California Trip... HELP NEEDED!!

[Wcdhtwn]

Hello TRF, particularly those of you in CA. Our spring break is the week of 3/11 and we have planned a trip to CA, leaving on the 8th, and returning on the 16th, flying into and out of San Jose.

We initially planned to spend the 8th - 11th in Sequoia National Forest, we have reservations at the Wuksachi Lodge and it looks terrific. However reality of the recent, and seemingly endless, snow there has us concerned about being able to get there. I understand 4x4 is strongly recommended and tire chains may be required, they are required right now. My rental car company won't guarantee that we can get a 4x4 or AWD. And even if we can get there with 10+ feet of snow on the ground we risk being snowed in, or very limited in activity once there. So we are now looking for alternate plans for the week, especially the days we were planning to spend in Sequoia National Park.

We are looking for an outdoorsy type of vacation, hiking, staying in hotels, but they don't need to be fancy. So I am looking for some recommendations and some insight as to the condition of areas out there. We are looking at the Big Sur area but are seeing reports of much of it is closed from all the rain and mudslides, is this accurate? We are also looking at Garrapata State Park and Point Lobos Reserve. Are those good areas, especially given the rainy conditions, to consider spending a few days hiking and taking in the views? My kids are 9 & 11.

We will spend time in Carmel and at least 2 nights in San Fran, so that's on the plan. If anyone could recommend good places to hike and be outside, weather permitting of course, that would be very appreciated. And what are the museums, animal sanctuaries, other sites, that are worthwhile visiting in the area. I think Santa Barbara is a far south as we'd drive, and maybe that's farther than really makes sense. We are pretty open to ideas at this point, so if there are places around San Fran, even north that are good options, given the weather, some suggestions would be great! We'd like to see some Redwoods while there, if possible, but not required.

I guess finally, if anyone has different information than what I'm hearing about Sequoia National Park that would be great to know... it would be far easier to stick with the current plan.

Thanks in advance for any insight as to how we should/ could spend our week.

[Fabrice M]

My best advice: forget California, come to Colorado : ) we have great National Parks, first class skiing and more sunshine than CA. Denver has a great foodie scene, it’s as big as San Francisco, and 1/2 an hour from Boulder.

[Wcdhtwn]

Originally Posted by Fabrice M

My best advice: forget California, come to Colorado : ) we have great National Parks, first class skiing and more sunshine than CA. Denver has a great foodie scene, it’s as big as San Francisco, and 1/2 an hour from Boulder.

CO is great, no doubt. But CA is the plan and my kids want to see the ocean. Granted it won't be like our trip to the Caribbean or Mexico.

[Dr. Robert]

Forget Santa Barbara, go to San Luis Obispo, you have Pismo Beach, Morro Bay.
It is a beautiful & mellow place.

[JasoninDenver]

We like the area north of San Fran. Bodega Bay gets the beach fix and there are some nice Redwoods in the ARMSTRONG STATE Park. We base out of Healdsburg.

We did Carmel a few years ago and it was nice, but crowded as hell. The kis would love the Monterey Aquarium. Julia pfeiffer Redwoods Park is nice but, again, crowded.

[Wcdhtwn]

Originally Posted by JasoninDenver

We like the area north of San Fran. Bodega Bay gets the beach fix and there are some nice Redwoods in the ARMSTRONG STATE Park. We base out of Healdsburg.

We did Carmel a few years ago and it was nice, but crowded as hell. The kis would love the Monterey Aquarium. Julia pfeiffer Redwoods Park is nice but, again, crowded.

That looks great too. Close to beach and Redwoods is a big plus. We've read good things about the Monterey Aquarium. Carmel being crowded isn't a surprise, never been and would love to see it. If we can get there during a weekday that might help miss some of the crowds. Thank you for the info!

[Wcdhtwn]

Originally Posted by Dr. Robert

Forget Santa Barbara, go to San Luis Obispo, you have Pismo Beach, Morro Bay.
It is a beautiful & mellow place.

Thank you! We've been scanning over that area but haven't looked closely. Will check it out.

