Member Contributer ReadingVFR Posted April 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 2, 2015 I would like to pick up some local knowledge on the California Coastal Highway. We are riding out west 2-up in July and want to do a long loop starting in the southern section and ending up at the Redwood National Park. My question is what section makes the most sense for entering the highway in the southern section? Are their sections that should be bypassed due to congestion? We can approach at any location in the lower section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vguy Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 I would head north on the PCH (1) at Morro Bay or San Luis Obispo. South of SLO is on and off (1) and 101 and doesn't stay on the coast. Anything south of Malibu is not recommended during the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Doc4216 Posted April 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 2, 2015 I second the San Luis Obispo. North of that is just constant beauty. Im in Alameda (east bay SF) if you need anything while out here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Recalcitrance Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Freeway into San luis obispo. Overnight in SLO at Hampton Inn. Eat at margies diner which is in the parking lot. Head north 101 to the coast in the morning. Gas station across the street from Hampton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye Driver Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Concur with what they said above. If you happen to be in SoCal, I would add that you could spend a day in the Santa Monica mountains. Lots of twistie roads run between the PCH (from Malibu and Pt. Mugu) and the 101 (inland). Best during the week when there are fewer cyclists, motorcycles and exotic cars but it is worth checking the box and visiting the Rock Store (on Mulholland) on a Saturday morning...lots of eye candy...and I mean of the vehicular type. Oh, and Paul might snap your picture. http://www.rockstorephotos.com (Disclaimer - I'm not affiliated with Paul or his photo business but he is an awesome guy, always willing to chat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Redwood Park north of Eureka, way north of San Francisco, you might want to hit the coast north of San Fran, since in and around traffic is a mess. I have only ridden the coast north of there once, down from Portland OR. Awesome ride. But around San Fran was a lot of slow traffic. You might go there anyway for the Golden Gate Bridge and other stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 When riding the PCH, take your usual daily touring mileage on the flatlands and slash it in HALF. You won't make big distance, and that's fine. Just be aware. Twisty road, lots of tourist traffic, terrorists in murderhomes, etc. Plenty of small town with stop signs and low speed limits. BUT, the roads and the views are well worth it, I've ridden it twice and it's awesome. I only do it once on any given journey though, either North or South but not both in the same trip. Just my preference to take different routes is all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rectaltronics Posted April 3, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 3, 2015 When riding the PCH, take your usual daily touring mileage on the flatlands and slash it in HALF. LOL. So, so right. Reminds me of one of my first big road trips back in the eighties. I looked at the Blue Ridge Parkway / Skyline Drive on a map, figured "oh that should take a day or so." A day later I'm not even half way down that road!!! As for the PCH and environs, I've also had tons of fun on the roads from Woodside passing by Alice's, which is not quite as cool a stop as the Rock Store but still a good visit, and meandering back to the PCH and down to Santa Cruz, where there's lots of college age fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MaxSwell Posted April 3, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 3, 2015 This is great information. I'm planning a PCH ride after leaving SumSum3. Hope to start just north of LA and ride to Canada and Banff Park. It's the top item left on my bucket list. A leisurely pace is anticipated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Lorne Posted April 3, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 3, 2015 You may be riding in California in July but don’t count on warm, sunny days. In summertime, the marine layer along the coast means mid-60’s under thick clouds. Fog and drizzle are definitely possible, especially in the am. While just a few miles inland it can be clear and hot. Morro Bay is a good place to start, but if you start along the ocean at Santa Monica you’ll see the iconic lifeguard stations dotted along the beach. At Malibu you could divert inland up Latigo or Malibu canyon roads to Mulholland Highway for a stop at the Rock Store. Past Santa Barbara the route cuts inland once again, but stay on Hwy 1 through Lompoc en route to Morro Bay. From there to the Monterey Peninsula the PCH there is almost no 4-lane and the ride and the views are fantastic - visibility permitting. At Santa Cruz avoid Hwy 17 - stay on PCH all the way to Pacifica. This stretch isn’t as dramatic but is far preferable to US101. Alternatively, you could take SR9 & SR35 from Santa Cruz into the hills and to Alice’s. A short hop on I-280 gets you into San Francisco - stay on 19th all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Btw, it is worth stopping at either end of the GGB. Keep your eyes peeled for the exit back to PCH about 5 miles north of GGB. This leg to Stinson Beach can be busy and is definitely tight & twisty with a steep descent. The last really tight & twisty section of PCH starts about half an hour north of Fort Bragg. This 25 mile section may not have as many curves as the Tail of the Dragon back east, but it will demand your attention. Oh, keep an eye out for loaded logging trucks ;-P If it has been cool along the coast be prepared to stop at the junction with US101 to undress a bit. In July you may see the temperature to jump up 40℉ or