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California campground suggestions needed

KathyBob

KathyBob

Junior Ranger
We are planning a trip from Washington State to San Diego in a couple of weeks. Have spent lots of time with the internet, books, etc. and have come up with some options for stopping places, but thought I'd ask for suggestions. Our stopping places are:
night #1: Medford, OR area, probably Valley of the Rogue SP
night #2: Stockton, CA area; found Dos Reis County Park online - thoughts?
night #3: Monterey/Carmel area; have lengthy list of possibilities, to include Veteran's Park; any favorites?
night #4: San Luis Obispo area; know that Tom & Gayle took a trip to Morro Bay SP so thought we'd try that
night #5: we will be heading east towards Hesperia and then will go south on I-15 to San Diego. Came across two possibilities; Saddleback Butte SP and Hesperia Lake County Park; any thoughts?
We'll then stay at a friend's for several days and plan to return via US 395 up to Oregon via Carson City, NV. Don't know if a stop in Death Valley is in the cards. We've never driven in that part of California so any suggestions will be welcome. Thanks for your help. Kathy
 
Sounds like a fun trip! We're not too familiar with those possibilities, but if you need anything while you're in the area please let us know!

Stelena
 
Suggestion for night 1:
Indian Mark State Park (on the Rouge River just outside of Grants Pass, 40 miles or so from Medford)
 
Kathy & Bob -- you are going to have to go thru Ventura to get to San Diego via Hesperia so you will need to lay over with Gayle and me, providing, of course, that we are in town. Right now we are not -- enjoying New Zealand, would you believe. Where we are now is like 200 miles of continuous Yosemite Park!!! Will be home March 7 but have to have a grandkid fix mid-month so will be in San Francisco for a week at that time. Do you have a semi-firm timetable figured out yet? Do hope we can hook up on your way south.
 
Hi, Guys. Wondered what was up with you as had not seen any posts. New Zealand! How wonderful. We're probably going to leave here March 11 and arrive in SD noonish on March 16. Appreciate the offer. The thought is to meander from Monterey to San Luis Obispo on the 14th and then get to the Hesperia area (or spend the night at Saddleback SP) on the 15th. Bob really wants to steer clear of LA area traffic as we've never driven that area in just a car, much less with a TD in tow. Once you know when you're going to visit SF we could talk. Maybe, if we're going to pass each other along Hwy 1, we could meet for lunch.

Kathy
 
If you are going south down Rte 1, I always suggest that people stop at Point Lobos state park, a little south of Monterey and Carmel. It's easy to just drive right by but if you turn in and spend an hour or two, you'll be glad you did. No camping there but there is later on, down in Big Sur.
 
KathyBob said:
We are planning a trip from Washington State to San Diego in a couple of weeks. Have spent lots of time with the internet, books, etc. and have come up with some options for stopping places, but thought I'd ask for suggestions. Our stopping places are:
night #1: Medford, OR area, probably Valley of the Rogue SP
night #2: Stockton, CA area; found Dos Reis County Park online - thoughts?
night #3: Monterey/Carmel area; have lengthy list of possibilities, to include Veteran's Park; any favorites?
night #4: San Luis Obispo area; know that Tom & Gayle took a trip to Morro Bay SP so thought we'd try that
night #5: we will be heading east towards Hesperia and then will go south on I-15 to San Diego. Came across two possibilities; Saddleback Butte SP and Hesperia Lake County Park; any thoughts?
We'll then stay at a friend's for several days and plan to return via US 395 up to Oregon via Carson City, NV. Don't know if a stop in Death Valley is in the cards. We've never driven in that part of California so any suggestions will be welcome. Thanks for your help. Kathy
Click to expand...

Cathy and I will try to come up with a couple of suggestions for the SF to Santa Barbara piece. You should be able to get good spots as this is still fairly low season as far as camping goes.

El Capitan (betwwen SLO and Santa Barbara) is supposed to be great. We are heading there for a few days in late April. Montana d'Oro is near SLO, I think.

There is camping ON the coast in the Monterey area (though it may be more toward Santa Cruz). And south of Carmel is Big Sur which has plenty of good camping, including private camgrounds. Stienstra's book is good.
http://www.tomstienstra.com/books-html/cal-camp.html

This is his RV book, which I have not used ans the camping book covers sites that allow RVs.
http://www.tomstienstra.com/books-html/westcoastrv.html
Sounds like your plan is to cut over to Monterey from I5, rather than head west and hit San Francisco. We are south of SF, but about 30 miles north of where you'd hit the SF area if you cut over from I5 to our south. If you do hit SF north of San Jose, you can park in our driveway and plug in!! Coffee and bagels are on me!

On your way back, the 395 corridor will be AWESOME. Eastern Sierra is some of my favorite landscape. Convict Lake. Mono Lake. The Whoa Nelly Deli. Bodie. Bridgeport. Good stuff.

-Al
 
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did we miss the chance to give you suggestions? Have you left for your trip, yet??

Monterey/Carmel: no recommendations. I know New Brighton(north of Monterey) is good.

While in Monterey, do the aquarium. It's a cliche, of sorts, but it is fantastic.

