Camp site suggestions West Coast

[Darby Darrow]

We are driving from San Diego to nearly the Canadian border and would like a few suggestions on camping spot along the way. We plan to drive about 400 miles per day, give or take.

We will be starting on July 3rd.

We will have two vehicles, three adults and two teenage boys. Anybody have any favorites?

 

[T.Low]

While you did ask for camp sites, The Loft by The Lighthouse near Charleston might be a nice luxury for not too much $. We stayed there on an Oregon Coast kayaking trip and loved it.

http://www.loftbythelighthouse.com/

Washington's Cape Dissapointment has good seaside camping.
http://www.capedisappointment.org/visit/camping.html

We camped at a fun spot at Usal Campground in northern California. Had it all to ourselves.

 

[washington taco]

South Beach in Olympic National Park (WA) is water front camping first come first serve! Great for walking up and down the beach. I was out that way last June and watched Gray whales swim by for about an hour!

Good luck camping on a holiday weekend might be a lot of boon docking in your future. Always makes for a more eventful trip!

 

[Project510]

I would suggest takin 1 (pch) up as far as you can. Theres plenty of places off that hwy to camp. Big Sur, other state parks. Los Burros rd is right off hwy 1 near pfeifer state park. I jsut spent 2 days there. There are no reservations, and no charge. Just find a spot. los Burros rd goes further up and there are some great spots up top.

 

[timmer2008]

no suggestions but it sounds like a fun trip Darby

timmer

 

[evldave]

A few suggestions:

Head up the pch to the Bay area (can't offer suggestions on where to stay)
Then head up 101, stay in the Redwoods...you can actually go camp on the beach in that area, plenty of room if you can find a place

http://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm

Then head up further north, stay somewhere near Tillamook, great area, lots of stuff to do (not sure if that fits your 400 mile rule You could hit the Dunes, where you can camp on the beach...

Then hit Gerhart, Oregon, near Astoria, camp on the beach, have a big fire, lots of stuff to see (near Astoria and the big lighthouse, they just had a Goonies 25th anniversary there)

Further up the 101, you can stay in Long Beach (near mouth of the Columbia, big long spit, if you want you can cheat and camp at the end of the spit, but might get in trouble) great sunrise over the water there

Keep driving up 101, hit the Olympics, you can camp on the beach there, honestly though the whole Nat'l Park will be crowded, hit the Nat'l Forest instead and just spend time in the park

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/olympic/

Stay on 101 around the Olympic Peninsula, then take the first ferry you see to Seattle - don't bother with trying the long-***** drive around puget sound, and the ferry is cool (maybe you'll see killer whales)

Hit Seattle, then head north, if you can turn right on Hwy 20 (North Cascades Hwy), plenty of places to camp up there and awesome scenery (kinda a Glacier lite)

Turn on 153, head south to 97 and Lake Chelan...and basically follow 97 all the way to Crater Lake area (southern Oregon)...then when you get to Klamath Falls, stay on 97 to head back to I-5 and the straight shot home (if you are sick of the teenage boys by now ) or head down 139 to 395 for the scenic way south through Modoc, which is a great area btw, plenty of open areas, camping, and not very crowded.

If you have the time take 395 south through Reno, the Mono Lake area is amazing, lots of camping, then into Sequoia and back home...great thing about 395 is that you can 'cut over' to I-5 in lots of places depending on how much time or patience you have left...

Have to say I'm jealous of your trip, I've done the opposite a bunch (Portland-SF-Portland or Portland-LA-Portland) and if you stay away from I-5 you'll find plenty of formal and informal places to camp and the scenery will be amazing the whole way.

 

[rynosurf]

One of my Favorite spots is Patrick's Point near Eureka.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

http://www.duneguide.com/sand_dune_guide_oregon_dunes.htm

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/siuslaw/recreation/ohv/odnra/sandcamping.shtml

Check out the Dunes when you get to Oregon. You can camp near the dunes/ocean.

You can even rent dune buggies and atv's and go play on the dunes.


.

 

[Willman]

I'm no help....

I would suggest takin 1 (pch) up as far as you can. Theres plenty of places off that hwy to camp. Big Sur, other state parks. Los Burros rd is right off hwy 1 near pfeifer state park. I jsut spent 2 days there. There are no reservations, and no charge. Just find a spot. los Burros rd goes further up and there are some great spots up top.

Nice camping spot!

 

[Darby Darrow]

Wow, lots of great suggestions.

I didn't mention it before but it will be a one way trip. We are moving from San Diego to Anacortes.

Once we complete I'll post some pics here.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Beachboyy]

I appreciate this thread as we will be doing a trip down the coast from where we live in gearhart, oregon to our lake cabin on clear lake in california. We will be camping the whole way with our kamparoo and our 9 month old. These camping spots are a great help. Thanks.

 

[paulj]

It's something like 1300 miles via I5. Driving closer to the coast will add some miles, and more significantly slow you down (due to curves, traffic, and sightseeing).

Hwy 1 past Fort Bragg will be slower than 101 inland. On RV forums hwy 20 is often recommended as the best way of crossing from I5 to 101 (is passes Clear lake. 299 and 36 are slower.

The northern redwoods area is scenic, but also slowish. Gold Bluffs is a nice campground among dunes in Prairie Ck State Park. But that might be a bit far for the first day out of San Diego.

There are lots of coastal campgrounds in Oregon. Cape Blanco is quite nice.

If you are going to be in Anacortes for a while, you might skip the Washington coast on this trip.

 

[Darby Darrow]

Anybody have any favorite BLM or out of the way (read: we are having difficulty finding availability on the 4th of July weekend!) spots to recommend?

 

[washington taco]

Anacortes! I think you will be loving the PNW! You will need to check out the local overlanding site Northwest Overland Society. Why moving to WA? Work?

 

[Darby Darrow]

Anacortes! I think you will be loving the PNW! You will need to check out the local overlanding site Northwest Overland Society. Why moving to WA? Work?

Work? What's that? I just retired.

Of course now I am as busy as when I was working, but I am doing things I enjoy! My wife is from Vancouver Canada and wants to be closer to her mom, so we are moving north. Looking forward to it and I will definitely look up the NWOS when we get settled!

Thanks for the 411.