West Coast Trip

starky987

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip along the west coast this July. We are beginning to plan it now so I thought I'd try to find out where some of the best places for photos are. We will be traveling the entire west coast from san diego to seattle in the very beginning of July. If you know of any places that are worth stopping at please let us know because we have never been any farther west that the rockies so we don't really know what to check out.

ian408

What kinds of stuff do you want to see?

I'd recommend the coastal areas of California, Oregon and Washington.
The Eastern Sierra (Mono Lake, Mammoth Lake, Bishop area) or perhaps
the White Mountains (Bristlecone Pines).

Give us some hints and we'll hook you up.

quark

I recommend Crater Lake and the waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge (east of Portland).

starky987

Put simply, I love anything having to do with nature. I know that's a broad range of things but I love them all. I'd like to avoid the big cities if possible. Our trip will have us staying as close to the coast as possible.
Thanks

tsk1979

Take the pacific highway.
See big Sur(check out journeys section)
See SFO
Bodega Bay and then go via Mount shasta.

darkdragon

tsk1979 wrote:

Take the pacific highway.
See big Sur(check out journeys section)
See SFO
Bodega Bay and then go via Mount shasta.

The Pacific Coast Highway (HWY 1) will take you from S.California and into Oregon, that's as far as I've been. Dury July you can easily camp right on the beach! Don't eat too many wild rasberrys though, I did and yeah ... after that the motorcycle ride was a bit uncomfortable.

Anyways, the point is that PCH is a great way to visit the west and stay out of big cities. Be very careful in the San Jose area as it is easy to get lost, bring a good map and GPS if you can. Bring a tent and some sleeping bags. Camping out on the beach is just great - especially if you have photo gear with you (but keep it safe from the sand).

tsk1979

darkdragon wrote:

The Pacific Coast Highway (HWY 1) will take you from S.California and into Oregon, that's as far as I've been. Dury July you can easily camp right on the beach! Don't eat too many wild rasberrys though, I did and yeah ... after that the motorcycle ride was a bit uncomfortable.

Anyways, the point is that PCH is a great way to visit the west and stay out of big cities. Be very careful in the San Jose area as it is easy to get lost, bring a good map and GPS if you can. Bring a tent and some sleeping bags. Camping out on the beach is just great - especially if you have photo gear with you (but keep it safe from the sand).

while coming back from Big Sur we stopped for a little while at carmel beach. There was a patrol car checking for people still on beach. I guess, at many beaches its not allowed to stay overnight?
Also is camping at night "safe" at places other than state parks?

claudermilk

While Hwy 1 is great from the central coast & north--particularly the Big Sur area which is the most well-known area, I would avoid it in a lot of SoCal. Down by Laguna Beach through Seal Beach is fine, but north of there it basically goes through the middle of Long Beach & really isn't a very nice drive (rough section of town & crummy traffic). I prefer to just take the 405 or 5 up to the 101, then follow it until the 1 splits off further north.

starky987

thanks everybody, keep the advice coming!!

darkdragon

tsk1979 wrote:

while coming back from Big Sur we stopped for a little while at carmel beach. There was a patrol car checking for people still on beach. I guess, at many beaches its not allowed to stay overnight?
Also is camping at night "safe" at places other than state parks?

We didn't start camping on the beach until we were north of San Jose (I think, hard to remember as this was in 1997). The beach will have info posted as to whether camping is allowed or not. If camping is not allowed, of course you'll need to stay in a hotel or a campsite. When I was traveling PCH I noticed that where camping wasn't allowed at the beach (if we were not in a city) there was a campground somewhere very close.

zacker

Ill be in Washington this summer and will only be there a week but im gonna try and hit each of these..

http://www.forkswa.com:80/5day/crescent.html

Dee

Summer = cold and foggy
Be prepared for cold, damp, summer fog once you hit Santa Cruz and go north. You could luck out and hit nice weather, but usually near the coast we're under a blanket of fog -- which is nice if you don't like heat.

It cools down at night too -- unlike back east where the heat lasts into the night. Natives keep sweat shirts and windbreakers in their car :-)

Also, camping is very popular, please do some research to make sure you won't have to reserve places ahead of time. There are also several lighthouse hostels that are very reasonable and a lot of fun to stay at. Pigeon Point and Point Montara have hostels. Also I believe there is one near Point Arena.