[Wesley Crusher]

Originally Posted by Dr. Robert

Forget Santa Barbara, go to San Luis Obispo, you have Pismo Beach, Morro Bay.
It is a beautiful & mellow place.

Zip it, doc! Don’t be talking crap about Santa Barbara.

[Fabrice M]

I was just joking... I lived in Los Angeles and SF most of my life... 30 years.
Big Sur is great, I think one of the greatest scenery I have ever seen, and I have literally traveled the world, if you can do it, especially if you can go all the way to S.B, it’s truly a one in a lifetime trip, and plenty of great places to hike along the way...I must have done it at least well over a dozen time an never get tired of it...Sequoia is beautiful as well, but not recommended in Winter, it will be extremely cold... Next to SF,You should go to Muir Woods National park, it is an hour away from SF and worth the trip, Tiburon is nice as well. Good luck.

[sparksgmt]

Yosemite and Big Sur. Yosemite needs no introduction, but Big Sur is incredible. We lucked out last summer and camped at spot 22 in Kirk Creek campground and wow. Hwy 1 was closed from the north adding about 1.5 hours to the drive, each direction, but it was totally worth it. We where so impressed with Big Sur that seeing it alone would have made the trip for us. But I'm a Houston dweller also (sat across from your wife at dinner during the GTG) so it doesn't take much nature to impress me, but northern California has been my favorite.

[bayerische]

You'll be spending the better part of a day driving between Carmel and Santa Barbara.

[Danny83]

Check out Napa Valley about 90 mins away from SJC.

[offrdmania]

Come on out to wine country. I am near San Luis Obispo and this area is paradise! There is so much to do.

You can come down from Carmel on Hwy 1 and stay in all of the coastal towns.

Start in Big Sur, then Slates Hot springs, on to Ragged Point, San Simeon, Cambria and Hearst Castle, Harmony Glass Works, Cayucus beach and pier, Morro Bay where hopefully the clipper ships are in port, Pismo Beach dunes and then down to Santa Barbera.

[Dr. Robert]

Originally Posted by offrdmania

Come on out to wine country. I am near San Luis Obispo and this area is paradise! There is so much to do.

You can come down from Carmel on Hwy 1 and stay in all of the coastal towns.

Start in Big Sur, then Slates Hot springs, on to Ragged Point, San Simeon, Cambria and Hearst Castle, Harmony Glass Works, Cayucus beach and pier, Morro Bay where hopefully the clipper ships are in port, Pismo Beach dunes and then down to Santa Barbera.

IMHO, this is the best drive! Just make sure Highway 1 is open!

[iceman310]

Originally Posted by offrdmania

You can come down from Carmel on Hwy 1 and stay in all of the coastal towns.

We did this drive some years ago and it was fantastic. Highly recommended!

[codecow]

If you want outdoors + hiking:

Pinnacles National Park which is I believe near Hollister which is kind of between San Jose and Monterey a bit.

Monterey/Carmel/Pebble Beach/17 mi drive has a bunch of beach hiking and what not. I recommend staying at the Intercontinental on Cannery Row it's a decent hotel and they have an ok restaurant and good bar. It's right next door to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which also has a bar.

Sequoia has big redwoods but snow will likely be a problem. Most of the places in the sierra IIRC have a 1 week cancellation, my friend just got bit with one from Yosemite when they cancelled at 6 days to go to the England/Wales game instead. The suggestions to use Yosemite as a substitute are also questionable IMO. The valley currently has a lot of snow even though it's only at ~4k' and if it rains or snows a lot the valley road leading in which I think is 140 can get closed, then you're back to the bad chain situation or snowed in completely.

If you go north past the Golden Gate there is Point Reyes National Seashore it might even be a national park I don't remember. If you go up there and you like oysters I'd stop at Saltwater in Inverness. I just went up there 2 weeks ago just to get oysters (1.5hr drive each way). North of the GG bridge there is also Mt. Tamalpias.

East bay you have Mt. Diablo, they have hiking but it's not as green or nice. Same thing with Mt. Hamilton which overlooks San Jose. There is an observatory at the top but all I have ever done is buy M&Ms from a vending machine because I was on a bike ride to get to it (18mi up and 18mi down).

