Driving the Redwood Highway?

[Mdcastle]

I'm thinking about a trip flying into Sacramento or the Bay area, then driving the Redwood Highway and US 199 to Grants Pass, then back down I-5. Good idea or no? Should I forget about Oregon and just turn around and go back down 101? A week good enough? I'd want to spend a day in San Francisco seeing the cable cars and Alctraz, and a day in Redwood Park, but the rest could be devoted to driving. What would the drive on US 101 through downtown San Francisco from I-80 to the Golden Gate Bridge be like on a weekday?

[The High Plains Traveler]

I'm thinking about a trip flying into Sacramento or the Bay area, then driving the Redwood Highway and US 199 to Grants Pass, then back down I-5. Good idea or no? Should I forget about Oregon and just turn around and go back down 101? A week good enough? I'd want to spend a day in San Francisco seeing the cable cars and Alctraz, and a day in Redwood Park, but the rest could be devoted to driving. What would the drive on US 101 through downtown San Francisco from I-80 to the Golden Gate Bridge be like on a weekday?

You'll first have to decide if you want to go up the coast along Hwy. 1, which is a slow slog but a very beautiful drive, or stay on 101 inland. You would miss the beginning of the redwood forests north of Willits along 101. I would recommend you leave time for a loop through the lost coast of Mendocino County along the Mattole Road. Maybe if time allows on your return trip you could go inland to I-5 in Oregon but double back to the coast along CA-96 and catch the road north from San Francisco you didn't take coming up.

It looks like an ambitious trip for a week, but with early starts and assured lodging you may do OK.

[kkt]

I'm thinking about a trip flying into Sacramento or the Bay area, then driving the Redwood Highway and US 199 to Grants Pass, then back down I-5. Good idea or no? Should I forget about Oregon and just turn around and go back down 101? A week good enough? I'd want to spend a day in San Francisco seeing the cable cars and Alctraz, and a day in Redwood Park, but the rest could be devoted to driving. What would the drive on US 101 through downtown San Francisco from I-80 to the Golden Gate Bridge be like on a weekday?

It's quite doable with a week.  There's any number of fun stops and side trips and you'd only have time for a few.  Richardson Grove, Patrick's Point are worth stops.  Taking Highway 1 instead of 101 is also very pretty, but I'm not sure it could be done on your schedule.  If the trip is one week, does that mean 5 days for the 101, 199, I-5 loop?  If you're short on time, you could go up 101 only to Eureka and Patrick's Point and then take 299 east to Redding and pick up I-5 there.

[nexus73]

Straight shot driving on 101 and 199 would let one go from San Francisco to Grants Pass in about 10 hours.  The amount of time one wishes to take for overnight stops, loops and exploring will determine how long the trip actually takes.  One week is more than enough to see the whole shebang.

Rick 

[Mdcastle]

I know I asked about visting the Pacific Northwest this fall too. My sister prefers that option but due to the timing- I'm not allowed to take any vacation time from last summer to November- it looks like California is the more likely option since it's after the weather starts to get rainy in the northwest. Like our other trips, this is kind of a compromise between my desire to clinch highways and roadgeek things and my sister's dislike for a lot of driving.


We would be sticking to the Redwood Highway. I've heard that CA 1 is slow and tedious and you can't see that much of the ocean anyway. And yes, it looks like 4 nights, 5 days could be devoted to the loop. Kind of a rough itenerary, I haven't really looked at it to see if it's feasable- Day 1, Fly into Sacremento and drive to somewhere in the northeast bay area, Day 2, take a train or ferry into see SF, Day 3, Drive across the Oakland and Golden Gate bridges, stop to see the GGB, and drive to Euraka, Day 4 see Redwood Park and return to Eureak, Day 5 Drive to Grants Pass, Day 6 Drive to somehwere north of Sacremento, Day 7 finish drive to Sacremento and fly out.

Wondering if things would be boring after Redwood park and I should forget the idea of a big loop and just drive back to the Bay area and spend another day there.

[roadman65]

My parents went up 101 all the way into Oregon and cut over to Grants Pass on a trip.  They came back on I-5 and enjoyed all the drives both ways up.  The biggest thrill for them was seeing Mount Shasta from hundreds of miles away on I-5 (sort of like seeing AZ's highest peak along I-49 from the Petrefied Forest NP with still a few hours of driving).  I never did this, but my parents are not full road geeks so, it must be all right then.

