Seattle to San Diego 21 days

Callard

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Hi,

I have 21 days next September to do a ride in the US. I am planning on setting off from Seattle and heading south, to San Diego. I would really appreciate any advice on best route, things to do and see. Would like to see "real America" and some history. Yes I know I need to do some research but bow to the greater knowledge of you learned bunch.

Thanks
 
The Pacific Coast Highway in Oregon was very disappointing compared to the Big Sur section south of San Francisco, but Oregon is wonderful inland e.g. Mt Hood, Lassen Volcanic Highway, Crater Lake

Lake Tahoe is pretty, but surrounded by tacky crowded towns. Bodie in California is a fascinating ghost town, which leads you nicely to the Sonora or Tioga Pass and Yosemite. Stay in Groveland outside the park and get up early to drive/ride up to Glacier Point as the view is stunning.

Death Valley is absolutely stunning and a real must. Further south, the Los Angeles Crest Highway is one of the best roads I've ever ridden, especially on a Wednesday afternoon when it was deserted :cool:
 
We did part of your trip from San Francisco to San Diego and stopped over at the following towns, Monterey, Carmel and Santa Barbara
which I can recommend.
We also went down The Big Sur coastal road. However do a weather check if you take this road because at that time of the year
it's possible that sea fog rolls in. We saw feck all, only the rear lights of an RV. We would have been better off inland on other roads.
Another tip is to avoid travelling on the first weekend in September. Labour Day (like a UK bank hol) covers a long weekend.
We winged our trip, booking into hotels as we went and fell foul of the labour day weekend, experiencing great difficulty finding
hotels with vacancies. We also came up against some heavy traffic.

But apart from that it was a most enjoyable trip which eventually took us into Nevada.

Best places to stay apart from San Francisco were Carmel and Santa Barbara.

Enjoy.:thumb2
 
Are we talking hiring a bike from say Eagle Rider, on a one way, or a circular route here or are you planning to ship your own bike? What sort of budget are we talking too - 21 days hire, one way, will probably come up pretty expensive given the sterling/USD rates we are seeing at present.

H-C Travel at Overton do a PCH tour. See < www.orange-and-black.co.uk >. 14 days to do the coast. If you are going to the Bike Show at Brum, look them up - David Grist is always very helpful. You could go PCH self guided, then return to Seattle through the National Parks & avoid the one way fee. Regular travel agents often use these guys < www.americanringtravel.com/fly-drives/ > & their routes offer up a few ideas.

Hope this helps. I think you need to put a little more flesh on the bones before any of us can give much detailed advice.

................... KEN
 
You could do Seattle-San Diego in a week tops. As Sven said, the northern part is rubbish until you get to Eureka then it gets brilliant to San Francisco. I know it maybe sacrilege to some, but I find the PCH to LA very disappointing and crowded for the most part.

You need to go inland from Seattle and I reckon you could get some great stuff in. I do most of the Pacific North West on my tours www.unchainedtours.com so know the area well and the weather will still be good enough in September to get to most of the NP's. Also with any luck the coastal fog should have gone. I'd be thinking about the cascades, Mt St Helens, Crater Lake, Lassen and Yosemite if those are on your bucket list.

If you let me know what takes your fancy, I can knock up a basic route for you
 
Some great tips here.
Out of interest, why is the Northern section of the Pacific coast highway so disappointing? I was planning to do it, but you're putting me off now.

My 2015 ride report from the southern section is here.
 
Are we talking hiring a bike from say Eagle Rider, on a one way, or a circular route here or are you planning to ship your own bike? What sort of budget are we talking too - 21 days hire, one way, will probably come up pretty expensive given the sterling/USD rates we are seeing at present.

H-C Travel at Overton do a PCH tour. See < www.orange-and-black.co.uk >. 14 days to do the coast. If you are going to the Bike Show at Brum, look them up - David Grist is always very helpful. You could go PCH self guided, then return to Seattle through the National Parks & avoid the one way fee. Regular travel agents often use these guys < www.americanringtravel.com/fly-drives/ > & their routes offer up a few ideas.

Hope this helps. I think you need to put a little more flesh on the bones before any of us can give much detailed advice.

................... KEN

You're right when you say coming up expensive due to exchange rate ,I'm just about to book with eagle rider in seattle for a 17 day
Period and it's coming up at about £2.500 .
But heyho you have to take the rough with the smooth ,9 yrs ago I took the whole family to Orlando and it was nearly 2 dollars to the pound :eek:.
 
I have tried the big sur twice but the weather has spoilt the event. That fog mentioned in other posts extends a few miles inland. We went inland a short distance and followed a road parallel to it. Nowhere as nice but at least it was sunny. We travelled north up to Eureka then started travelling east, so much to see and the roads were excellent for bikers. So little traffic. To do justice to your route people could post all day but a bit map reading will guide you.

It was a brilliant holiday. If you plan visiting Yellowstone I would suggest booking your hotel. For us in the summer there was very little available and even by california standards expensive. All other hotels were ad-hoc affairs. As Bilko said your time frame is far to generous for that journey. You could cover so much more then the PCH in 21 days, you will be glad you did. I certainly was.
 
