get thru Los Angeles and that area. The traffic is brutal. A ride down the coast is always fun.

LA traffic is indeed brutal. I drove through it for decades, on the 405 from Inglewood to the 118, or beyond, and all kinds of side streets in an effort to get home in less than a few hours. My record(s) are from a completely insane rainstorm, where it took me 4 hours to go 30 miles, and almost getting swept into an overflow over Nordhoff St. between Kester and Van Nuys Blvd where there is a low spot, and the time in '03 when fires completely encircled our town. That time, I drove up PCH to Malibu Canyon, and eventually ended up on the 101, took the 23 to the 118 and got home. A LOT of people had the same idea. I had many a moment where I considered buying a gyrocopter to get to work, but I would have had to fly under the jets taking off from LAX in the morning, and between their turbulence and the sharks in the water (never mind my acrophobia), that was a non-starter.

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by dave6672

I appreciate the replies so far and will incorporate in what I can. All great suggestions.......except for Oildale and the SF beaches. Wasn't planning on hitting those hotspots anyway!

Oildale is a hotspot. Just ask the cops.

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by REDROCKER652002

San Francisco in a nutshell. Very unfortunate what London Breed, the DA and all the other liberal idiots have done to that city. It used to be a fun place to go. North beach, China town and the piers were always fun. Now, you take your life into your own hands if you go to any of them.

Its been in decline for years. I grew up there and you could watch it change on a daily basis. We used to fish just North of the Potato Patch, Kirby Beach and Tomales just outside the Gate. The Farallon Islands - life experience out there. I pass on the City and don't care to take my family there unless its necessary. The Bridge and North end are still captivating. Regrettably I agree with you on the current state of the City.

Stay out of it. You're on a vacation.

I would make Oakdale my last stop coming off the hill, pass SF and DO NOT stop in Oakland. Hit 101 and straight to the coast or up into the Redwoods.

Originally Posted by FleetsidePaul

You could always go to Oildale in good ole Bakersfield.

I'm just kidding. DO NOT go to Oildale. I got lost and ended up there once and once was enough



I used to like to go to San Simeon. I think it might be south of where you're going. But we would go there as kids and see Hearst Castle. I even went there on two of my honeymoons. I'm not sure what's open with all the Covid stuff going on now. It's a sleepy little place. There's not much going on there. But it's a nice quiet getaway if you're in the mood.

San Simeon and HC is truly amazing. They don't do it like that anymore. Nuff said.

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

It's a bit of a stretch, but my favorite vacation I've done so far is my wife and I flew into Phoenix, AZ, drove to the Grand Canyon and stayed for two days (wish we had stayed a day or two longer) and drove to Southern CA and stayed in Huntington Beach for the next 8 days (over 4th of July week).

It looks to be a 3.5-4 hr drive from PHX to the Grand Canyon main park. We hit route 66 between the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. It was both neat and kinda sad.

Its a 12 hour straight shot to Lake Tahoe from the Grand Canyon.... but if you take the longer route, you can pass through Las Vegas (Red Rocks is a neat drive outside of Vegas) and then hit Death Valley, Yosemite, etc on your way to Tahoe.

I only suggest this because you have two weeks. You need a lot of time for a trip like that.

I've driven the PCH from San Diego to Seattle, and again from Seattle to San Diego. The redwood forest is incredible. Map out where you want to stop. There's a few smaller parks on the north end with some neat walking trails that only take 1/2 hour to an hour each.

I wish I could remember the name of it, but one of them has one of the largest redwoods currently living. IT IS HUGE!.

There are a couple of impressive "trees" here from General Sherman (Sequoia National) to the Bennet Juniper - largest Juniper on Earth and 3000 yrs young. We do have some pretty impressive lumber. I think the largest Redwood will be where you're going. The name of the tree is Hyperion 379'. Just the name is formidable.

Oddly though, there have been 1 or 2 new, bigger ones discovered recently. Supposedly the locations are being kept under wraps for the time being

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

Great route, you’ll see lots of awesome scenery. I’d suggest glass beach near fort bragg along the north coast. And of course you have to stop by dust bowl brewery as you pass through Turlock. oh, and look up conditions of highway 1 along the coast, I heard there was a large slide recently that took out a section of the road.

Never been to Dustbowl but I have had their brew. Good stuff! Also Lagunitas in Petaluma off the 101 and Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa. Both are pretty comfortable stops to wet the whistle and have pretty decent food. Lagunitas being the way more laid back of the two. Had a great time there.

Originally Posted by TwoFiftyShifter

Dont skimp on the PCH. I lived Yosemite, but the PCH was what really took my breath away. Tahoe is nice, too. Hard to go wrong with California, really.

We used to just road trip out to Yosemite as kids / teens anytime we wanted. Way before any sort of reservations. Used to marvel at watching a climber who had pitched a tent 200-300' up the side of Half Dome wake up in the morning, have breakfast, pack up and keep climbing. Crazy. Bridal Veil Falls. Which one is the one that they would dump hot coals off of years ago? Dunno. That might have been a hallucination .

Ive been fortunate to live within 10 - 20 minutes of Hwy 1 all my life. There are times when I will hop over the hill and go 20 miles out of the normal drive home just to "soak it up". Good weather, bad weather, its always a good drive. Two Fifty hit the nail on the head. Don't skimp on the PCH.

Hope you and your family have a great "Birthday" trip and come back with some great memories!

