When we leave Gold Canyon near Phoenix on March 1st this winter we'd like to tour central/northern California then head up into Oregon and Washington.

Has anyone made this trip?  Is this an OK time of year to go?  What routes would you recommend we take ..... or avoid?


-- Edited by Acorn on Tuesday 29th of September 2009 10:59:27 AM

March is nice in much of California, except the Sierras. April in Oregon, but you can still hit cold weather east of the Cascades. May on in Washington though it might still rain.

Head west on I-10 through Los Angeles to I-5 and then take Hwy 99 up through central California. Go through Hwy 49 to see the gold mining towns or stay on Hwy 99 and see the sights along the way. Hwy 99 joins up with I-5 again in Sacramento, take I-5 north into Oregon. There are plenty of east west routes along the way to give you access for one to three day excursions into the Sierra mountains to the east (Yosemite, Sequoias, Kings Canyon...etc) or west torwards the coast (San Francisco, Redwoods, Carmel...etc). Along Hwy 99, weather should be nice with some rain and wind, no snow until you get closer to Mt. Shasta on I-5.

We plan to follow that route a month later, leave Az. on April 2. Can we find camping areas along this route without reservations. How busy are campgrounds in Calf. in April? Any suggestions for traveling through the Los Angeles area.

Good question about finding campgrounds along the way dream reachers.

We don't mind cooler weather -- just don't want to run into that cold white stuff!!!

Thanks for the info about routes to travel, and things to see along the way.  The Sequoias and Redwoods are on our list! 

Lynne

We have had little trouble finding camping in California in March and April as long as we were not on the coast. The coast is where people are camping on weekends those times so you might need reservations for places like Pismo Beach on weekends. Avoid the mountains until late April in California for white stuff, we got some snow in the Clear Lake area in early April. We got snowed on in Bend, Oregon at the end of April. I can't believe someone is recommending taking highway 49 in an RV, your truck or tow car is fine for touring, but avoid it with anything very large. I did not recommend a route since there are so many places to go in all of these states and east-west connecting routes are far apart in some areas. The California Coast is great, but stay on US101 instead of CA1. I-5 and CA99 both have places to camp and places to see. Camping in the LA and San Francisco areas is hard, it is best to drive in and see the sights. It is too early to see much of Lake Tahoe or the US395 sights because you can hit cold weather, May would be better for them.

We started out to do that very same thing last spring. We bought a Thousand Trails resale membership and stayed at TT parks from Chula Vista up into central Ca. It took us 4 months to go that far and had to leave because of the smoke from all the forest fires. Since we are leaving the Fulltime lifestyle we want to continue the trip starting from northern Ca and north during the late spring and early summer months. We did enjoy it. Bob

So now I should ask: what should we try to see in California... anybody care to give us a list?

http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=91511&p=3&topicID=27776738 Above is a link to a previous thread regarding what to see in California. I suggested Hwy 49 and should have added, it's narrow and twisty so use caution. It's slow going but worth the trip. There are lots of early California and gold rush days sights to see along with beautiful scenery on this route. It is possible to do a loop type trip using the tow vehicle or toad. Park the RV at a central spot along HWY 49 as a base camp and loop south in the toad/TV and return to base then do the northern section of Hwy 49 and return to base camp. There are rest areas along I-5 and Hwy 99 for overnight stops. Lots of campgrounds along the routes, quite a few close to the Hwy or a few miles from the highways. We've never had trouble getting a spot for the night along these routes during fall, winter and early spring. If you go Hwy 99 there is a KOA near Goshen that is a mile from the Hwy. It's an older park with mature trees and grassy spots. The staff is great and the facilities are kept up but show their age. Nothing close to it as far as sights and eateries, there is a good sized town nearby (Visalia) which is also the gateway to Sequioa National Park.

Thanks Bear..... that was good information. Appreciate everyone's ideas and advice.

Larry and I just got back from that very trip. We left Phoenix, went to San Diego, stayed at KQ Ranch then headed up the 101 to the coastal city of Oxnard. We stayed a week and played in the ocean, bought fruit from roadside stands and made a fun friend in the RV park where we stayed. Then we headed up the coast on the 101 stayed overnight in San Martin at CampingWorld then on to Lake Mendicino near Eureka. Spent a few days dry camping and lollygagging by the lake then on up the 101 to Oregon and Whaleshead Beach by Brookings, OR. Prettiest drive I've ever taken! The redwoods are amazing, we went fishing, crabbing, fishing, crabbing, watched sea lions play with the boaters, watched boaters have fun ate wonderful seafood, brought home smoked salmon and had a blast. Walking on the beach everyday, visiting the local harbors was a lot of fun. The cost for a month at Whaleshead beach was only $395 We had to come back to Phoenix for some Dr visits but we would highly recommend Brookings and Gold beach to anyone who likes the ocean and nearly stable 50-70 degree weather with smatterings of rain/fog/clouds/sun. If you don't like the weather just wait an hour, it'll change. We headed back taking the 101 out of Oregon to the 199 over to Medford then down the I-5 to Redding-Santa Nella-Palm Springs-Phoenix. All in all it was 5 days driving to get to Oregon on the 101 and 4 days driving on the I-5 on the way back. I highly recommend this as you get the best of both worlds. With more time than we had you can take side trips into LA and see Jay Leno, have fun at the beach, park your RV (day parking only) on the PCH (highly recommend this) stay outside San Fran but go into the city and see China Town, you'll never forget it. Great Dim Sum. Up the coast spend some time in the Napa Valley, drink some wine, eat some cheese and hold hands in the richest earth in the US. There's something special about Napa, it can be magical. Or was it the wine? Anyhow, moving right along....See the redwoods, not just from the road but go park and walk around in there. Hug a tree, the things as big as your RV! On the way back on the I-5 take a riverboat dinner cruise on the Sacramento River, super fun and romantic. You might want to time your trip back for the garlic festival in Gilroy, can you say stinky! Love that garlic though. One thing we did notice is that all the way from Or. to AZ there was NOT ONE rest stop open. There are also multiple signs reading "Congress Created Dust Bowl" I'm not sure about political stuff and I'm not making assumptions but I did see on TV that the water was a problem so no more roadside rest stops and no money to pay upkeep on same. I only add that so you won't count on using them to nap or stay overnight. Use Casinos instead. And Walmarts. One more thing, you could have pulled in without reservations at any park/campground we stayed at. There was plenty of room during the week which is when we prefer to travel. Have fun and good luck!

Great info! Almost like a travel narrative! I'm going to keep a copy of this to incorporate into our plan. Will this work during March and April? Not sure of the weather patterns then. Thanks again Janeen.

We have been researching a similar route to include Crater Lake as well. But, the more I get into it, it seems that Sequoia, Yosemite and Crater Lake may present snow closed road challenges until next May 15ish. Of course you can see all of that info at the National Parks site. If these are not your areas of interest, you have good info above.