I’ve ridden the southern CA coast way back when I was stationed in San Diego and while I have visited San Francisco, OR, and WA, I never visited the coastal regions and the PCH was sort of a bucket list item. I fixed that a few weeks ago when I flew into SF where my friend lives and we spent 2 weeks exploring the PCH from San Simeon, CA to Port Angles WA.

We started south along the coast to San Simeon the first day. Hit Hearst’s castle the next morning and then worked our way back to SF. Then we took a few days on I-5 north to Bremerton, WA where we spent the night at my son’s house. The next day we went north to Port Angeles, picked up 101 towards the coast, and followed it all the way back down to SF checking out whatever caught our interest.

That part of the country is spectacular and I am glad I was able to experience it.

That No. part is my favorite. Absolutely love it. Spend much time there. The weather is my favorite of any place I would want to be 12 months out of the year.

Sorry about the photo size. I think I have it corrected now.

PCH is cool, drove it a bit when I lived in San Francisco Area, specifically Foster City.

Wouldn't mind getting back out there to do the same drive farther North than we ventured back then.

Took it down to Monterey and Pebble Beach.

I lived in CA for most of my life and did the whole PCH drive only once, had no desire to do the whole thing again a second time. I have driven small chunks of it to get somewhere throughout the years north, central, and south.

Drove from San Francisco to LA down the PCH with the family in high school. Still have fond memories of that trip 40 years later.

Hearst castle was a trip 25 years ago, I wonder if they have changed stuff ?

I drove it in 1970 from San Diego to Oregon, camped the whole way, except for San Francisco. Took a lot of slides but they were lost during a move. I was back in 2010 and drove it from Santa Barbara to Monterey, would like to do some of it, again.

You've gotten to view a stretch that was just recently opened, a big slide about 3-yrs ago required a major rebuild just past Big Sur.

The drive along the Central Coast of CA is one of my favorites, spending time in San Luis Obispo/Morro Bay, Cambria I always look forward to, pulling over taking in the view and spending a night in the Carmel/Monterey-area, just fantastic, glad you got to experience it. Basically from San Francisco to Santa Barbara that entire drive either along the coast following hwy-1 or a bit faster along hwy-101 which nearly follows the CA Mission Trail, is one of the great drives in this country.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
You've gotten to view a stretch that was just recently opened, a big slide about 3-yrs ago required a major rebuild just past Big Sur.

My friend pointed that section out and explained the logistical nightmare of getting around it. There was another part where they built an overhead above the road to allow rocks to continue down without taking out the road. Its pretty amazing.

That's amazing and a bucket list trip for sure. Thanks for sharing the photos!

Sounds like a really nice trip. I’ve been wanting to do the same but likely starting from SF and going north, perhaps all the way to Vancouver across the border. Retired so have the time, but concerns about health and safety on the road for an extended period (2-3 weeks). The thinking would be to stop wherever calls to us (how would we know just driving on the PCH?) and find lodging (hopefully safe, clean and reasonably priced).

Hearst Castle is interesting to me. I’ve been several times and the pool (indoor and outdoor) always amaze me, as well as the grounds and the vastness of it (the view from castle to coast). It seems you went to Morro Bay - I love that area, from Pismo up to Cambria. Wonderful area with lots of nice places for coastal walks / hikes. Enjoy the coastal dunes, the migrating Monarchs, the relaxing drive-on beach.

Perhaps someday I’ll make the PCH drive. Health, finances, time, safety willing. Good to hear that you enjoyed the trip.

Konata88
I did this trip now, because i've put things like this trip off until later, and now I find that too late is closer than I realized.

I never felt unsafe during the trip. We stopped at a few places in the middle of nowhere and everyone we met was very friendly and helpful.
We did a mix of camping and hotels, and while we started off with a vague plan, we pretty much played it by ear, stopping wherever something caught our interest. A lot of our stops were to find out if we wanted to stop.
And I agree with you, the Hearst castle was much better then I expected.

