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Pacific Coast Highway


SWharton

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We would like to take US 1 starting in San Diego or thereabouts and end up in Vancouver, BC prior to our trip to Alaska in 2019. We have a 36' MH with a toad and are well experienced in Rving. Ideally, we would like to base camp, spend 3-5 days and then move on 150 miles or so. Getting around LA and SF is a concern but we would try to time those for a Sunday morning. We are willing to go inland if there are places along US 1 that are totally stupid to do in an RV. Also, are there any tunnels we need to route around.

I have searched the internet and feel it is possible but would like to know about the gotchas and dangerous areas. What I have mostly been finding on the internet are cars and RVs driving south. We are driving north. We are planning 4-6 weeks for this but also don't know when the best month would be. We can start anytime and are thinking March or so.

Any input you can provide would be welcome.

 

 

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I have done this very trip going form Seattle south to San Francisco to LA with a F350 4DR Long box truck towing a 28' 5th wheel about 8 years ago. I don't see why you would have any problems in doing so IMO. I understand you are want to go north, but my  suggestions would be go south after doing Alaska, You will find the best weather is you go late summer and early fall, like September into the first weeks of October. March through June, and even July you will have a much greater change of cloudy days and rain to obstruct your views.

 

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If you plan to follow CA-1, which is the route following the coast, also known as Pacific Coast Highway,  there are several places where it is not RV friendly. There is a stretch through the Big Sur country that is posted, no vehicles over 20' long and have driven it in an auto several times, I sure don't advise doing so, even though I did know one person who did so in a rig similar to yours. But he also admitted that if he had met someone in many of the turns they both would have been in serious trouble as he took the entire road. There is also a stretch between San Fransisco and Leggett that I have not been over but have been told would not be a wise move. You would be far wiser to follow US-101 that goes inland over both of those two stretches.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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From Leggett south to Fort Bragg is very twisty and winding and I think it's marked as unsuitable for RV's over a certain length, We rode it on our motorcycle several years ago. A beautiful section of the road though and worth driving in the toad.

We have ridden 1/101 from the Canada border to the Mexico border (Or as close as we could get).

Expect heavy traffic from San Francisco to San Diego. You won't make any great distances in a day. Make sure you have plenty of fuel before you drive the Big Sur stretch they charge a fortune for gas down there.

Camping along that road is sometimes tough to get, lots of demand.

Take you time, consider doing it in stages, going back by car after skipping a bit etc.

We enjoyed doing it spread across several vacations while we were still working.

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Time to get out the CA map and start blocking off the bad spots. Thanks all. We will think about flipping the plans to the fall but we are getting some work done by Henderson prior to trip so spring is a more convenient time.

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3 hours ago, SWharton said:

Time to get out the CA map and start blocking off the bad spots.

Were you thinking of US101 or of CA1? While they do share the same roadway for some long stretches, 101 is much more passable but as others have mentioned, even it does pass through cities and would not be fun. The very worst motorhome driving experience that I had in 20 years and 2 motorhomes was traveling through the city of San Fransisco following US101 which is at times on the city streets. I'm not sure that CA1 is even marked through the city.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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6 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

Were you thinking of US101 or of CA1? While they do share the same roadway for some long stretches, 101 is much more passable but as others have mentioned, even it does pass through cities and would not be fun. The very worst motorhome driving experience that I had in 20 years and 2 motorhomes was traveling through the city of San Fransisco following US101 which is at times on the city streets. I'm not sure that CA1 is even marked through the city.

Yes Hiway 1 is marked through SF, You get off 101 JUST AFTER THE BRIDGE, which is why you stay right going across.  You stay in the middle lane (19th ave) until you get near I-280 interchange.  Keep eye on Hiway 1 sign as it goes right not onto I280. 

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We don't do Highway 1 with our coach.   We park somewhere off of Highway 101, and then do day trips over to Highway 1 going north and/or south of the point we hit Highway 1.   For example, we've parked in Duncans Mills, about 12 miles form Highway 101, and from there have taken the toad south to Bodgea Bay and north up towards Mendocino.  Do the same for other sections.  We love the drive in the car, but would not do it in our coach pulling our car - - no fun for the driver nor the navigator when you have to spend all of the time on pins and needles trying to negotiate turns, road construction, wash outs, etc.     

Barb & Dave O'Keeffe
2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID
Blog: http://www.barbanddave.net
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Thanks. Everything is still up in the air about what we will do. We had considered 101 but from the mapping programs, it looks so far inland that all we would be doing is commuting. We would consider 101 a Plan B. Always need Plan B.

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5 hours ago, SWharton said:

We had considered 101 but from the mapping programs, it looks so far inland that all we would be doing is commuting.

If you join US101 at Port Angelas WA and travel west & then follow it south, that is the only major road anywhere near the coast and often in clear view of the coast most of the time until you reach Eureka, CA. At that point 101 goes inland through the redwood forests and away from the coast. At Leggett, CA the highway CA1 does go back to the coast but there are size restrictions on vehicles or were when we were there. We did drive CA1 down as far CA128 where we went back to US101, but not with the motorhome. I have not been there in 10 years so perhaps the roads are better than now? We also visited Bodega Bay when in Santa Rosa, but with the towd.

CA1 through San Fransisco area is another story so I'll not bother with details, but with a motorhome it will be an experience you probably will not soon forget. Our last trip through the area we took the motorhome and towd down I-880 then took CA92 over to Half Moon Bay and CA1. That drive was also interesting to drive towing but can be done. We did then follow CA1 south to Monterey but then went back to 101 to continue south as CA1 through the Big Sur Country is size restricted. Perhaps you are a better driver than BarbOK or myself and it won't bother you, but I still believe that you would be wise to heed the advice of those suggesting routes and to at least drive the tow vehicle into those areas to look before you try it with the motorhome. 

