Road Trip - Pacific Coast

[NSNO]

Hi all, potentially considering doing a road trip from Los Angeles all the way up to Seattle in three weeks time using the coast roads up until Portland. However, reconsidering it now as the Oregon portion may be raining every day and thus defeating the object of taking it in the first place. Also time is a factor. Flight would land into LAX at 19:00 on a Saturday and then would be flying back out of LAX two weeks later on the Sunday. Thinking it might be better to just do a coast run from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Then head to the grand canyon from here, couple of days in Las Vegas and then either San Diego and up to Los Angeles, or just go directly to Los Angeles from Vegas.

Any tips or recommendations appreciated.

[Gixer968CS]

I went on a bike a few years back - LA to SF (stayed in Carmel which is gorgeous), then up to Napa for a couple of nights for wine tasting and good food - see the wine train - and then further up the PCH to Mendocino, which is a quirky little place. From there a great ride/drive over the mountains to Truckee (lovely quaint frontier town with a railroad through the middle and north of Lake Tahoe), on to ELY through the Nevada desert and then down to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. From there to the North rim of the Grand Canyon. Flagstaff, Palm Springs and home.

That was an awesome trip giving you all the good bits of Pacific Coast Highway, then beautiful mountains, vast deserts in Nevada and the red rocks and canyons of Utah. Check out the Skunk Train near Mendocino that takes you on an old mining railroad in to the Giant Redwood forests, Alice's up in the hills near San Fran which is a mecca for petrol heads, Morro Bay for sea otters, Hearst Castle for impressive bling and the beaches full of seals on PCH. Loads of highlights but Zion and Bryce for me were the highlights and the deserts and canyons you see on the way. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is also v cool - you can't see as much of the Canyon, but it isn't touristy and feels more "natural".

[NSNO]

Gixer968CS said:

I went on a bike a few years back - LA to SF (stayed in Carmel which is gorgeous), then up to Napa for a couple of nights for wine tasting and good food - see the wine train - and then further up the PCH to Mendocino, which is a quirky little place. From there a great ride/drive over the mountains to Truckee (lovely quaint frontier town with a railroad through the middle and north of Lake Tahoe), on to ELY through the Nevada desert and then down to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. From there to the North rim of the Grand Canyon. Flagstaff, Palm Springs and home.

That was an awesome trip giving you all the good bits of Pacific Coast Highway, then beautiful mountains, vast deserts in Nevada and the red rocks and canyons of Utah. Check out the Skunk Train near Mendocino that takes you on an old mining railroad in to the Giant Redwood forests, Alice's up in the hills near San Fran which is a mecca for petrol heads, Morro Bay for sea otters, Hearst Castle for impressive bling and the beaches full of seals on PCH. Loads of highlights but Zion and Bryce for me were the highlights and the deserts and canyons you see on the way. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is also v cool - you can't see as much of the Canyon, but it isn't touristy and feels more "natural".

What time of year did you go. Seems like there could potentially be snow on the road to South Lake Tahoe at this time of year, meaning snow chains, which I won't be able to use in a hire car.