Driving From LA To Seattle

[Bello]

Thinking of going a little road trip from LA to Seattle. I have never driven anywhere north of LA.

Can anybody suggests a few stops & points of interest along the way?

Looking to make it a three day drive - so i'm not in a rush

Beside Sanfran, is there any other "must visit" places?

Thanks

[onlycafe]

hearst castle, muir woods, avenue of the giants.

[RSlater]

The Redwoods are worth seeing





Then there is the Oregon Caves which are between the Redwoods and Grants Pass, Oregon.

Mount ST Helens, nice twisty roads, Especially if you drive around to the east side.

[Tobra]

If you have time, go up the coast. Plan to spend the better part of a day at San Simeon(AKA Hearst's Castle, 800-444-7275), Monterey Bay Aquarium is cool. Everything between Santa Maria and Monterey is pretty breathtaking, fun roads too, on the 1. Winchester Mystery House in San Jose is pretty cool(408-247-2101)If you can have dinner at the Cliff House in San Francisco, get seated about 30-45 minutes before sunset. Timber Cove Inn, in Jenner as I recall, is pretty awesome(707-847-3231)

That should keep you busy

[scottmandue]

Don't want to be a negative Nellie but 1145 to do miles in three days you will most likely have to go up Hwy 5. There are some interesting things to see off I-5 but you won't see the best of Calif. or Oregon (the coast and redwoods).

The Sundial bridge is cool, right off I-5 near Shasta.

[arcsine]

If you can pull it off, doing Hwy 101 from say Big Sur or Monterey up to Portland is stunning. Pretty much every place you pass will have something worthwhile to see but the views alone are worth it. Once in Washington, 101 is less interesting so you can make up some time doing the I-5 slog to Seattle.

[Scooter]

As far as purely the driving experience: go up to San Luis Obispo on 101, then take 1 up through Monterey to San Francisco. If you leave LA early in the morning, you could be in San Francisco by sunset and have dinner at the Cliff House. Stay the night in San Francisco and the next day, seeing the sights in the city. Sometime in the afternoon, drive across the Golden Gate up the 101 to Eureka, about 3 hours. Eureka is not fun, but it will give you an early start to drive through the Redwoods to Cresent City, then over 199 to Grants Pass, Oregon. Both the Redwoods and the drive to Grants Pass are great roads in a Porsche. The rest of the drive to Seattle is pretty uneventful and long from Grants Pass to Seattle, but the drives you had been on the last couple of days are outstanding.

[Cdnone1]

I agree with Scott
If you only have three days and you go to Hearst Castle and up to San Fran along the coast, on day 1 1/2 you will have to get on the 5 and put a brick on your gas pedal for the next 20 hours.
I've done different parts of the drive, and if you want to get to Seattle in 3 days with stops to see stuff you better plan on very long days
Just my 2cents
Steve

[TerryH]

Sightseeing? I did it in just over 15 hours with my parents asleep in the back seat. They thought I had stopped for a motel and were surprised to be in their driveway.

[HardDrive]

+1 for Scotts plan. The wife and I drove down the Coast from Oregon to SF years ago. Just beautiful. Given your time frame, you probably won't be able to do the entire run. I wouldn't miss the Oregon coast. So beautiful. Regardless of how you plan it out, once you get to portland, Seattle is only 3 hours away.

So what brings you to our fair city?

[alf]

Do Scott,s route, i have done it several times and it is AWESOME. Stop off on the many small towns along the Oregon coast, they are all very cool. Take your time though, lots to see along the way.

[Bello]

During my drive, Is there any one place that I should expect bad weather? Like Snow?

[Tobra]

Not on the coast, but if you cut over to I-5, weather can be pretty brutal North of Redding/Red Bluff on up to and past Grants Pass in OR

I did not see the 3 day thing, sorry. I would second taking Hwy 1 North of SLO on up to San Francisco, very scenic. The Columbia River Gorge West of Portland is pretty cool, but you are sort of like Bandit and the Snowman, you got a long way to go, and a short time to get there.

