West Coast Road-trip Recommendations

Hey, I am looking for recommendations for stuff along the route I have planned. It will be 52 days on the road total from early October to early December. My girlfriend and I are outdoor enthusiasts so most of the trip is planned around National Parks, National Forests, etc...

Really anything would be great, cool off-road trails, good local food, campgrounds, free areas to camp, hikes (short ones, won't be setting aside enough time to do multi-day hikes).

Some highlights will be North Cascades NP, Olympic NP, Crater Lake NP, Redwood NP, Scuba trip, Deep sea fishing trip, Sequoia NP, Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Death Valley NP.

I found out my hockey team's minor league affiliate has a 3-game west coast swing around the time we will be in San Jose/Stockton/Bakersfield, then the big-boy team comes to San Jose 2 weeks later so I planned a big part around those games.

Here is the route I am planning, unfortunately SoCal will be slightly rushed due to having to return to work in early December and dates of sporting events.

1st leg - West->Colville, WA

https://goo.gl/maps/fGDqHfhmaBF2

2nd leg - Colville->Aberdeen, WA

https://goo.gl/maps/KfjME36Kk2u

3rd leg - Aberdeen->Roseburg, OR

https://goo.gl/maps/BVKwdSuqE192

4th leg - Roseburg->San Jose, CA

https://goo.gl/maps/RcYztpTk8om

5th Leg - San Jose->Lake Alpine, CA

https://goo.gl/maps/nBThrwywrdL2

6th Leg - Lake Alpine->Chiriaco Summit, CA

https://goo.gl/maps/oDFGn5PH5EL2

Final Leg - Chiriaco Summit->Bozeman, MT

https://goo.gl/maps/vQ2yenZgkBG2

 

That's gonna be a rad trip. I'll type a ton of shit you guys can stop/see from the leg of Big Sur -> JT/DV and back up through the Owens Valley

 

If you get to far into winter you will find that the road around Crater lake will be closed, still able to get to the lodge though.

 

Montana de oro
Hearst Castle

 

I see you’re coming through Reno

 

Damn, that's going to be a trip!

395 is one of my favorite roads. Just know that parts of it will SUCK in winter. Plan for road closures and alternate routes though the high Sierras.

When you stop through Sonora, stop at the Peppery on Mono Way. I really like their BBQ Bacon burger. Their fries are awesome.

On Hwy 108 north of Sonora, there's a neat trail from Strawberry to Vallecito (Crandall Peak Trail). You don't touch asphalt for ~5 hours/~40 miles. It bypasses Sonora and Columbia, but there's also a cut through to Columbia. If you're interested I can get you some kml files of the routes near there. Most of them are described in this

$110 Backcountry Adventures Northern California: The Ultimate Guide to the Backcountry for Anyone with a Sport Utility Vehicle

book. Nothing too technical, but I probably wouldn't do those routes in December.

 

I would like to spend most my time on dirt in/around JT/DV, nothing to extended or crawling large rocks since that will be on our way back North though.

Yea, I tried to visit once before in October and it was so foggy we didn't even go in. I realize the weather isn't ideal that time of year but that is when I am off work long enough to attempt a visit.

Thanks, I'll look into that, a big portion of the trip is dependent on weather and we will be prepared to alter the route if the weather turns bad.

 

In JTNP there's the geological tour road and the random offshoots to hiking trailheads and whatnot but they're fairly graded and nothing serious, but they're still fun to drive on. You can enter the park from Berdoo canyon and connect it to the geological tour road which is moderate in one small area and easy the rest of the way into the park.

In Death Valley there's actually a lot of places to go with some of them getting pretty gnarly, but I wouldn't even think about doing some of those alone because of how remote some of that shit gets. Saratoga Springs to Badwater via Saratoga Springs RD & Badwater RD is a nice drive that's fairly straight forward. Gets you off the Pavement for like 40 miles.