Out of my Region into yours. Down the coast. Portland OR, to US/Mexico bourder

[wibornz]

Taking a trip with my son, riding down the coast. How much time should I allow for a trip from Portland OR to the Mexico border?  I want to stay along the coast, but I am sure there are some alternate routes along the way that might be a do not miss if you're only going to be able to ride this ride once kinda thing.  

Mind you the scenery and ride experience is what we are looking for. You know the stuff memories are built of so that 15 years down the road, when my son has a wife and kids and house note, we can drink a beer and say remember when........ and his kids will listen to the stories about their dad and grandpa out riding cross country and camping along the Pacific kinda stories.

Oyea don't forget about how much time I should anticipate it taking. Coming from Michigan.

Also must stop at places, overlooks, places to camp, restaurants, what ever that you have enjoyed that maybe we would enjoy also.

[Blunder]

I can tell you about the NorCal portion.

HWY 1 to Eureka is a nice scenic ride with lots of trees. At Eureka take 299 east towards Redding. Follow the Trinity River through the canyons. You can head all the way to Redding or cut it short at Douglas City and take 3 south through Hayfork and then intersect with 36 where you turn west and end up in Fortuna (site of the annual WCRM) /about 30 miles south of Eureka. There's camping, a couple of motels (Super 8, Holiday Inn, etc.) and the infamous Eel River Brewery/Restaurant. Avenue of the Giants is south of there and HWY 1 takes an amazing stretch of road towards the Pacific from Leggit. The Lost Coast is there, too, if you don't mind a real bumpy road in spots.

HWY 1 from there to Mill Valley in Marin County (north side of the Golden Gate Bridge) is heaven. Lots of small towns with full amenities or plenty of camping. At Fort Bragg you can head inland on HWY 20 towards Willits then 101 south to Orr Springs RD which becomes the Comptche-Ukiah HWY and dumps you out just south of Mendocino where you can find http://www.thezenhouse.net/ should you need it. There are also a couple of motorcycle stores in Eureka, BTW.

HWY 1 south of SF towards is part suburban crowds combined with some nice scenery but once you get south of Half Moon Bay the population really thins out. It's well traveled but not overly so and the views can be spectacular. There are a few small towns along the way. Pescadero has Duarte's (pronounced Doo-erts) for some Cippino and Davenport has a bakery and taqueria. Santa Cruz is the next big burg and there's a lot to do and see there. From SC to Monterey is typical freeway but Monterey has Cannery Row and a whole lot of other interesting things to do. South from there is the Big Sur portion of HWY 1 and I'm sure you've heard of it. Just check that it's open all the way through because winter is picking up right now and there may be road closing landslides.

There's the Nascimento (SP)-Ferguson Road that leads to FT Hunter Leggit (have your license, registration and proof of insurance at hand) that is a great road inland and is handy if an aforementioned mudslide closes HWY 1 south of there.

South of San Louis Obispo the PCH becomes mostly freeway all the way to San Diego. Others may be able to tell of better roads from there.

So, google up Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma, Marin, San Mateo Counties, Big Sur, Pescadero, Santa Cruz, Monterey, etc. for touristy things to do. And get a good map and check it out.

[viffergyrl]

Oh don't forget the Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka!

I personally enjoyed Mattole Road out of Ferndale and the Honeydew-Ettersburg road but they are goaty and slow going.

+1 on Hwy 1 from Leggitt to Fort Bragg.

If you continue down Hwy 1 to Cambria you can take Santa Rosa Creek Road, then work your way to Rossi's driveway (Hwy 229) to 58 to 33 to 166 to Cerro Noroeste Road, Lockwood Valley, pick up 33 again to Ojai.

Now you are just north of LA and must cross the wasteland.... many choices. I'll let others pipe in...  

[Orson]

Mind you the scenery and ride experience is what we are looking for. You know the stuff memories are built of so that 15 years down the road, when my son has a wife and kids and house note, we can drink a beer and say remember when........ and his kids will listen to the stories about their dad and grandpa out riding cross country and camping along the Pacific kinda stories.

From yer other thread in GENERAL Section, it's a shame you only have two weeks for this trip.

trust me, on highway 1, you'll be wanting to stop around every corner for a photo opportunity.

This is not a road to blast out in a 500 mile day, but to savor in all its glory  

In my opinion, if you only have two weeks, cut out the Southern California/Arizona portion and turn back east after you reach San Francisco, so that you can really enjoy the trip at a leisurely pace  

[coho]

From yer other thread in GENERAL Section, it's a shame you only have two weeks for this trip.

trust me, on highway 1, you'll be wanting to stop around every corner for a photo opportunity.

This is not a road to blast out in a 500 mile day, but to savor in all its glory  

In my opinion, if you only have two weeks, cut out the Southern California/Arizona portion and turn back east after you reach San Francisco, so that you can really enjoy the trip at a leisurely pace  

What he said.

[wibornz]

Taking three weeks now.  I am looking at the coast as the meat & potatos part of the trip.  We will press ironbutt hard into Montana then do three hundred mile days after that.

[Blunder]

In my opinion, if you only have two weeks, cut out the Southern California/Arizona portion and turn back east after you reach San Francisco, so that you can really enjoy the trip at a leisurely pace  

What he said but I'd cut east from HWY 1 at Nacsimento-Ferguson RD (you gotta get some Big Sur during your trip out here) through FT Hunter Leggit and head towards Sequioa or Yosemite Nat'l Parks, or maybe both. CAUT, winter has arrived in a big way this week and the passes may be closed well into late spring/early summer. You can check the CALTRANS website to look up current road conditions.

Get to Reno and take HWY 50 and see wall-to-wall fuck-all for miles and miles. Just make sure you have enough gas as it's a long stretch between fuel stops.

[Explorer]

wibornz You will have a blast riding the Ca, coast. But I have a few questions for ya.

do you have any place that you need to be, like Portland?
What time of year are you planning this ride?
Do you have a base route that you were thinking of?
will this be camping and motel kind of ride?


Jim

[wibornz]

wibornz You will have a blast riding the Ca, coast. But I have a few questions for ya.

do you have any place that you need to be, like Portland?
What time of year are you planning this ride?
Do you have a base route that you were thinking of?
will this be camping and motel kind of ride?


Jim

I just need to pick up the wife somewhere(read major airport) so she can ride down the coast with me and Zack.  
The base route is across the top of the US, down the coast, then back to Michigan.  

I plan on dropping the wife off in LA so she can fly home.