There are various parks off Skyline Drive all along the ridge in the Santa Cruz mountains. Could do Saratoga + Mountain Winery + Castle Rock State Park as a day trip. Breakfast for that in Los Gatos.

As someone mentioned above, Healdsberg is great. Entire wine country is great including Napa but maybe not the best with kids. Drunk adults you're good to go. Great food as well.

Inside SF I would recommend (outside of normal tourist stuff):

Legion of Honor museum, should be free or nearly free if you're Bank of America customer - lots of parking, good views of GG bridge
Waterbar restaurant (more oysters) - they have valet parking
Hog Island Oyster Co in Ferry Building on Market St/Embarcadero (more oysters) - no parking, there is a lot across the street off Embarcadero
Aquatic park - Irish coffee at Buena Vista (it will be crowded, take kids to one of the ice cream shops or whatever first to placate) - park in fisherman's wharf parking structure and walk
SF Zoo - The main food vendor in the middle has beer, it's close to beach

Outside of SF:

UC Berkeley (campanille, Telegraph ave) + Golden Gate Fields horse race track, kids love it + Get pizza at Zachary's in Rockridge (Oakland neighborhood) close to Berkeley
Stanford - If you have time go to the Cantor museum there, it's free and has good stuff; food wise maybe go to Stanford Shopping Center after and find a place

Big trees:

If you're dead set on big redwoods, you can get them by driving north on Highway 101 and then over to 1. Eventually you slam right into them on the north coast. They're not quite as thick as the biggest ones in Sequoia but they have good ones that are huge there.

I'd recommend staying in Arcata, I go to Holiday Inn Express.

For food up there I'd recommend having dinner at Larrupin Cafe in Trinidad.

Slightly smaller but still big redwoods exist in the Santa Cruz mountains near SF. Good places to see and smell are around Pescadero or any of the parks off Skyline Drive like Purisima Creek Redwoods, etc... For that if you wanted to stay I'd recommend Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay but beware it's one of more expensive hotels in country however it's quite good. Sunday brunch is excellent there. They also have Pappy Van Winkle at the bar for $125/shot. In Half Moon Bay I'd recommend Pasta Moon and Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. Avoid Sam's Chowder House, too many people and not good enough. Best dish at HMBBC is crab cheese bread IMO.

Ah I left out a couple, it's too early for baseball I think but maybe not if not you should definitely go to AT&T park and catch a Giants game. Food is decent all around the park, but with kids I'd go to Lucky Strike across the street from the park.

San Jose Sharks hockey if they're playing is also recommended. I'd eat at the nice restaurant at the stadium, if that's not available and you want to not eat from the internal vendors there is a Mexican place across the street on the north side of the stadium.

[Wcdhtwn]

Originally Posted by codecow

If you want outdoors + hiking:

Pinnacles National Park which is I believe near Hollister which is kind of between San Jose and Monterey a bit.

Monterey/Carmel/Pebble Beach/17 mi drive has a bunch of beach hiking and what not. I recommend staying at the Intercontinental on Cannery Row it's a decent hotel and they have an ok restaurant and good bar. It's right next door to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which also has a bar.

Sequoia has big redwoods but snow will likely be a problem. Most of the places in the sierra IIRC have a 1 week cancellation, my friend just got bit with one from Yosemite when they cancelled at 6 days to go to the England/Wales game instead. The suggestions to use Yosemite as a substitute are also questionable IMO. The valley currently has a lot of snow even though it's only at ~4k' and if it rains or snows a lot the valley road leading in which I think is 140 can get closed, then you're back to the bad chain situation or snowed in completely.

If you go north past the Golden Gate there is Point Reyes National Seashore it might even be a national park I don't remember. If you go up there and you like oysters I'd stop at Saltwater in Inverness. I just went up there 2 weeks ago just to get oysters (1.5hr drive each way). North of the GG bridge there is also Mt. Tamalpias.

East bay you have Mt. Diablo, they have hiking but it's not as green or nice. Same thing with Mt. Hamilton which overlooks San Jose. There is an observatory at the top but all I have ever done is buy M&Ms from a vending machine because I was on a bike ride to get to it (18mi up and 18mi down).