All of that said, those are areas that one should really take the time to visit. Big Sur is all that they say it is and well worth a drive in the auto. We believe that the west coast from Eureka, CA to Port Angeles, WA was probably the most spectacular scenic drive that we ever took our motorhome over in our 12 years of fulltime. 

 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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As a Southern California native, and resident of Los Angeles County, I can tell you PCH south of Santa Monica is not worth your time in a MH.  It's very slow, and congested thru all the beach cities.  I would not bother with PCH until you get to Santa Monica, and even then you will encounter a lot of traffic.  But after you get north of Malibu it thins out.  I would try to avoid doing it on a weekend or during rush hour mid week.  Commuters from the northern inland cities use it to get to work in L.A. And please give any cyclists (of which I am one) plenty of room if you encounter any.  PCH joins the 101 in Oxnard.  There is a short section of PCH/Hwy 1 north of Ventura, along an area known as the Rincon, which is RV friendly, with several very popular camping spots right on the water.  Hwy 1 does not appear again until it turns off toward Lompoc.  That section of not that appealing.  The 101 thru the Buellton area is actually very beautiful all the way up to San Luis Obispo where you can take Hwy 1 to the coast & see Morro Bay, Cambria, San Simeon, etc.  Stopping in this area for day trips is highly recommended.  There is a very nice SLO county park called El Chorro Regional park with full hookups between SLO and Morro Bay.  They take reservations,  but have a limited number of sites suitable for big rigs.  Great place for days trips on the coast if you can get a site there.  I don't recommend taking the MH past San Simeon as that's where it starts to get narrow and winding. Drive the toad north for a great day trip.  You can take Hwy 46  back to the Paso Robles (great wine tasting) and continue north on the 101 from there.  It's a climb back up to Paso but easily doable with a MH.     Hope this helps.....you'll have a great time!  

 

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I have done SF to LA 5 times in a motorhome and never experienced even the slightest bit of nervousness on CA1 (PCH), even through Big Sur (but I also drive in Colorado and Montana every summer so maybe my tolerance is high).  The person above made a good point about skipping greater LA area on PCH as it will be packed and not really worth it.  Start in Malibu and head North.  Lots of places to pull over and enjoy the views.  I have never gone South to North and that might cause some issues as the good views are off of the south bound lanes and a big rig won't be able to do a U turn to get into those (may not be an issue, but just came to mind).

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2 hours ago, jpcoll01 said:

I have done SF to LA 5 times in a motorhome and never experienced even the slightest bit of nervousness on CA1 (PCH), even through Big Sur

Big Sur is not located between SF and LA. It is south of Monterey.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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1 hour ago, Kirk Wood said:

Big Sur is not located between SF and LA. It is south of Monterey.

??????  Monterey is between SF and LA and so is Big Sur.

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We just completed our trek up Highway 101.  We use google maps a truckers atlas to verify route restrictions and clearance issues and this trek was no different. I can tell you that you will have no problems if you follow the truck routes. As others have pointed out the lower (southern) part of 101 has some restrictions. But once you are past Porterville, CA you can travel the entire route safely. Keep in mind, there are a lot of tight spots on the route. One worth mentioning is near Redwoods National Park. There are giant redwood on either side of the highway and the road is not very wide though them. Just expect to do a lot of slowing down.  We are 56'  from front bumper to end of our toad and we had no issues. Our trip took us to Orcas Island via the Anacourtes Ferry.   Safe travels and enjoy.

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I lived in SF for 2 years, LA for 7 years and San Diego for 35 years. PCH is not a road you would want to drive a motorhome on.

From SD north is very commercial and once past Oceanside you will have to get on the I-5 because you wont be able to pass Camp Pendelton USMC. LA is horrable and Hwy1 is very commercial with stop lights and traffic. Once north of Ventura to Santa Barbara is nice but when you get to Big Sir you wont be able to drive a RV on PCH and will have to get on I-101. SF is worse than LA and you need to go around it to the east. North of SF near Ft Briag again is not advisable. I have never been any farther north than that so can't comment on OR and WA

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6 hours ago, drzcharlie said:

We just completed our trek up Highway 101.  ......

Yes, Highway 101 is a perfectly fine highway, but the OP was asking about Pacific Coast Highway also know as Highway 1.  Definetly not a good road for larger RVs.

Barb & Dave O'Keeffe
2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID
Blog: http://www.barbanddave.net
SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834

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1 hour ago, Twotoes said:

I lived in SF for 2 years, LA for 7 years and San Diego for 35 years. PCH is not a road you would want to drive a motorhome on.

From SD north is very commercial and once past Oceanside you will have to get on the I-5 because you wont be able to pass Camp Pendelton USMC. LA is horrable and Hwy1 is very commercial with stop lights and traffic. Once north of Ventura to Santa Barbara is nice but when you get to Big Sir you wont be able to drive a RV on PCH and will have to get on I-101. SF is worse than LA and you need to go around it to the east. North of SF near Ft Briag again is not advisable. I have never been any farther north than that so can't comment on OR and WA

You can actually go north through SF by getting off of Highway 101 and onto I-280.   Exit onto 19th Avenue (shortly after Highway 1 joins I-280) and stay in the middle lane.  It will go through residential areas, then onto the Presidio (and underneath it via a tunnel) then you exit back onto Highway 101 at the Golden Gate bridge, stay in the very right lane (for buses and RVs) and head north.  Added bonus, no toll when going north.   While I think you could take Highway 1 easily up to Bodega Bay, I wouldn't want to go further than that - road is falling onto the ocean north of Bodega Bay and under repair, which means way to narrow at times for RVs.  

Barb & Dave O'Keeffe
2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID
Blog: http://www.barbanddave.net
SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834

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