As Sgt. Bilco said: Cascades, Crater Lake, Mt. St. Helens are all worth a visit. also I'd consider Yellowstone (I love it); Glacier national park, Montana; Sequoia national forest; Jasper to Banff through the Rockies is spectacular; anywhere in B.C.; what about Colorado (continental divide in SW area riding over 13-15000' passes); Utah is one big national park (Love Zion); Bryce Canyon; Arches; grand canyon perhaps.
With so much time on your hands you can cover a lot of the US.

Whatever you do, enjoy!
 
Some great tips here.
Out of interest, why is the Northern section of the Pacific coast highway so disappointing? I was planning to do it, but you're putting me off now.

My 2015 ride report from the southern section is here.

There were a few interesing section between SF and Eureka, but then it moves away from the coast quite a bit and there's a lot of dual carriageway. I spent the second night out of SF in Bandon, which was better than Eureka, but the first few hours north of there were really tedious until I turned inland to head to McMinnville to see the Spruce Goose at the Evergreen Aviation Museum. I then headed across eastern Oregon via Mt Hood to Joseph (lovely little town) and then back to Bend via the Wallowa Mountains, Hells Canyon, Baker City and the Painted Hills. It was much nicer than the coast. The scenery is particularly lovely once headed south out of Bend towards Lassen, Crater Lake and Yosemite etc.

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Some great tips here.
Out of interest, why is the Northern section of the Pacific coast highway so disappointing? I was planning to do it, but you're putting me off now.

My 2015 ride report from the southern section is here.

The section from Seattle down to Eureka is very busy and small towns every few miles which are a pain. very slow going and not very scenic. There are some absolutely staggering roads just inland which are amonst the best biking roads on the planet. Bends a plenty and virtually zero traffic.

The coast road (101) from Eureka down is sublime. You have the Avenue of the Giants which is fantastic then you turn onto Highway 1 just south of Garberville and next to the drive through tree. You then climb over the mountains on the twistiest roads you will ever want to ride and again very quiet. Even Harleys can get a move on as teh road is cambered beautifully. When you hit the coast it winds all the way down to the Golden Gate and this is where you get the big drops to the sea with no guard rails and is really sweet. Some cracking roads inland as well such as Hwy 128 and Skaggs Springs road.

The big drawback of the coast road is the fog and if it's there, it's fucking freezing. It's normally there between June and September but not every day and you would be unlucky to have it all the way.

Wherever you ride you'll enjoy it though and happy to pass on advice if you need it as I do a lot of miles there every year. The Pacific North West is probably the best riding anywhere on the planet.
 
I've been planning a USA trip for a while now, just not pulled the trigger. You might want to check out America's Scenic Byways or get the National Geographic's Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways. If you want something a bit more off road then check out the Washington Back Country Discovery Route. It's mostly National/State Parks and National Forests that interest me (you can camp for free in National Forests), here are some of the places that peak my interest that are in the three states along your route.

Seattle, Washington
Smith Tower
Space Needle
Japanese Tea Garden

Oregon
West Cascades Scenic Byway
Pacific Coast Scenic Byway
Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway
Crater Lake National Park

California
Redwood National Park
Yosemite National Park
Sequoia National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Death Valley National Park
Joshua Tree National Park
Calaveras Big Trees State Park
Giant Sequoia National Monument
Alcatraz Island
Golden Gate Bridge
Chinatown
North Beach
Telegraph Hill
Golden Gate Park
Japanese Tea Garden Golden Gate Park
Bixby Creek Arch Bridge
Hollywood Sign
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Blvd
Paramount Studios
Venice Beach
The Sunset Strip
Los Angeles Union Station
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Beverly Hills
Coronado Bridge
 
Very first post here, and I hope I'm not butting in. You've got excellent advice here. 101 down is wonderful to San Fran. From there down, the traffic is brutal. But Man...with 21 days, you could see all kinds of things besides the California coast. Only a few hours away from Vegas, Bonneville Salt Flats, Grand Canyon, Canyon De Chelly, Monument Valley, etc.
Just sayin.
Like I said, sorry for butting in.
Back to lurking.
 
Very first post here, and I hope I'm not butting in. You've got excellent advice here. 101 down is wonderful to San Fran. From there down, the traffic is brutal. But Man...with 21 days, you could see all kinds of things besides the California coast. Only a few hours away from Vegas, Bonneville Salt Flats, Grand Canyon, Canyon De Chelly, Monument Valley, etc.
Just sayin.
Like I said, sorry for butting in.
Back to lurking.

Never apologise for butting in and welcome to the site:thumb
 
Very first post here, and I hope I'm not butting in. You've got excellent advice here. 101 down is wonderful to San Fran. From there down, the traffic is brutal. But Man...with 21 days, you could see all kinds of things besides the California coast. Only a few hours away from Vegas, Bonneville Salt Flats, Grand Canyon, Canyon De Chelly, Monument Valley, etc.
Just sayin.
Like I said, sorry for butting in.
Back to lurking.

I loved riding Tombstone, Morenci, Coronado Trail up to Hannagan Meadows in your state too!
Pure magic!!!!
 


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