There are various parks off Skyline Drive all along the ridge in the Santa Cruz mountains. Could do Saratoga + Mountain Winery + Castle Rock State Park as a day trip. Breakfast for that in Los Gatos.

As someone mentioned above, Healdsberg is great. Entire wine country is great including Napa but maybe not the best with kids. Drunk adults you're good to go. Great food as well.

Inside SF I would recommend (outside of normal tourist stuff):

Legion of Honor museum, should be free or nearly free if you're Bank of America customer - lots of parking, good views of GG bridge
Waterbar restaurant (more oysters) - they have valet parking
Hog Island Oyster Co in Ferry Building on Market St/Embarcadero (more oysters) - no parking, there is a lot across the street off Embarcadero
Aquatic park - Irish coffee at Buena Vista (it will be crowded, take kids to one of the ice cream shops or whatever first to placate) - park in fisherman's wharf parking structure and walk
SF Zoo - The main food vendor in the middle has beer, it's close to beach

Outside of SF:

UC Berkeley (campanille, Telegraph ave) + Golden Gate Fields horse race track, kids love it + Get pizza at Zachary's in Rockridge (Oakland neighborhood) close to Berkeley
Stanford - If you have time go to the Cantor museum there, it's free and has good stuff; food wise maybe go to Stanford Shopping Center after and find a place

Big trees:

If you're dead set on big redwoods, you can get them by driving north on Highway 101 and then over to 1. Eventually you slam right into them on the north coast. They're not quite as thick as the biggest ones in Sequoia but they have good ones that are huge there.

I'd recommend staying in Arcata, I go to Holiday Inn Express.

For food up there I'd recommend having dinner at Larrupin Cafe in Trinidad.

Slightly smaller but still big redwoods exist in the Santa Cruz mountains near SF. Good places to see and smell are around Pescadero or any of the parks off Skyline Drive like Purisima Creek Redwoods, etc... For that if you wanted to stay I'd recommend Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay but beware it's one of more expensive hotels in country however it's quite good. Sunday brunch is excellent there. They also have Pappy Van Winkle at the bar for $125/shot. In Half Moon Bay I'd recommend Pasta Moon and Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. Avoid Sam's Chowder House, too many people and not good enough. Best dish at HMBBC is crab cheese bread IMO.

Ah I left out a couple, it's too early for baseball I think but maybe not if not you should definitely go to AT&T park and catch a Giants game. Food is decent all around the park, but with kids I'd go to Lucky Strike across the street from the park.

San Jose Sharks hockey if they're playing is also recommended. I'd eat at the nice restaurant at the stadium, if that's not available and you want to not eat from the internal vendors there is a Mexican place across the street on the north side of the stadium.

Wow! Thank you! That's awesome info and detail. Will definitely use this to replan our trip. I can't thank you enough for your response, this is why TRF is a great place!

[codecow]

Originally Posted by Wcdhtwn

Wow! Thank you! That's awesome info and detail. Will definitely use this to replan our trip. I can't thank you enough for your response, this is why TRF is a great place!

No problem. I almost asked my wife who is the real expert. If you PM me with details on what you’re after once you poke around a bit I can send you back her ideas. She might have more info on tricks involving Sequoia/Kings Canyon and she definitely knows the north coast area very well.

[dba]

For this trip, I'd suggest staying away from the mountains. February and March are big snow months.

From San Jose, just get across the Golden Gate and visit Muir Woods in Mill Valley. Lots of redwoods there. Up the coast you go on Hwy 1 for your ocean visit.

Have a great time.

[warrior]

Lands End in San Francisco. Good hiking and great views of the bridge. Hidden gem.

https://www.parksconservancy.org/parks/lands-end

[Wcdhtwn]

Originally Posted by warrior

Lands End in San Francisco. Good hiking and great views of the bridge. Hidden gem.

https://www.parksconservancy.org/parks/lands-end

Sounds excellent! We will be sure to get there.

Thank you!

[oldman2005]

So much to do in California for outdoor activities. I'd drive from along pacific highway 1 from northern california to southern california.