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2018 Late June/July Redwoods, Oregon Road Trip from LA

Los Angeles...
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2018 Late June/July Redwoods, Oregon Road Trip from LA
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Starting to look at a road trip starting from home in LA up to the Redwoods, the Oregon Coast, Mt. St Helens, Mt Hood, Crater Lake, Lassen, a night in Yosemite and out Tiago Road (been to Yosemite a number of times but never out/in Tiago Road and never stayed at the Awanee/Majestic/ so that's the focus here), and see some stuff in the North-Eastern Sierra I haven't seen yet. Time frame is a little open, let's say 2 and a half weeks give or take.

San Francisco, PCH through central California and major sight seeing in Yosemite are not the focus here, done them before, will do them again but not necessary this time. Scenic Drives, National/State Parks on the other hand is the focus here. Would like to stay at some classic lodges, somewhere on the Oregon Coast for a few days and then save some cash at some cheaper places when possible.

Here's some semblance of a plan, please critique:

1. Leave La, make some ground, likely up the 5 and on over to Santa Cruz or so

2. Drive along the coast, spend the night somewhere north, maybe Mendocino if that’s feasible. Should I go to Muir Woods, or just see the Redwoods farther north? Is this too much, somewhere else to stay?

3. Make the way up north, Trinidad seems like a reasonable place to stay. Any nice drives through the Mendocino forest, the coast, or any other place to stay, etc

4. Explore the Redwood Parks, haven’t fully fleshed this out yet, thought staying in Klameth or Crescent City might make sense, open to suggestions here

5. More Redwoods, do I need another full day, staying somewhere close by or start heading to Oregon, etc?

6-10. Oregon Coast or add a day to the redwoods. I was thinking about finding a place right on the coast and spending a few days there and then a couple days traversing the coast. These days – obviously – need some work, maybe cut a day here for budget/time

11. I’d like to see Mt. St Helen’s if it’s worth a drive and half a day or so, start heading south/central through Oregon

12. Mt Hood, make the way south,

13. Bend, or anything else on the way or adding a day before or after

14. Crater Lake – would like to stay at the Lodge – this is Xanterra, so reservations open May 1st, correct?

15. Towards Lassen, some lassen

16. Make the way South, set up Yosemite the next day, thinking Merced or so – am I severely short changing Lassen here?

17. Yosemite – would like to stay at the Awanee/Majestic – when do reservations open up here? 366 days before?, their page is down and was on hold for 20 minutes before hanging up

18. Eastern Sierra, figuring out where to stay here

19. Sight-see in the morning and then drive home

Thank You.

Owego, New York
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1. Re: 2018 Late June/July Redwoods, Oregon Road Trip from LA
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No need to do Muir Woods since doing north coast Redwoods.

Mendocino and Trinidad are excellent overnights. Look at Brookings, OR instead of Crescent City/Klamath Falls or just use Trinidad as your Redwoods base. McKerricher SP (Fort Bragg) and Patricks Point SP (Trinidad) are also worth considering in those areas.

OR coast - consider Bandon, Yachats and Manzanita for overnights. if wanting to stay in Cannon Beach instead of Manzanita, there will probably be a 2 night minimum requirement.

Mt. St. Helens is worth the drive. You should also consider the Columbia River Gorge in the OR side. Hood River is a good overnight there.

If taking the time to drive all the way to Lassen, I would add a day here but you should research what the park has to offer and match it against what you want to do there and see if you agree.

The Mammoth Lakes area is nice for an overnight unless you want somewhere further south then perhaps Bishop.

Edited: 6 years ago
Fremont, California
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2. Re: 2018 Late June/July Redwoods, Oregon Road Trip from LA
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Some of the drives you will want to do in Redwood section of your trip are:

Avenue of the Giants - Parallel road to highway 101 and first good luck of the redwoods in that area. There is an awesome nature trail in Humboldt State Park.

http://avenueofthegiants.net/

Prarire Creek State Park is good to go to. There is often elk in this area.

Also drive out Requa Road. Its short drive along the Klamath River to see the Klamath flowing into the Pacific Ocean. There is a Native American fishing village at the end of the road as well.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g32564-d2483770-Reviews-Requa_Road-Klamath_California.html

Jedidiah Smith State Park is close to Crescent City and great place for a swim in the river. Its about six miles east of the downtown area.

https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=413

Another nice drive is Newton Drury

https://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/drives.htm

In terms of going to Mendocino we usually skip it when driving from San Francisco to Oregon as so much to see further north, However if you have not been there before its awesome. Van Damme is where the abalone divers are; MacKerricher State Park has very good tidal beds.

Fremont, California
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3. Re: 2018 Late June/July Redwoods, Oregon Road Trip from LA
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For the Mt. Lassen to Yosemite/Eastern Sierra section of your trip, some of the things to consider are:

1) Just north of Mt. Lassen is Burney Falls State Park, There is an awesome set of waterfalls there.

2) Between Burney State Park and Mt. Lassen there is subway cave. Its a great cave if you have a flashlight (or similar lights).

