Driving the Redwood Highway?

[KEK Inc.]

Yeah, there's some good spelunking in lava tubes farther north.  Ape Cave near Cougar, WA, is good.  The Newberry Lava Tubes go under US-97 near Bend, OR.

[Mdcastle]

2 hours a good amount of time to stop at the GGB visitors center, walk to the first tower, and take a picture on both sides?
Would Crescent City to Grants Pass to Walnut Creek be insane for a single days drive?

[kkt]

2 hours a good amount of time to stop at the GGB visitors center, walk to the first tower, and take a picture on both sides?
Would Crescent City to Grants Pass to Walnut Creek be insane for a single days drive?

Yes, two hours would be plenty if you're just going to the first tower.  Not sure what you mean by both sides -- the Marin side viewpoint and to the north tower as well as to the tower on the S.F. side?

You could certainly drive Crescent City-Grant's Pass-Walnut Creek in a day, but you wouldn't get to make many stops.

[myosh_tino]

2 hours a good amount of time to stop at the GGB visitors center, walk to the first tower, and take a picture on both sides?
Would Crescent City to Grants Pass to Walnut Creek be insane for a single days drive?

Interesting.  When I first read your post, I thought to myself, that is an insane drive!  But when I compare that trip's distance (450 miles, ~7 hrs) to my drives to Las Vegas (530 miles, ~8 hrs), your itinerary doesn't sound so bad assuming you don't plan on doing any significant sightseeing.

2 hours a good amount of time to stop at the GGB visitors center, walk to the first tower, and take a picture on both sides?

Yes, two hours would be plenty if you're just going to the first tower.  Not sure what you mean by both sides -- the Marin side viewpoint and to the north tower as well as to the tower on the S.F. side?

I think Mdcastle wants to walk to the south tower on both sides of the bridge to take pictures.  If that's the case, I'm afraid that won't be possible because only the east sidewalk (adjacent to the northbound lanes) is open to pedestrians.  The west sidewalk is only open to cyclists and only during certain hours.  From the Golden Gate Bridge website...

Pedestrians - Daily Access on the EAST Sidewalk

Pedestrians, including persons with disabilities using mobility devises such as wheelchairs, are allowed access ONLY on the East Sidewalk (side facing San Francisco). The hours vary seasonally as follows:

Pacific Standard Time: East Sidewalk hours are 5 am to 6:30 pm. Automatically-controlled gates close at 6:30 pm and reopen at 5 am.

Daylight Savings Time: East Sidewalk hours are 5 am to 9 pm. Automatically-controlled gates close at 9 pm and reopen at 5 am.

[kkt]

2 hours a good amount of time to stop at the GGB visitors center, walk to the first tower, and take a picture on both sides?

Yes, two hours would be plenty if you're just going to the first tower.  Not sure what you mean by both sides -- the Marin side viewpoint and to the north tower as well as to the tower on the S.F. side?

I think Mdcastle wants to walk to the south tower on both sides of the bridge to take pictures.  If that's the case, I'm afraid that won't be possible because only the east sidewalk (adjacent to the northbound lanes) is open to pedestrians.  The west sidewalk is only open to cyclists and only during certain hours.  From the Golden Gate Bridge website...

Pedestrians - Daily Access on the EAST Sidewalk

Pedestrians, including persons with disabilities using mobility devises such as wheelchairs, are allowed access ONLY on the East Sidewalk (side facing San Francisco). The hours vary seasonally as follows:

Pacific Standard Time: East Sidewalk hours are 5 am to 6:30 pm. Automatically-controlled gates close at 6:30 pm and reopen at 5 am.

Daylight Savings Time: East Sidewalk hours are 5 am to 9 pm. Automatically-controlled gates close at 9 pm and reopen at 5 am.

Oh, yeah, the west sidewalk is only for bicyclists.  They want a fast trip without having to go around lots of people taking pictures.

Pictures to the west can be taken from the Presidio, or the Marin Headlands.  Or for an interesting point of view you can drive down under the bridge on the S.F. side to Fort Point (but I'm not sure where the approach is since the Presidio Parkway was built).

[Mdcastle]

More precisely I was thinking about
1) Stopping at the visitors center, stopping to see the exhibits, etc. and photographing it from the southeast.
2) Walking from the south side to the first tower and turning around, then getting back into the car and driving across.
3) Taking a picture from somewhere on the northwest side, the view you see from above with San Francisco in the background, even though the sun angle will not be favorable.

[citrus]

More precisely I was thinking about
1) Stopping at the visitors center, stopping to see the exhibits, etc. and photographing it from the southeast.
2) Walking from the south side to the first tower and turning around, then getting back into the car and driving across.
3) Taking a picture from somewhere on the northwest side, the view you see from above with San Francisco in the background, even though the sun angle will not be favorable.

2 hours is enough time. The hardest part is finding a parking spot at the south end of the bridge.

[hm insulators]

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

Probably just a typo on his part.

[Mdcastle]

One more week until I'm there.

Think about taking the Embarcadero streetcar from Alcatraz Ferry to the Powell Hyde cable car (in order in incorporate a ride on one of them), taking that to the Muni J line, then taking that to 18th/Church. Is the walk from there to Valencia any less sketchy than from BART, and is 2 hours a good estimate for this trip?

[citrus]

One more week until I'm there.

Think about taking the Embarcadero streetcar from Alcatraz Ferry to the Powell Hyde cable car (in order in incorporate a ride on one of them), taking that to the Muni J line, then taking that to 18th/Church. Is the walk from there to Valencia any less sketchy than from BART, and is 2 hours a good estimate for this trip?

Yeah, that shouldn't take more than 2 hours (especially if the line for the cable car is short). The walk from Church to Valencia is not sketchy at all, much less so than from 16th+Mission.

[oscar]

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

I did 299 a few days ago, and 199 on an earlier trip.  299 is a much longer and more miserable drive between US 101 and I-5, and not particularly scenic either.  And don't even think about CA 36, which is even worse.