Pebble Beach Golf Course is public. Yu can drive in, park, go to the shop and buy a Pebble Beach ball marker. Then go to the restaurant and have a drink overlooking one of the holes along the ocean. Yes, the drink is $10. But you are paying for the table. The fact that the drink is also good is just a bonus. Throw a gold club and a few balls in the back of the truck. When driving by Pebble, pull over and then pitch one onto the fairway. Now you've "played Pebble" (without shelling out $500) Drive away. :)

Carmel? Photography shops featuring black and whites of the early masters. And ice cream.

and 17-mile Drive is worth it, especially if you've never done it.

I also know of sites south of Carmel (Big Sur) - I stayed at a private camp (Big Sur River Campground?), but I've been told we should have stayed at Pfeiffer Big Sur. Next time.

in Big Sur, have a burger at Nepenthe. Wait for the table of your dreams. It is worth it. And the Bloody Mary's are great, though Bloody Mary's and long drives do not work well for me, personally.

Big Sur has LOTS of very easy hikes, from the parking lot to the ocean, so don't let the ruggedness of the country fool you. Many people go to Big Sur and never take the 1/4-mile flat hikes that lead to a gorgeous cove filled with playing sea otters.

For all the cal state parks:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/ParkIndex/

south of Big Sur I would stay at Montana D'Oro (near Morro Bay) or Hearst San Simeon. All depends on where you stay the night before and how much driving you want to do.

I would then stay at El Capitan (b/t Morro Bay and Santa Barbara)

Weather should be fantastic!! I thnk California may be done with the liquid sunshine. Looks like spring is upon us. I am guessing you will have lots of sunshine, no fog, and almost no clouds. Not bad for March.

Have a woonderful trip.

-Al
 
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Thanks, Al. No, we won't leave until Sunday, March 11, so very much appreciate your taking the time to give us suggestions. We'll be sure to report back when we get back, which will be around the last week in March. We think we're going to take a little detour to Palm Springs and visit some other friends. We are so fortunate that the younger son has graduated from college and is living with us for now (and is employed!!!) so all that stuff, mail, newspapers, etc, is taken care of this trip.

Kathy
 
Sorry we don't have any recommendations for camping around our area. But we do have a friend who camps in Carmel every year. He recommends "Carmel by the River RV Park" in Carmel Valley just a mile or so from the ocean. It's upscale and a bit pricey-Carmel/pricey, go figure-but a very nice setting. No views of the ocean though, but you are on the river and that's nice.

If you are heading down through Big Sur, don't miss out on McWay Falls. It's a short walk from the parking lot and you get a spectacular view of an 80 foot waterfall crashing on the beach!

Looks like you might pass through the SF East Bay. If you are taking the 205/580/680 corridor, the morning traffic can make the LA freeways look like a stroll in the park. But if you do brave it, and need a break somewhere around the 580/680 split, drop us a line and we can meet up. We're just a few miles west of there.

And!!!!...When you get down around Hearst Castle (a must see), check out the wineries along hwy 46 between Cambria and Paso Robles, a great wine region (Eos is particularly good). San Simeon State Park has camping near by and considering how many fine wineries there are....you may need a place to crash...oh no, let's say "sleep",shall we?

Death Valley.....well, we didn't have much rain this season and the flower show will be sparse (and that's being generous),but there is still so much to see. Beautiful rock formations and colors...all kinds of crazy, fun stuff. Some of our favorite spots are: Marble Canyon, Artist's Pallet, Mustard Canyon and Scotty's Castle. But the camping sites book up fast and early, so you might want to check it out on the web site before going.

Have a safe trip.

Jim and Sue
 
Thanks, Jim and Sue. We're hoping to avoid the SF traffic by not cutting over to the coast from I-5 until HWY 152 - does that make sense?

Really appreciate your recommendations and the heads-up about Death Valley.

Kathy
 
KathyBob said:
Thanks, Jim and Sue. We're hoping to avoid the SF traffic by not cutting over to the coast from I-5 until HWY 152 - does that make sense?

Really appreciate your recommendations and the heads-up about Death Valley.

Kathy
Click to expand...

it really depends what time of day you hit the Bay Area. It's really only bad between 7:00 and 9:00, and again from 3:00-7:00. Traffic moves pretty good in the middle of the day.

It really comes down to what time of day you are driving, and what you want to see. The coast between San Francisco and Santa Cruz/Monterey/Carmel is lovely and much easier to drive than the stretch between Carmel and Morro Bay. But you will have such a long driving stretch between Carmel and Morro Bay, that I wouldn't cut over to the coast very far north, unless you really want more coastal driving time.

re McWay Falls, it is a VERY easy hike/walk - and lovely.

Don't forget your binoculars, as you may see whales and will definitely see seals and otters, and it's much easier to watch from the bluff-top if you have binoculars.


-Al
 
KathyBob said:
thanks, again, Al. You've been really helpful.

Kathy
Click to expand...

you are most welcome

try to give us a trip report - I'm particularly interested in the section b/t SF and Santa Barbara, as I am camping at El Capitan State Beach; Montana d'Oro; and Hearst San Simeon in mid-April.

We are going to roll the dice without a reservation for a Saturday night (on the way back home) in Big Sur. We'll see if we can get a site or if we will be driving all the way home.

-Al
 
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