[nexus73]

My parents went up 101 all the way into Oregon and cut over to Grants Pass on a trip.  They came back on I-5 and enjoyed all the drives both ways up.  The biggest thrill for them was seeing Mount Shasta from hundreds of miles away on I-5 (sort of like seeing AZ's highest peak along I-49 from the Petrefied Forest NP with still a few hours of driving).  I never did this, but my parents are not full road geeks so, it must be all right then.

There's no I-49 in AZ.  Maybe you meant I-19?

Rick

[kkt]

The north coast of California gets pretty rainy too.  That's what keeps the redwoods growing.  Expect some fog in the mornings and evenings, possible rain or drizzle.  However, may also be nice spells in between.

I understand if route 1 doesn't work out for your trip this time, but I would not characterize it as tedious, and you can indeed see quite a bit of ocean from it.  It does take longer than 101, though.

Day 3 is kind of a long day,  Mapquest says 5 hours from S.F. to Eureka, then add 1 to 2 hours for driving the Bay Bridge, across city streets in S.F., and however long you spend visiting the GGB.  One change you might consider is seeing the GGB on Day 2 when you'll be in S.F. anyway, and on Day 3 head through the north bay on Route 29 and meeting 101 at Geyserville.  That keeps you out of commuter traffic in Oakland and S.F.

I would definitely agree with taking a vacation other than the Pacific Northwest in November.  Unless you like dark, rain, and possibly having to change your plans due to snow.

[agentsteel53]

(sort of like seeing AZ's highest peak along I-49 from the Petrefied Forest NP with still a few hours of driving)

There's no I-49 in AZ.  Maybe you meant I-19?

Rick

I-40 is the one from which you can see Humphreys Peak from something like 60-80 miles away.

if the conditions are right, one can see Mt. Shasta from Sacramento: 211 miles as the crow files.  the mountain is actually behind the earth's curvature, and should be below the horizon, but in the Central Valley, it is not too rare to get the correct thermal inversion layers to project it into one's field of view.

[Mdcastle]

I take it a better idea is to get into Sacremento early enough to do the drive across the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges on the first day, and then stay someplace in Marin county?

[kkt]

I take it a better idea is to get into Sacremento early enough to do the drive across the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges on the first day, and then stay someplace in Marin county?

Yes, that might be better.  It avoids doubling back, and you could avoid the bridges during rush hour.  I suppose it depends how many things you want to do in S.F.

[Mdcastle]

I checked flights and Oakland is substantially cheaper than Sacremento, and San Francisco is cheaper still, so it looks like that's what we would be doing and the soonest we reasonably arrive is around 2. Is the 6.30 closing of the Golden Gate Bridge when it actually closes or when they stop letting new people on. And I think I know the answer, but is traffic going to be brutal on 80 and 101 northbound on a weekday afternoon?

[agentsteel53]

Is the 6.30 closing of the Golden Gate Bridge when it actually closes or when they stop letting new people on.

I must be missing something - why is the Golden Gate Bridge closing?  It closes very rarely.  last weekend was the 75th anniversary celebration, and before that it was I think several years ago that it was last closed.

And I think I know the answer, but is traffic going to be brutal on 80 and 101 northbound on a weekday afternoon?

depends on the time.  check Google Maps; their predictive traffic (based on day of week and time of day) is pretty decent.

[Mdcastle]

Closes to pedestrians I mean, it's on their site that the sidewalk closes at 6.30 during Pacific Standard Time. I was planning to park on one side and at least walk partway accross.

That traffic thing is a neat tool, I never knew it existed. Looks like the Bayshore and Central freeways might be backed up inbound, but Van Ness and Lombard should be OK.

[agentsteel53]

Closes to pedestrians I mean, it's on their site that the sidewalk closes at 6.30 during Pacific Standard Time. I was planning to park on one side and at least walk partway accross.

ah, I have no idea.  by coincidence, the only times I've ever walked it have been late morning and early afternoon.

[kkt]

I checked flights and Oakland is substantially cheaper than Sacremento, and San Francisco is cheaper still, so it looks like that's what we would be doing and the soonest we reasonably arrive is around 2. Is the 6.30 closing of the Golden Gate Bridge when it actually closes or when they stop letting new people on. And I think I know the answer, but is traffic going to be brutal on 80 and 101 northbound on a weekday afternoon?