[Sheepdip]

"I would make Oakdale my last stop coming off the hill, pass SF and DO NOT stop in Oakland. Hit 101 and straight to the coast or up into the Redwoods."

Oakdale is a good place to fuel up and fill your tummy too!
Try Medlin's House of Beef for steaks and tri-tip.

Back Woods Burgers if you like really fresh ingredients you can taste, and garlic fry's to die for.

Ferrarese's Deli Restaurant for sandwiches of all types.

Susy Belens for Mexican Food is another good one

Oakdale Cheese on your way out of town towards S.F. is famous for it's Gouda Cheese...it's Gooda!

[Chevyland]

Dave,
The route you explained in the first post is great.
Yosemite and the Northern California coast are two of the most scenic areas of California, and can be enjoyed from the car, while stopping at turnouts and the local sites along the way.
When you leave Yosemite towards the coast, you basically come right through wine country, another beautiful area. My shop is on the Napa/Sonoma county line. If it works out stop by. I’ll show you some trucks, and around the area.
Have a great trip,
Eric

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by Sheepdip

"I would make Oakdale my last stop coming off the hill, pass SF and DO NOT stop in Oakland. Hit 101 and straight to the coast or up into the Redwoods."

Oakdale is a good place to fuel up and fill your tummy too!
Try Medlin's House of Beef for steaks and tri-tip.

Back Woods Burgers if you like really fresh ingredients you can taste, and garlic fry's to die for.

Ferrarese's Deli Restaurant for sandwiches of all types.

Susy Belens for Mexican Food is another good one

Oakdale Cheese on your way out of town towards S.F. is famous for it's Gouda Cheese...it's Gooda!

I'll put those places in my little black book too! I'm out that way regularly enough. People I've encountered have been very friendly as well. Seems when I do have a breakdown or trailer issue, it's always in Oakdale and near every time, at least one if not more people have stopped to offer help.

Now I've got a couple of new places to try.

Oakdale = good. Oakland = not so much lol.

[72ironmike]

Definitely drive around the entire lake. I think near Emerald Bay there is a water fall that is an easy hike to the bottom (or it was 37 years ago). Use to be that you could se a white dinner plate under the waters surface at a depth of 100 feet ! I am going back in the near future. Have a great time !

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by FleetsidePaul

Oildale is a hotspot. Just ask the cops.

For sale. Fixer upper. Up and coming neighborhood. $750,000.

[dave6672]

Originally Posted by Chevyland

Dave,
The route you explained in the first post is great.
Yosemite and the Northern California coast are two of the most scenic areas of California, and can be enjoyed from the car, while stopping at turnouts and the local sites along the way.
When you leave Yosemite towards the coast, you basically come right through wine country, another beautiful area. My shop is on the Napa/Sonoma county line. If it works out stop by. I’ll show you some trucks, and around the area.
Have a great trip,
Eric

Thanks for the gracious offer, may take you up on that since we are coming from Yosemite to a stay at Bodega Bay before we head up the coast. It looks like that brings us by near you.

[dave6672]

Thanks again for all of the advice and tips. I'm pretty much planning the trip to stay out of large cities and see as many interesting things that we can. Natural beauty, cool towns, good food, nice people, etc, etc.

[72 tigger]

Glad to see Sequoia on your list, probably my favorite place in CA. Hit a in-and-out burger joint once- it’ll be a great trip. Please start a thread so we can follow

[Sheepdip]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

Glad to see Sequoia on your list, probably my favorite place in CA. Hit a in-and-out burger joint once- it’ll be a great trip. Please start a thread so we can follow

Definitely hit In-and-Out Burger they support our car/truck culture.

[richards72chevy]

We were going to go to San Francisco last year but were told how much worse it has gotten over the years.Pacific Grove is a nice little town to go to along the coast.It is packed on the weekend but hardly any one there on the week day.Close to Monterey Bay aquarium.My two girls are around the same age as yours and they had a blast.We ate at bubba gumps it was good service and a cool experience but I think the gas stations here in Oklahoma have better fried fish lol.

[GOPAPA]

Originally Posted by dave6672

For my wife's 50th birthday last year, she wanted to go to the Caribbean and we had a tripped planned that, of course, went belly up. The airline gave us until the end of 2021 to use the tickets, so now she wants to go to Lake Tahoe. My daughter is going too, so I figured we'd take 2 weeks and check out national parks, etc. and then spend the last few days in Lake Tahoe.

Here's the plan and the general route: Fly into Vegas, then drive to Death Valley, Sequoia/King's Canyon, Yosemite. Then head toward the coast north of San Francisco and drive up the coast to Redwood national park, maybe into Oregon, and then work our way down to Lake Tahoe to end the trip.

We're staying out of the large cities as best we can and are interested in seeing scenic beauty, wildlife, interesting things, and if I'm lucky, old trucks of course.

I know there are plenty of board members from CA and others who may be knowledgeable about the area, so I'm looking for advice/tips on things to see and do along the route I described. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

I am not disputing any of the other suggestions about fun places to visit ,,and I realize that 2 weeks when driving is not very long when your taking in site seeing over a possible 2000 mile round trip from and back to Los Vegas ,,but to bad you don't have time to travel the Oregon Coast all the way to Seaside Oregon as it is THE most beautiful Ocean coast drive on the whole Western United States... Hint ,,if you fly into Portland Oregon and do a reverse of your trip all the way down to Vegas and then fly home ,, then 2 weeks might work ..