N. California drive from Yosemite National Park to Redwood best route?

We are considering taking Highway 1 from San Francisco up to the Redwoods in a 32 foot RV.  Is Highway 1 an ok route or is there a better, safer route?

You're far better off going up Hwy 101...Hwy 1 is really 'curvy', especially with a 32 ft rig....

Ray

Highway 1 north of San Francisco and through the Big Sur area is drivable in an RV, but only if the driver is comfortable on narrow, winding roads.  The scenery is beautiful.  Highway 101 is a much easier drive.

Jeannine

Thanks.  We typically only like to drive 5 to 7 hours a day.  CA has presented us with much more difficulty in finding places to stop between our destinations than the last 2 years of Yellowstone and SD.  It was extreemly easy to find places in UT, ID and CO in the National forest, State Parks or private camp grounds to accomodate our needs and our 31' class C.  CA has been much more difficult...not sure why. 

We have done the Northern California trip on highway 1 and 101.  We also live in California.  Highway #1 from north of Bodega Bay is very curvy and we were told by others here on the RVForum not to take our 35' coach with tow car.  However, Bodega Bay, north of San Francisco is beautiful and has a countycampground that is right out on a "spit".  It's boondocking, but fabulous.  You can call for reservations.  I think they also have first come/first serve sites as well.  Here is their web site:  http://www.sonoma-county.org/parks/camping/camp_amenities.htm  After we visited Bodega Bay, we drove back to Highway 101 in the Santa Rosa area and continued on up to the Redwoods.

After you pass Eureka and head toward Redwoods National Park, you can stay at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Historic Park.  It has FCFS sites as well as reserved sites available.  There is lots of hiking in the area.  If you have a car to get around in, you can take a side trip to "Gold Beach" and the "Fern Grotto", which is breathtaking.  Here is the web link http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=415

It's a fabulous trip...enjoy!

Marsha~

Forgot to add, if you do a search by clicking the "search" button above, you can search for Highway 101 and gets lots of information.  I did a trip log about our trip up Highway 1 and 101 into Oregon.  It's pretty detailed so you might find further information.

Marsha~

Am I confused. TOPIC of post "...N.Cal.. drive.. YosemiteNatPark  to Redwood......."  Have seen /read no word on Yosemite  ~~ What am I missing??

Maddog348, quailchaser must already know how to get from Yosemite to Highway 1 north of San Franciso.  ;D

Marsha~

We drove CA 1 north from Bodega Bay to Anchor Bay (beautiful campground there while we were at a wedding in Gualala) in our 36' DP and toad. Scenery was great but we would never do it again. Too curvy, limited sight lines, narrow lanes. Once you are north of Point Arena (see the lighthouse there), the route is OK.

maddog348 said:

Am I confused. TOPIC of post "...N.Cal.. drive.. YosemiteNatPark  to Redwood......."  Have seen /read no word on Yosemite  ~~ What am I missing??

Click to expand...

Looks pretty uncomplicated from Yosemite to the San Fran area...other than the toll I-580 Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and our original question about HWY 1.  Never had to deal with a toll road yet, but, $4 for the quicker route through would certainly be worth it.

Santa Rosa looks like a good area to make a stop over...thanks for the links and info. Marsha!  

I thought of a few things:  If you are going to Napa to enjoy the wines and winetasting  , there is a great campground called Napa Valley Exposition  RV Park.  Here is the link http://www.napavalleyexpo.com/f-rvs.html.  Many of us use Woodalls to find campgrounds.  It's a large campground book.  They also have a website where you can insert your destination and it will find campgrounds in the area you are looking.  It's a handy tool.  The hardcopy book costs under $20.00  They also have a website and it's free.  Here is the site:  http://www.woodalls.com/

You probably know all of this, but many of us use mapping software programs on our computers to help locate campgrounds.  The one I like is Streets and Maps.  You can click on an area and it will identify campgrounds.  When we are planning a trip, I'll use that to list the campgrounds then do a search on Woodalls to get a rating.  If it looks good, then I do a web search.  By the time I get done, I've got quite a bit of information. 

I'm a lover of research and I really enjoy finding all the info.  I know many on here are free spirits; but I really like knowing where I'm going and where I'm gonna park for the night.

Marsha~

Marsha/CA said:

Many of us use Woodalls to find campgrounds.  It's a large campground book.  They also have a website where you can insert your destination and it will find campgrounds in the area you are looking.  It's a handy tool.  The hardcopy book costs under $20.00  They also have a website and it's free.  Here is the site:  http://www.woodalls.com/

You probably know all of this, but many of us use mapping software programs on our computers to help locate campgrounds.  The one I like is Streets and Maps.  You can click on an area and it will identify campgrounds.  When we are planning a trip, I'll use that to list the campgrounds then do a search on Woodalls to get a rating.  If it looks good, then I do a web search.  By the time I get done, I've got quite a bit of information. 