Yes, the traffic will be heavy.  If you're coming from the peninsula or SFO, it's better to go north on 280 and then take CA-1 (19th Ave.) through S.F. to the Golden Gate Bridge approaches.  The exit for the bridge visitor center comes quickly, go slow and watch closely.  (Disclaimer:  I haven't been that way since the construction on the replacement for Doyle Drive started.)

[roadman65]

My parents went up 101 all the way into Oregon and cut over to Grants Pass on a trip.  They came back on I-5 and enjoyed all the drives both ways up.  The biggest thrill for them was seeing Mount Shasta from hundreds of miles away on I-5 (sort of like seeing AZ's highest peak along I-49 from the Petrefied Forest NP with still a few hours of driving).  I never did this, but my parents are not full road geeks so, it must be all right then.

There's no I-49 in AZ.  Maybe you meant I-19?

Rick

It was meant to be I-40.  A little typo cause the two keys of "0" and "9" are next to each other.

[Mdcastle]

To clarify the situation in Grant's Pass if I elect to go on the northern loop:
* Google Maps marks "Redwood Highway" as both the downtown and southern routings, but the real Redwood Highway is only the downtown routing.
* As marked US 199 goes on the southern routing, but legally it goes through downtown.

So if I want to clinch US 199 and the Redwood Highway I would go through downtown?

[Alps]

What I would do in such a situation is take one leg, U-turn at the end, and take the second leg that's closer to my ultimate direction of travel. I count that as clinching even if I haven't traveled the trumpet interchange (as is the case for the new highway).

[Mdcastle]

I'm doing the Redwood Highway trip this fall.
I'm staying in Walnut Creek, realistically 10:00 AM is the soonest we can get moving, we'll take BART in. During his day we want to see Alcatraz and my sister wants to be at a book store on 6XX Valencia in Mission District from 5-8 in the evening.
Doable in one day? How much time to go from Walnut Creek to Alcatraz and then Alcatraz to the Mission District. And it the area around the BART stations in the Mission District safe after dark

I'm also torn about visting Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. As much as I like amusement parks this seems to be a not very good one in an area where there's a lot of other things to do, although I think my siter would like it.

[citrus]

How much time to go from Walnut Creek to Alcatraz and then Alcatraz to the Mission District. And it the area around the BART stations in the Mission District safe after dark

For timing, the worst part is how far the Alcatraz ferries are from BART.

Allow 50 min for BART from Walnut Creek to Embarcadero Station. Then 30-45 min walking, or 15-20 min on the "F" Market streetcar ($2) up to the Alcatraz ferries near Pier 39. Book your Alcatraz tickets and ferry in advance - you'll want to spend at least an hour on the island.

From the ferries to the Mission, the "F" will do it but will take 45 min. Transferring to BART at Embarcadero to 16th+Mission will be slightly faster but will cost $1.75 extra. A cab is fastest and would take 20 min, probably about $15-20.

Mission BART stations are fine to go in and out of BART, but you probably don't want to be hanging around above ground needlessly. 16th St is worse than 24th St (but remember, many non-sketchy folks use both those BART stations daily). Anywhere on Valencia St is nice and will be decently crowded that time in the evening. Stop by Four Barrel Coffee (between 14th and 15th st) if you get a chance!

Also: most visitors don't know this, but the best weather in SF is usually in the fall - especially October.

[Mdcastle]

Does 199 or 299 provide the best views of the mountains, which is shorter / easier driving?

I'm contemplating
1) Overnight in Eureka, drive to the California line and turn around, then see Redwood Park and back to Eureka for night 2, then 299 to I-5 and Walnut Creek the 3rd day
2) Overnight in Eureka, see Redwood Park, overnight in Crescent City, then 199 to Grants Pass to Walnut creek.

[NE2]

Don't stay overnight in Eureka. It turns into Alanland.

[KEK Inc.]

The Oregon Caves is near Grants Pass.  It's worth a visit if you're into spelunking.  I think they only do guided tours though, but you should look into it.

[xonhulu]

The Oregon Caves is near Grants Pass.  It's worth a visit if you're into spelunking.  I think they only do guided tours though, but you should look into it.

Yup, guided tours only, and depending on the day you visit, they fill up pretty fast in the summer.  Plan ahead if you visit -- you might be able to reserve in advance.  Costs something like $8.00 per person.  But I highly recommend it.