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g32819-d665197-Reviews-Hat_Creek_Subway_Cave-Old_Station_California.html

3) For Mt Lassen the drive through the park is nice. Two things to consider for hikes is Mt. Lassen - good views from on top; as well as Bumpass Hell. To me Bumpass Hell is a must do. We have done both hikes on the same day.

http://www.visitcalifornia.com/attraction/bumpass-hell

4) Just south of Mt. Lassen is the Almanor Lake Area.

http://www.lakealmanorarea.com/

I would look at this area or nearby Chester for your night's stay.

5) You are then very close to Lake Tahoe/Reno area. Reno has very fun summer festivals. Lake Tahoe is always gorgeous.

6) By driving down to Lake Tahoe you can then take highway 395 to Tioga Pass. On the drive you will see Topaz Lake, then the Walker River, then optional tour to see Bodie

https://www.bodie.com/

then you will see Mono Lake and Craters. There is a good visitor center there.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g32617-Activities-Lee_Vining_California.html

7) Then to go to Yosemite drive Tioga Pass. You will be driving it twice - both in and out of the park, but its beautiful and worthwhile to do twiec.

8) See Yosemite - you can make (and also should) make reservations a year in advance.

9) Then for the Eastern Sierras the two places to see is June Lake Loop and Mammoth. Bishop is not in the mountains and is not where you want to stay, but does have a good bakery called Schatts.

http://junelakeloop.org/

http://www.visitmammoth.com/

So much to do in this area.

Mammoth will have the most restaurants.

There is also nearby Convict Lake with a good restaurant called Restaurant at Convict Lake.

http://www.convictlake.com/restaurant.html

Fremont, California
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4. Re: 2018 Late June/July Redwoods, Oregon Road Trip from LA
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For places to look at for the Oregon Coast:

Brookings - I would stay here instead of Crescent City. We like the Best Western there as full on Pacific Ocean views from all rooms.

Gold Beach - if Budget allows, Jerry's Mail Boat ride on the Rogue River is a fun day out

https://www.roguejets.com/

Florence - The sand dune area there is awesome. You can either sand buggies or take a tour. Jessie M. Honeymoon is a very nice state park there as well. Old Town Florence has good restaurants and food.

http://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=95

Tillamook - Worth while to either have a deli lunch at Blue Heron Deli and also take the self paced tour at Tillamook Cheese Factory

Then further north

Cannon Beach - Gorgeous seaside community; good food, Ecola State Park.

Astoria - Maritime Museum, Lewis and Clark Fort Clatsop, View of the Columbia River, and gorgeous views if sunny day from Astoria Column.

There are many other seaside communities so its best to not just pick one place to stay but do a drive each day along the coast and then decide which place you want to stay each night. You have the time to do so.

There is various lighthouses to see as well. Some like to stay a night at Bandon and other seaside communities.

This web site offers a lot of information for that part of your trip.

http://visittheoregoncoast.com/

Fremont, California
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5. Re: 2018 Late June/July Redwoods, Oregon Road Trip from LA
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If you do Mt. St. Helen's the best place to go is to the Visitor Center area and then drive the roads

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g58389-d103359-Reviews-Mount_St_Helens_Visitor_Center-Castle_Rock_Washington.html

For your drive south you want to include seeing the Columbia River Gorge area - just east or Portland

Multnomah Falls, salmon hatcheries, Columbia River, and more are part of this amazing area.

http://traveloregon.com/cities-regions/columbia-river-gorge/

Then continue to Mt. Hood and then on to Bend, Oregon. There is also a cute community just west of Bend (q miles) called Sisters.

http://www.sistersoregonguide.com/

In Bend area the things I like a lot are:

1) Deschutes Brewery Tour

https://www.deschutesbrewery.com/brewery-tour/

2) The High Desert Museum

https://www.highdesertmuseum.org/

and

3) Lave Beds National Monument

https://www.nps.gov/labe/index.htm

Bend is a mid size city. For dining, etc. downtown Bend is cute to go to as well as the Old Mill District

https://www.theoldmill.com/

From Crater Lake area, do explore the Rogue River on your drive to I-5. That will be the fastest way to get to Mt. Lassen area. There is also Diamond Lake in this area, as well as some other lakes. The drive will take uou to Medford Oregon and then to Ashland Oregon. This area is Harry and David Factory Store, Summer Shakespeare festival, Lithia Park, wineries, etc. Then into California. On a clear day you will get a gorgeous view of Mt. Shasta on your drive south. You will also see Shasta Lake.

California
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6. Re: 2018 Late June/July Redwoods, Oregon Road Trip from LA
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Lassen is one of my favorite parks. It also helps that it isn't too crowed, as far as national parks go. We stayed in Drakesbad but had a chance to explore some lesser traveled lakes in the area. Pretty awesome place but make sure the solitude is what you are after. We are planning a similar trip again this summer but have already done this twice before. We are always looking for new things to see.

Los Angeles...
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7. Re: 2018 Late June/July Redwoods, Oregon Road Trip from LA
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Thank you every one for all the information. So many decisions to make and things to plan - of course, that's half, well maybe not half, the fun.

8. Re: 2018 Late June/July Redwoods, Oregon Road Trip from LA

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