Cliff and I are taking a 2-3 week vacation on the West Coast this summer. We don't have any definite plans yet, but we were thinking about starting in Portland, OR. or Seattle and making our way down the coast to the Big Sur area (south of Monterrey). We haven't been there that often, so any advice of places to go, things to do, routes to take, etc would be appreciated. I'm looking forward to a lot of outdoor activities. Here is a list of places I have been searching so far:
Start: Seattle,
Washington or Portland, Oregon
Take I-5 until Grant’s Pass then to coast highway 101
Redwood National Park
Highway 101 to Sonoma/
Napa for wine tasting
San Francisco, CA to see Lucy
Highway 1 to Monterrey for coastal views
Take more rural roads to Kings Canyon
Yosemite National Park
Back to San Francisco to fly back
Cliff has planned the last few vacations, so I want to make this a good trip for him :)
That sounds fantastic! I would definitely recommend the 101 coast highway. It's beautiful. The Redwoods are amazing and you really just get to drive right through them. If you want to camp, I'd recommend, Patrick's Point State Park. It's just south of the Redwoods right on the coast. Literally from our campsite we could hear the ocean. The campground is small and at the top of a cliff with a trail that leads down to a rocky beach (it's called Agate Beach). It was one of my favorite parts of our trip.
ReplyDeleteYou might also consider Crater Lake on your journey through Oregon. It's pretty. Or cruise along the Historic Columbia River Highway outside of Portland. Multnomah Falls is no more than 30 miles out along that highway and it's a beautiful drive with the most waterfalls in the continental United States.
Gosh. If you're going to be in Portland I can give you all sorts of recommendations for places to go.
So exciting!
Sounds like fun! Sean and I did our honeymoon in Santa Cruz, mostly because of it's central location to activities that you mentioned. I wouldn't stop in Santa Cruz itself unless you really want to - if anything, their old-fashioned boardwalk is cool.
ReplyDeleteBut, I would definitely stop in Monteray at the Monteray Bay Aquarium - it is awesome! The Big Sur Coast is beautiful, and has lots of places along it to stop and enjoy the views.
If you go, try to hit the Aquarium on a weekday. We went on a weekend, and it was super crowded. Monteray and Santa Cruz are popular weekend beach spots for the San Fran and inland people - lots of traffic on 101 and whatever that highway is that goes over the Santa Cruz mountains to Los Gatos.
That trip sounds amazing! Unfortunately I have no advice for you as I have never been west of nevada :(
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