Pacific Coast Highway

[JerryofWV]

I will be visiting California in a couple weeks. I will be arriving from Oregon. I would like to drive a few miles on the Pacific Coast Highway in my 36 ft motor home. Can someone recommend a stretch that would be good for sightseeing?
This is our first trip to California.

[tada]

The stretch of 101 between Gaviota and Ventura, through Santa Barbara runs right along the ocean. Beautiful views, plenty of beach exits, and four to six lane highway. An easy drive for your 36 footer.

The area around Pismo Beach is also nice for whale and shark watching.

[Unplanned Tourist]

We have driven it all and only touched down the hitch once. Just take it easy and you will be fine. The area along by the Hurst Castle is very nice. Also nice park at Half moon Bay, South of SF.
Happy Glamping.

PS. I pulled my Ranger the whole way too. Stopped and rode the bike in many places. Mandatory!

[WoodyS]

Originally Posted by Unplanned

The area along by the Hurst Castle is very nice.

We were up there a few months ago. Watched the thousands of Elephant Seals molting on the sand at the Elephant Seal Viewing area about 4 miles above Hearst Castle. Wonderful experience.

But I'm not sure Hwy-1 is open yet above Ragged Point. It's been closed to through traffic for quite a while because of a major rock slide.

There are so many wonderful stretches of Hwy-1 it's impossible to list them all. But one I'd avoid is much of the stretch above Pt. Reyes. It's a terrific area, but the switch-backs are killer.

There are many other areas along Hwy-1 I've been nervous on in a either our 24 ft. Chinook or towing our 31 ft. 5th wheel trailer. And just when I was about to say, "I sure am glad we're not driving something longer" -- we'd pass a long log truck going the other direction -- going a zillion miles an hour!

Something else you might consider is actually stopping and camping along one of the several on-the-beach RV campsites. The Rincon in Ventura County is one of the most famous of these. It's a Ventura County RV campground (RV's only -- no tents). They've painted RV site boundary marks on the pavement (the original Hwy-1 I believe before the freeway was built up above) and numbered each one. It's a first-come-first-served self-pay deal. If you find an empty site, take it. Then you walk to a self-pay station and fill out the paperwork and leave cash or a check in the envelope. The sites are dry (no hookups of any kind), but they do have trash dumpsters every 100 yards or so. And you're right next to the sand. In some locations you can fish from under your awning! Except that this is really a surfing beach.

Although I don't have any first-hand experience, I believe there's at least one pump-out service that will come to your rig and pump out your holding tanks and fill your fresh water tank.

If you want/need hookups, you can try Faria Beach, which is about another 100 yards South of The Rincon. It's also a Ventura County park and also first-come, first-served. No reservations. But it has about a dozen full hookup sites and maybe half a dozen partial hookup sites. Most of the sites are back-in -- where you back up to the rocks over the ocean. But they also have about half a dozen "Premium" sites for the long rigs. They're also back-in, but on the opposite side and not actually next to the water. Naturally this place is hard to get into. But we've been successful twice. Great whale-watching from the back of the RV.

Driving down into Faria Beach is easy even in a long rig. But getting out is a bit harder as you have to make a very hard right uphill turn. You might need a flagman so you can use both lanes for the turn.

Another area where you can dry-camp right on the ocean is Avila Beach. This is a couple of miles North of Pismo Beach. Again, it's first-come, first-served. No reservations. And although it's dry camping, there are pump-out services that will come and pump out your holding tanks and fill your fresh water tank -- with filtered fresh water.

Avila Beach also has some full hookup sites on a bluff above the road and beach. These two facilities are run by the Port Authority. Both these areas are within walking distance of the Avila Beach pier and restaurants.

[JerryofWV]

Thanks for all of your good info. This will make my planning a lot easier.

[weredoingit]

Originally Posted by JerryofWV

Thanks for all of your good info. This will make my planning a lot easier.

If I was coming from Oregon I would come down Hwy. 101 just south of Laytonville you cut west to Fort Brag on HWY 1, and continue south. If you have never done this trip it would be sad not to travel all the way down HWY 1

[Glenn and Kathy]

The landslide damage on PCH has been repaired. The road reopened a couple days ago.

Glenn

[missourijan]

Emma Wood State Beach is just south of Rincon and also right on the ocean, no amenities at all. Weekends are usually booked but during the week there are open sites. They take reservations. You can walk or bike to downtown Ventura, where there is a grocery store, Rite Aid and lots of restaurants. There's a commercial rv park, Ventura Beach RV, but it's not on the water, pricey and many, many rules

[Coarsegold]

Originally Posted by Glenn and Kathy

The landslide damage on PCH has been repaired. The road reopened a couple days ago.