Thanks for the extra info. Good to know. Hopefully I’ll make the trip before it’s too late.

Btw, midsize sedan or (full size) suv? I’m not sure which to take. Leaning toward the latter unless you think it might be contraindicated for the road (too curvy, slow, motion sickness for passengers).

I have traveled Routes 101 and 1 - piecemeal over a span of three decades, some by car, some by motorcycle - all the way from Port Angeles, WA to just north of Los Angeles.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Thanks for the extra info. Good to know. Hopefully I’ll make the trip before it’s too late.

Btw, midsize sedan or (full size) suv? I’m not sure which to take. Leaning toward the latter unless you think it might be contraindicated for the road (too curvy, slow, motion sickness for passengers).

Definitely the SUV, better visibility, more comfortable with a cooler and luggage. You'll have no issues with size, it's a highway and really very safe. I had my Pilot last time I drove it and never felt it was out of place. You've driven around Utah, you'll be fine.

quote:

Originally posted by UTsig:

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Thanks for the extra info. Good to know. Hopefully I’ll make the trip before it’s too late.

Btw, midsize sedan or (full size) suv? I’m not sure which to take. Leaning toward the latter unless you think it might be contraindicated for the road (too curvy, slow, motion sickness for passengers).

Definitely the SUV, better visibility, more comfortable with a cooler and luggage. You'll have no issues with size, it's a highway and really very safe. I had my Pilot last time I drove it and never felt it was out of place. You've driven around Utah, you'll be fine.

We took a Rav 4 Hybrid and it was a good size since we were hauling camping gear. There was 1 or 2 side roads we explored that made me wish we had something with more ground clearance but we were fine. As UTsig points out, the PCH is a great road, RVs drive it with no issues. I would take the SUV, but my daily driver is a Ram 1500 so that is what I'm comfortable in.
If the sedan is comfortable for you over long distance and has plenty of space, the cost of fuel may factor in to the decision.

Thanks UTSig and Spinzone. I'll plan to take the SUV. It's actually more comfortable than the sedan. It just doesn't handle curves and twists very well (as it's not an every day driver, it's a little discomforting taking curves relative to my daily sedan w/ aftermarket suspension). I'd probably spend about 2x in fuel (half the gas mileage) but the more concerning is the availability of fuel between tanks. Not sure how many stations there are along the PCH.

But sounds like the ride will be generally smooth and fuel not an issue.

Good to know. Thanks.

UTSig: I'd like to drive around UT more. Need to resolve some health issue and then plan some trips. Would like to go to Canyonlands again. And explore along the border of UT and AZ, including the Page area. And those unforgettable slot canyons.

It's a paved highway, not a racetrack. Any road legal passenger vehicle should be able to negotiate it just fine. If anything, you'll get frustrated with the traffic and low speed limits. We only got to do a short section of it when I was out there, but I was driving a Suburban with a 12 foot trailer and had no difficulty. Would have certainly been more fun on a bike, but then I'd likely have gotten myself a ticket, lol.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Thanks UTSig and Spinzone. I'll plan to take the SUV. It's actually more comfortable than the sedan. It just doesn't handle curves and twists very well (as it's not an every day driver, it's a little discomforting taking curves relative to my daily sedan w/ aftermarket suspension). I'd probably spend about 2x in fuel (half the gas mileage) but the more concerning is the availability of fuel between tanks. Not sure how many stations there are along the PCH.

But sounds like the ride will be generally smooth and fuel not an issue.

The portion I've commonly driven are between Santa Cruz and Big Sur, with excursions down to Cambria for lunch and to visit Hearst Castle, and down to Morro Bay for matches...I haven't been since they've reopened it.

I've driven it in the Mazda Protege 5 and my Mercedes ML. The Mazda was a more fun drive, the Merc more relaxed...but I'd get passed a lot. When I spent time in the area we'd drive from Esalen to Nepenthe for dinner and it could get really exciting in a Toyota MR2 or a Honda CRV