Hearst's Castle is pretty awesome, but you won't really have time.
Here is what you would be missing
Hearst Castle

[Bello]

Is this possible?

I want to leave LA Thursday morning & I need to be in Seattle by Noon on Sunday.
1. Is it possible to see the Hearst Castle & Muir woods? Will I be backtracking anywhere if I do?
2. I heard good things about Carmel – maybe this could this be my first night stop?
3. I would like to make one stop in San Fran for a few hours – do you think I will have time? Or should I just keep driving?
4. After San Fran is there any other points of interest for me to see & will I have time?
5. Where should I make my second night stop?

As you can see I’m a bit lost on what to do. I realize I can’t do everything

Thank You

[Tobra]

Hearst Castle and Muir Woods are both right on your way, but you would be spending hours at either place to do them justice. It is tough to make good time on Hwy 1 because of the windy road with a sheer drop to the ocean on your left thing. Maybe first overnight in Monterey or Santa Cruz, second night up in Redding or something.

Muir Woods are North of SF in Marin county, right off Hwy 1, right after Sausalito. If you were willing to backtrack a little, you hit Muir Woods, then go 101 to 137 to I-80, 505 to I-5 north, otherwise there is not that great a place to go from the coast inland to the interstate. I have made the drive up the coast North of SF too, and that is a long haul to the Oregon state line. If you are running up the coast all the way it will take longer than you have.

800-427-ROAD is California road conditions
503-588-2941 is Oregon road conditions

[scottmandue]

Originally posted by Tobra
Hearst Castle and Muir Woods are both right on your way, but you would be spending hours at either place to do them justice. It is tough to make good time on Hwy 1 because of the windy road with a sheer drop to the ocean on your left thing. Maybe first overnight in Monterey or Santa Cruz, second night up in Redding or something.

Thats exactly what I was thinking, Hearst castle is way cool... I have been on all the tours (except the night one) more than once. Although I would throw out the caveat that if you are not into art, architecture and/or American history it may not be you cup of tea.

Same for Monterey aquarium... I spent half a day there and loved it... a friend went there and left after an hour disappointed that there wasn't a trained dolphin show

Big Sur (Hwy 1 between Morro bay and Monterey) is world class beautiful by all standards... but that is what Torba is referring to as extremely windy two lane with sheer drop off and if you get stuck behind a rubbernecking motor-home... well you get the idea.

FWIW Monterey, Carmel, SF are rather expensive as far as hotels depending on what your budget is. The good news is there are hundreds of little towns along the way where you can get inexpensive lodging (if that matters).

[Tobra]

There are also some reasonable places in Vacaville, which is near the 505, which cuts across from 80 to 5 and bypasses Sacramento and Davis. I would think you would want to go past Monterey a bit to stay the night, and stay in one of the small towns just North of it, say Watsonville or Santa Cruz

I will second the Monterey Bay Aquarium thing. As far as SF, it depends on what you are into. Golden Gate Park has the Arboretum, with trees and plants from around the world, and a bigass glass green house just south of the Haight Ashbury district. Or you could ride a streetcar, hit Ghiradelli Square or Fisherman's Wharf, depends on what you dig brother.

If you are drivng back too, you could do so by a slightly different route and catch the Oregon coast, or whatever

[Dottore]

We do this run on a regular basis - and three days does not leave a whole lot of time for sightseeing. The Hearst Castle in particular is a serious time-suck for which you really should budget a half-day.

We love the coast north of San Francisco - Mendocino in particular. It's a great little town in which to stretch your legs for a while. That might be a worthy destination for your first night.

[scottmandue]

Yeah, you may want to consider targeting one sightseeing stop and spend the other two days driving.

I helped a friend drive from LA to Portland in a small moving van and it took just about two days of casual driving.

[scottmandue]

Oh and if you do SF and want to ride a cable car do it first thing in the morning.

If you stop over in Eureka and like beer try the Lost Coast brewery.