more. Here the road becomes a multilane highway pretty much all the way to Crescent City. So, approaching the Humboldt Redwoods State Park take the alternate SR254. It parallels PCH/US101 but is much more relaxing. Some of my favourite spots along the way: Cambria: Creekside Inn, Lombardi’s: dinner Pacific Grove: Borg’s Motel, First Awakenings: b’fast/lunch, International Cuisine: dinner Big Sur: Ripplewood Resort :b’fast/lunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ecn Posted April 3, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 3, 2015 Big Sur to Carmel and San Francisco have heavy tourist traffic on weekends after 8 am. If you go through San Francisco during the week, you can avoid the worst of the traffic between 10am and 2pm. An alternate route through SF (vs 19th) would be 35 to great highway (i.e. stick to the coast), and stop by the Legion of Honor for great view of the GGB. North of SF near Gualala, there is a Bones Roadhouse which has a 14oz BBQ brisket that's deservedly famous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MadScientist Posted April 3, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 3, 2015 I would second everything Lorne has to say. I've had the pleasure of making that drive twice going south and once north and was stationed at Vandenberg AFB for a year. The weather in summer by the pacific is definitely unpredictable in terms of fog and precipitation. Some times it's there in the morning and burns off by afternoon, but it can just as easily be a sunny day that turns cloudy, cool, and wet. If you are into beer at all there are some great breweries near or on the route that I would recommend if you get the chance. Central Coast in SLO Firestone Walker just south of Paso Robles Anchor Brewing in San Francisco Russian RIver in Santa Rosa Lagunitas in Petaluma Lost Coast in Eureka Eel River Brewing in Ventura Every time I've made this drive, the amount of time I give myself continually grows and NEVER seems like long enough. I'd like to take 7-10 days to drive from San Francisco to Grant's Pass, OR. If this is a once in a lifetime trip, enjoy the motorcycle ride, but there is way more to see and do. Don't rush it. I would totally live on the central or north coast if it wasn't in California... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Yes, allow as much time as possible. There is a lot to see, and if you crash or break, the wait for help will likely be long. So, take it easy. I would totally live on the central or north coast if it wasn't in California... Mad, try Oregon or Washington, the Pacific Northwet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 This is great information. I'm planning a PCH ride after leaving SumSum3. Hope to start just north of LA and ride to Canada and Banff Park. It's the top item left on my bucket list. A leisurely pace is anticipated. Let me know when you're going to be in Banff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MaxSwell Posted April 4, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 4, 2015 This is great information. I'm planning a PCH ride after leaving SumSum3. Hope to start just north of LA and ride to Canada and Banff Park. It's the top item left on my bucket list. A leisurely pace is anticipated. Let me know when you're going to be in Banff. I would certainly love to hook up with the Calgaryians. I spent many vacations in the 60's and 70's in Banff area. It is a fabulous area. And I hope Olive and others, who's names I can't recall right now, would be available for a guided tour. I'm looking forward to it With Wild Anticipation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ReadingVFR Posted April 8, 2015 Author Member Contributer Share Posted April 8, 2015 Thank you so much to everyone for passing along this information as this will be our first trip to the coastal highway and we appreciate taking the time to share the local knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MaxSwell Posted April 8, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 8, 2015 Thank you so much to everyone for passing along this information as this will be our first trip to the coastal highway and we appreciate taking the time to share the local knowledge. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoOp Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 If you are going to be coming in to the LA area at all, the santa monica mountains are worth a little time. south of malibu the coast highway is just a freeway but the santa monica transverse range is among the great rides in the world, if you have a few hours to explore it shoot me a message and I can meet up with you (schedule depending, I travel a lot). North from here is a little bit of boring stuff but there are a few fun ways if you have time. divert through Ojai and up the 33 to the 166, that can take you into SLO where the coast road gets fun again. Thats a full day by the way, morning in LA, SLO for overnight. but its great, fun roads, neat places, lots of diverse conditions. and the next day if you get on it early, you can be in the redwoods south of SF early afternoon. We go that way to Laguna every year, its getting me excited just writing it haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Thumbs Posted August 7, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted August 7, 2015 I don't know if you've done your ride yet, also I'm not exactly a local however I've done the PCH both ways several times, border to border and I'm taking my best buddy on it next month ..... fires permitting IMHO you want to start on the North end and head south, the ocean is on your side of the road and you're away from most of the debris from any rock slides when you get south of Monterrey The beauty of having the ocean on your side is the stretch from Mendocino to San Francisco has next to no pull outs and those that there are usually have several large RVs in them, driven by people who don't have a clue ... on a motorcycle there's just enough room to get off the highway and take pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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