Glenn

All it took was 50 million and about a year.

[Harrysait]

Hwy 1, north and south of San Francisco is very scenic and very slow. If you are not ready to drive very narrow one lane road, with curves as slow as 15 mph, I would stay to Hwy 101. Not as many scenic views but you still get to see the ocean in some sections. Even 101 can be slow with sharp curves, but not as continuous.
If you do want to drive Hwy 1, I would not start at Laytonville, drive to Willits and take Hwy 20 to Fort Bragg, about 35 miles but allow 2 hrs, then go south on Hwy 1. Just as scenic but half the distance.j
And if you are planning on camping along the ocean in state park cgs, you should have mage reservations 8 months ago.

Hint: Van Damme State Park, if full allows camping in day area, one night only, for a fee but you are right on the beach. About 10 miles south of Fort Bragg.

[WoodyS]

Originally Posted by Harrysait

If you do want to drive Hwy 1, I would not start at Laytonville, drive to Willits and take Hwy 20 to Fort Bragg, about 35 miles but allow 2 hrs, then go south on Hwy 1. Just as scenic but half the distance.

I agree. We drove the Northern route to Ft. Bragg (from Legget on Hwy-1) last year just to give it a try. We won't be taking that route again probably. Hwy-20 is much shorter and wider, but also very twisty with lots of switch-backs. But that said, the log trucks do it every day. The least stressful route to Ft. Bragg and the Mendocino area is probably the Southern route, Hwy-128 (Cloverdale to Albion). But it's a long distance (probably why it's so much easier) and would mean a lot of back-tracking if coming from the North.

If you're not in a hurry and want a really unique way to get from the 101 to Ft. Bragg -- take the Skunk Railway from Willits. The Willits KOA has a tiny little train platform in the RV park next to the tracks where the Skunk stops and picks up passengers. I'm pretty sure you can buy tickets in the KOA office -- I think we did that once. Then you take the Skunk (which is a historic self-propelled, diesel powered single rail car to the mid-rail station, transfer to the main Skunk train (which is either pulled by a vintage diesel locomotive, or original steam locomotive -- I think the steam engine only runs on weekends) and take it all the way into Ft. Bragg where the main station is. The train ride goes through some old-growth Redwood forest along the Noyo river. It's a fun ride.

If you're in Ft. Bragg, a fun day-trip is to do a Train/Kayak trip. You get on the Skunk in Ft. Bragg and it takes you to a bridge over the Noyo River and stops and lets you off. There you meet your kayak guide/s and they have your rental kayaks waiting for you. And you paddle/drift down the Noyo River back to Ft. Bragg. The time we did this several years ago, we had our 5th Wheel trailer at the Dolphin Isles Marina/RV Park-- which was also where the Kayak company was based. So when we were done, we just pulled our Kayak up on the little sandy beach at Dolphin Isle Marina/RV Park and walked to our RV.

But I'll warn you, Dolphin Isle Marina/RV park isn't for everybody. We had a fantastic site overlooking the Noyo River, with the back of our trailer almost hanging over the river bank. We watched three kinds of Heron on the banks, and in the trees, and duck families paddling right under our rig, and Sea Lions came swimming up the river, almost within touching distance. But at least several years ago, it was a pretty funky RV Park.

Oh, and if you're there during Salmon fishing season, there are many commercial Salmon boats based in Ft. Bragg. With some you can contract with the captain for so many whole fish before he leaves (or if you give him your phone number or Email address he'll contact you while catching the fish to finalize how many you want). When he gets back, you bring your cooler to his dock, and wait in line (with all the rest of the people who placed orders) and wait for he and his crew to clean and fillet your fish. And then you take your really fresh Salmon back with you.

It's not cheap. You have to buy a whole fish and they can cost well over $100 each for the big ones (they charge by the pound of whole fish). And you have to order in advance. By the time he gets back to his dock, he's completely sold out. We didn't know about this the first time we went to Ft. Bragg. But now that we do (and have a much larger refrigerator/freezer in our KSDP), we probably will try this the next time.

[Harrysait]

Also while in Bragg, check out Princess Seafood, a fishing boat run by girls, selling their fresh catch at various farmers markets.
Recently they opened a Seafood market and grill in Noyo harbor. Excellent fresh food (was there a week ago)!
Also at Dolphin Marina RV, it is funky but basically a fish camp, but you are close to water.

[BuzzWolfAR]

Is also nice from Long Beach to Dana Point, then I5 thru Camp Pendelton to San Diego. Beautiful easy drive.

[2Yung2 Quit]

Don't miss the section going through Big Sur. It was reopened last week. You also don't want to miss Hearst Castle.