There are also some fantastic cabins you can stay in just past San Francisco, but they require reservations too. This site is great for local news, "Eye on the Bay." Here in the video is a segment on camping cabins overlooking the ocean. http://cbs5.com/eyeonthebay/eotb.camping.out.2.637919.html

There's loads of information on the internet... and if you know where you want to go, visit Flickr or Smugmug and search for the area you are interested to find photos.

Mendocino is another favorite place of mine, a piece of back east with lovely flowers in the yards of the houses. A little touristy, but the surroundings are very scenic.

Point Reyes is not to be missed, hiking trails, a wild elk herd, etc. In Marshall, CA is my favorite casual restaurant serving fresh oysters in season.

In Oregon, Canon Beach is one of my favorites.

I'm not sure how much time you have, but there is just so much to see and do.

zoeblue

starky987 wrote:

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip along the west coast this July. We are beginning to plan it now so I thought I'd try to find out where some of the best places for photos are. We will be traveling the entire west coast from san diego to seattle in the very beginning of July. If you know of any places that are worth stopping at please let us know because we have never been any farther west that the rockies so we don't really know what to check out.

Point Lobos State Reserve is a cool place to visit. It's just a couple of miles south of Carmel. You can see some of the photos I took there at my gallery in Monterey. Here's the link: http://zoeblue.smugmug.com/gallery/4126696_u99ce#240778555

a110p0

Lots of places to visit
There are so many places to visit on the west coast.

Here's a list of places I can think of off the top of my head
(some mentioned in previous posts) in California and some
of Oregon.

California:
Torrey Pines State Park (near San Diego)
Santa Ynez Valley, wine region
Morro Rock, Morro Bay
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, McWay Falls
Garrapata State Park
Point Lobos State Park
Big Basin State Park - Berry Creek Falls (8mi hike)
Pinnacles National Monument
Golden Gate National Recreation Area (Marin Headlands)
Muir Woods National Monument (redwoods)
Mount Tamalpais State Park
Napa Valley and Sonoma (wine region)
Point Reyes National Seashore
Mendocino
Salt Point State Park
Redwood National Park
Humboldt Redwood State Park (Avenue of the Giants)
Patricks Point State Park

Inland California:
Sequoia - Kings Canyon National Park
Yosemite
Mount Shasta
McArthur-Burney Falls
Hwy 395 - Owens Valley
Bodie - Ghost Town
Lake Tahoe
Gold Country
Lassen National Park
Lava Beds National Monument

Oregon:
Oregon Caves National Monument
Bandon Beach
Crater Lake National Park
Toketee Falls
Silver Falls State Park
Historic Columbia River Hwy (Multnomah Falls)
Haceta Head Lighthouse
Cannon Beach

Have a great trip.

Alvin

tamplum

There is also a few cave systems about hour in once you get to oregon, rogue river jet boats (take the longer trip if you can)
redwoods up northern ca
olympia natl park almost to canada (washington) beautiful rainforest up there, plenty trails to follow
indian reservation by olympia too

starky987

to everyone who has replied, thanks so much. sounds like there's too much for me to do while on my trip. Looking forward to July!

Pittspilot

starky987 wrote:

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip along the west coast this July. We are beginning to plan it now so I thought I'd try to find out where some of the best places for photos are. We will be traveling the entire west coast from san diego to seattle in the very beginning of July. If you know of any places that are worth stopping at please let us know because we have never been any farther west that the rockies so we don't really know what to check out.

Take a (short) detour to Morrow bay.

Pacific Grove / Monterey are delightful (if a little twee)

Marin Headlands and Muir Woods.

Point Reyes

Point Arena

If you want the grandaddy detour, Yosemite and the Eastern sierras with Mono Lake, Body and other ghost towns.

I'm in the SF bay area, if you have specific Qs, PM me.

Cheers

claudermilk

starky987 wrote:

to everyone who has replied, thanks so much. sounds like there's too much for me to do while on my trip. Looking forward to July!

That's the truth! I've lived here my whole life & still haven't hit all the locations I want to.