We're planning to do some camping in California in late November and I'm thinking about driving California Highway 1 between LA and San Francisco - possibly further north. We'll be towing our 24'TT.
I prefer to travel at a slower pace and enjoy the scenery rather than race along on the big highways. However, I was told by a couple who used to live in California that they would never pull their TT on that road because it is too narrow and winding.
They advised me to camp in a couple of the major state parks along the coast and take day trips along Highway 1 in order to see the scenery.
Are there sections of this highway that are just not suitable for pulling a TT?
Do a search for "Highway 1 California". Someone posted a few days ago about some pretty tight turns with an RV and did not recommend the road. Suggestions were to set up in a campground and drive the hwy in the toad.
We have driven that route, in our former 27' Pace Arrow M/H. The area between Eureka to Crescent City is very slow going, but very managable, and beautiful, all at the same time. Low clouds of fog blowing in off the ocean can slow you even more, but pay attention, and you'll be fine.
See ya out there!!
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toolman1 wrote: We have driven that route, in our former 27' Pace Arrow M/H. The area between Eureka to Crescent City is very slow going, but very managable, and beautiful, all at the same time. Low clouds of fog blowing in off the ocean can slow you even more, but pay attention, and you'll be fine.
The area between Eureka and Cresent City is highway 101.
No big deal between LA and San Simeon/Hearst Castle. Depending on where you start in LA the drive (with the exception of traffic) not a problem for your rig from Santa Monica to Oxnard.
From Oxnard north Hwy 1 and 101 are the same roadway to the city of San Luis Obispo. Again, no big deal for the route through SLO, Morro Bay, Cayucos, Cambria and up several miles past San Simeon. Once past Ragged Point the road does become tight.
Doable if you have the patience and nerves as large RVs have successfully completed the trip. All the serious accidents I've heard about in the past 35 years were smaller cars and motorcycles that were driven too fast for the conditions. As the driver unless you use a pullout for safety you won't see much scenery and going north your passenger will be in the inside. Southbound the passenger is on the cliff side and it is a looooong way down, but the view is great.
Depending on you timetable and camping likes, San Simeon State Park is at the south end and offers a good base camp for trips north in the tow vehicle. If you intend to go further north the drive back to Hwy 46 to cross over to 101 north is about 10 miles south. Not a bad back track. There are more state and private campgrounds in Morro Bay that offer full hook ups and such. Morro Dunes, Morro Strand (both private). Morro Bay State Park has 20 sites with water and electric hook ups and an onsite dump station.
Hope this helps and have a safe trip.
John and Elaine. Furry ones, Mia, Buddy, Barney and Miss Chevious (MissC for short).
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We did the trip last year going north to Santa Cruz. We have a 35' motorhome w/Saturn Vue toad. There were 2 sharp blind curves with where the road was skinny and you were against a cliff and the toad was close to hitting the side mirror. We used to have a 27' TT so my guess would be the a 24' TT would be easier than the motorhome, but you will have to be careful to not cut the corners on those curves.
For me the rest of the drive was fairly easy and I would certainly do it again. But, also I am used to driving in the mountains in New Mexico and Colorado, so it really depends a lot on the comfort level of the driver which is why you get such a wide variety of opinions on this drive. Driving in the LA traffic is much worse for me.
The only disadvantage was that there were a couple of places I would have stopped if driving a car that I couldn't with the motorhome because I saw them too late and there was no way to get back to it. Even so, we were able to stop and see the Elephant Seals, a lighthouse, and get other pictures along the way. We stayed at Morro Bay for a couple of nights so we weren't trying to do the whole trip at once either.
You should not have a problem. At times in the past I have heard of slides in foul weather which have closed sections of the road in the winter, but they should have the road marked if something like that has happened.
We have gone up and down the route on several trips, mainly summer time. LA to SF on PCH
DesertHawk - Las Cruces, NM USA
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We came down 1 from San Josie, tthru Big Sur, and such in a Tractor trailer truck. YES I know we weren't supposed to be on it. but the sign was after we got on, and there was no where to turn around. We hung the tractor off the cliff, while the trailer drug the mountian on the other side. NOT FUN. But real pretty.
We traveled from San Francisco going south and had a great trip. The advantage of doing it from north to south is that you are on the outside and the view is great. Also the pull-outs are on your side of the road so you do not have to cross the center line to pull in a look out area. The road is narrow and winding but in my opinion not a problem, pay attention, keep your speed resonable, pull over and let others pass, use common sense and enjoy a great ride.
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