My wife and I loaded up our Land Cruiser and headed North from LA this past week for California's Lost Coast. The weather was perfect as we took highway 1 up to sublime Big Sur. We stopped to see the elephant seals by Hearst Castle.
We stayed the first night at Limekiln State Park. The campground was filled to the brim but our spot on the creek was nice.
The next day we made the scenic but long drive to Mendocino. We stayed the night at Van Damme State Park in a nicely private and wooded spot. After getting more supplies the next day we drove up to where highway 1 veers away and up to the 101. We entered Usal road. The road conditions were very good if a little on the dusty side. This is a really curvy and narrow road.
I can imagine if it was wet this would be more of challenge but we saw regular cars and a mini van make it up without any problems. The biggest danger was people flying around the blind corners of this single lane steep road. Some of the views out to the ocean were awesome but there aren't many spots to pull over.
When we finally got down the Usal Campground it was surprisingly full for a Sunday.
Fortunately it cleared out after 5p.
We found a good spot not too far from the beach but protected from the wind under the trees.
The next day we continued down Usal Road and went to the Sinkyone Visitors Center. The weather and views were still awesome but the road to Bear Harbor is closed due to a land slide and with no plans to open (according to the park host).
We stayed the night a little farther down in a nice and cheap ($8) BLM campground - Wailaki. In the morning we loaded up and took another twisty little road to the thriving metropolis of Honeydew.
After grabbing some ice at the store we went out to Mattole Campground at the end of Lighthouse road. We opted not to stay here as you really don't get a beach view from the sites. It seemed cramped and exposed to wind and sun. We headed out to Windy Ridge.
After some lunch on the tailgate, we hiked at to the Punta Gorda lighthouse.
We stayed the night at the AW Way County Park which head great hot showers and was a very nice spot.
We completed the adventure the next day driving an awesome twisty and isolated road North back to Highway 101. Living in one of LA's beach cities where our 5,600 square foot lot is considered big it's great to see that some of California's coastline is still remote and unspoiled.
We stayed the first night at Limekiln State Park. The campground was filled to the brim but our spot on the creek was nice.
The next day we made the scenic but long drive to Mendocino. We stayed the night at Van Damme State Park in a nicely private and wooded spot. After getting more supplies the next day we drove up to where highway 1 veers away and up to the 101. We entered Usal road. The road conditions were very good if a little on the dusty side. This is a really curvy and narrow road.
I can imagine if it was wet this would be more of challenge but we saw regular cars and a mini van make it up without any problems. The biggest danger was people flying around the blind corners of this single lane steep road. Some of the views out to the ocean were awesome but there aren't many spots to pull over.
When we finally got down the Usal Campground it was surprisingly full for a Sunday.
Fortunately it cleared out after 5p.
We found a good spot not too far from the beach but protected from the wind under the trees.
The next day we continued down Usal Road and went to the Sinkyone Visitors Center. The weather and views were still awesome but the road to Bear Harbor is closed due to a land slide and with no plans to open (according to the park host).
We stayed the night a little farther down in a nice and cheap ($8) BLM campground - Wailaki. In the morning we loaded up and took another twisty little road to the thriving metropolis of Honeydew.
After grabbing some ice at the store we went out to Mattole Campground at the end of Lighthouse road. We opted not to stay here as you really don't get a beach view from the sites. It seemed cramped and exposed to wind and sun. We headed out to Windy Ridge.
After some lunch on the tailgate, we hiked at to the Punta Gorda lighthouse.
We stayed the night at the AW Way County Park which head great hot showers and was a very nice spot.
We completed the adventure the next day driving an awesome twisty and isolated road North back to Highway 101. Living in one of LA's beach cities where our 5,600 square foot lot is considered big it's great to see that some of California's coastline is still remote and unspoiled.
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