I'm a lover of research and I really enjoy finding all the info.  I know many on here are free spirits; but I really like knowing where I'm going and where I'm gonna park for the night.

Marsha~

Click to expand...

Holy smokes...thanks.  Google, Recreation.Gov, and reserveamerica.com worked well for our last two trips.  CA was just being difficult...plus there are thousands of different routes you can take with similiar milage.  We have an older RV atlas that has campgrounds.  Wasn't aware of www.woodalls.com, as we never got this involved to find routes prior to planning this trip.  Interesting thought on the mapping software.  We have the Garmin Mapsource Topo for the GPS.  I've used this for when we've been in the boonies both on the GPS and computer, but I never really thought about the Streets and Maps.  Good info and idea!

I wouldn't say I'm a lover of research...sometimes just winging it can lead to interesting and exciting discoveries...but, we do like to have our RV and camping routes all set prior to leaving for a trip.  Like you, I'd rather have the route and where we are staying along the way set.  We save the winging for after we arrive and are in the car.   

We'll be in Yosemite for 5 days, then travel to Red Woods and stay in the area for 6 days. 
 

Another source of campground information is the Trailer Life Campground Directory.  Campgrounds pay to advertise in it and Woodalls so all campgrounds probably won't be in either one, but both have thousands with any information you might need to select the stop for the night.

By the way, you'll have trouble finding things if you use Red Wood which normally is one word as in Redwood National Park, Redwood City, and the like.  Northern California has lots of national forests and parks, so you'll find much to see and do along the way.

Like the others have said, CA route 1 up the coast is not for large vehicles.  Use US 101 instead.  It may not have the beautiful coastline, but the redwoods are pretty spectacular.

ArdraF

ArdraF said:

By the way, you'll have trouble finding things if you use Red Wood which normally is one word as in Redwood National Park, Redwood City, and the like.  Northern California has lots of national forests and parks, so you'll find much to see and do along the way.ArdraF

Click to expand...

Ha Ha Ha...yes I'm aware, we've spent countless hours playing around with Google.  The cool thing about Google is that it always asks "did you mean Redwood?".  No wonder my spelling is attrocious.  I forgot about the Trailer Life Campground Directory...thanks.

Whenever we plan a trip, we always book the particular destinations that we will stay more than 1 night first and then later look for campgrounds that might be interesting along the way.  We've had a campground in the Redwood (better ) area and in Yosemite booked for months.  We are now about 2 months out from leaving and working on the stays along the route...my wife is particular about what she likes; and flat, no space, packed together is not her style.  We like overnighters to be more "scenic" I guess is the word.  She was spoiled on our last two trips in that we found several campgrounds in the Rocky's that would take our 31' and were more like camping than just stopping overnight.  We've been having a harder time finding campgrounds like that "along" our CA destination routes.  CA offers many of these, but they have been way too far off route to work well for us as an overnight. 

We'll just have to deal with it in the Bakersfield area...but, thanks to Marsha's info., I think I found a pretty cool stop near Santa Rosa that isn't too far off track.  Personally, an overnight in a Walmart parking (my wife would kill me if we did this ) lot would be fine for me compared to paying for a campground in the desert areas.  Most of those appear to be the same as a Large parking lot with hook ups.  That's really what we'd like to avoid. 

Bakersfield RV Resort ~ 5025 Wible Road is great ~ not too far off Hwy99 if you are going thru Bakersfield ~ Spent 4 days there at a RVW Rally last Jan ~ Great grill.

JMHO YMMV  ~ Kate

maddog348 said:

Bakersfield RV Resort ~ 5025 Wible Road is great ~ not too far off Hwy99 if you are going thru Bakersfield ~ Spent 4 days there at a RVW Rally last Jan ~ Great grill.

JMHO YMMV  ~ Kate

Click to expand...

Thanks. 8)  I believe that's the one my wife picked once we decided we'd have to drive to Bakersfield area to find something that she approved.

Maddog and quailchaser,  Yep, Bakersfield RV Resort park is great; and I agree the grill is fabulous plus their microbrews are also good.    There is also another RV park that is nice "Orange Blossom" RV park???  Orange Grove???, something like that, where you park in and amongst orange trees and can pick oranges.

Quailchaser, they have a CAmping World right up the road within walking distance and the pool at Bakersfield RV Resort is very nice.

Marsha~

Marsha/CA said:

Quailchaser, they have a CAmping World right up the road within walking distance and the pool at Bakersfield RV Resort is very nice.

Marsha~

Click to expand...

Uh, I don't like Camping World...I always end up spending money when I go there.  Kinda like Costco...I never get out of there without spending $200.00 or so either. ;D

quailchaser said:

Uh, I don't like Camping World...I always end up spending money when I go there.  Kinda like Costco...I never get out of there without spending $200.00 or so either. ;D

Click to expand...

Boy, ain't that the truth!

Marsha~

I solved my CW problem, I check the prices on the internet before I check CW.  As a result, I almost always order from an internet source.