jbcarioca

I have made many of the drives mentioned in this thread and have enjoyed all of them. If one wishes to have a slightly more obscure scenic drive that brings images of the US fifty years ago I recommend southern Ohio along OH route 7 through Pomeroy, Tuppers Plains, Coolville, Belpre and across the Ohio river into Parkersburg West Virginia. Along the way pass along the numerous byways that adjoin the Ohio River and tributaries.

This drive shows Appalachia as it was generations ago, but with little of the coal mining disasters that befell so much of West Virginia.

I recommend this highly after one has made most of the other drives... not before.

dchristiva

I definitely vote for this, too.

Also, the Northway (I-87), particularly in the Lake George region.

tev9999

For anyone interested in west coast scenic drives, there is a thread over in Budget Travel (also referenced in Western forum) about Thrifty offering $1/day one-way rentals to relocate cars out west. Pick-up in SEA, PDX, or BOI - drop off many places in CA, NV, and AZ. Unlimited miles.

I just booked SEA-SFO for Halloween weekend. Adding tax to a four day rental ended up at $29 for a mid-size. Delta came through with a 25K open jaw award DTW-SEA, SFO-DTW.

How feasible is it to hit Mount St. Helens, Rainier, PDX, Tahoe and parts of the Pacific Coast Highway between SEA and SFO between 10:30 PM on Friday and 10:30 PM on Monday? Thinking Tahoe might be better saved for another trip.

MarqFlyer

Another vote for this route...on foot, if you're able. I ran the Big Sur Marathon in 2001, and the scenery really is amazing.

godlovesugly

How feasible? Depends on how much you want to sleep, and how much you want to see of these places.

Seattle -> PDX is ~3 hours, depending on traffic.
PDX -> SFO is ~12 hours, but there can be inclement weather issues depending on when you go.

Mt. St. Helens from the west (which is where you would be if you detoured on your way to PDX) has about a 1.5 hour road that leads to an observation point. It is far better to go to Mt. St. Helens from the east, but that'd be hard to manage for you I think. I might consider driving up the Columbia River Gorge a little (East from PDX) if you like scenic drives.

walter82

I did this trip last year.
Had one last meeting in Silicone Valley on a friday morning and knew it would finish about 10.00am. As you know fligths to Aust leave late at night from LA or SF. My booking was from LAX so i thought why not drive to LA and leave on the Sat night.
It was a great drive as it turned out I went all the way to Santa Barbara where I got a late check out and enjoyed some time shopping and eating.
I wondered why I had never done it before!
Fabulous drive.

Doc Savage

The Pacific Coast Highway from San Franciso to Santa Barbara is one of the best ever. Lots of great places to stop along the way like Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, Hearst Castle, San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach/Aguila Beach.

JT8D-217

Drive K177 through the Kansas Flint Hills and Tallgrass Prairie. Better yet, find a spot to pull over, turn the damn car off, get out, and feel the wind on your face. A pure Zen experience.

mlshanks

It is.....but it is also only closely parallels Highway 1 for well less than 50% of the route...and not at all for the most spectacular portion from Morro Bay to San Francisco.

mlshanks

While I agree that California's Highway 1 from Morro Bay to Monterey is pretty spectacular, I don't consider it California's most scenic highway.

That would be the drive from Yosemite Valley to Lee Vining through Yosemite National Park and over Tioga Pass on Highway 120.

Other great Western scenic highways:

Any of the *other* trans-Sierra highways between Highway 120 and Interstate 80....including Highway 108 (Jamestown to Bridgeport), Highway 104 (Angels Camp to Markleeville), Highway 88 (Jackson to Sorensons), or US 50 from Placerville to South Lake Tahoe).

Highway 1 NORTH of San Francisco is pretty amazing... From Stinson Beach all the way up to Fort Bragg.

US 101 from Humboldt Redwoods State Park in California all the way North to Astoria, Oregon is a pretty wonderful drive.

Colorado's North-South US 24 from Minturn to Buena Vista runs along the crest of the Rockies.

Southern Utah's Highway 12 from US 89 to Torey runs through amazing canyon lands and views of Capital Reef.

tev9999

I realize weather will play an important part of my routing decisions. I enjoy a good mountain drive, and I can sleep when I am not on vacation. I'm not planning on any schedule, other than to hit a casino or brewpub as they pop up. I'll stay on Eastern time, so I'll be up before the sun to maximize daylight exploring.

Looking at Google maps, an interesting route looks like

- East from SEA on WA-164 to WA-410
- South on 410 to the east of Mt. Rainier
- South on WA-123 to US-12
- South on Nat For Dev Rd 25 east of Mt. St. Helens
- East on I-84/US-30 along the gorge to PDX.

Google puts it at 230 miles and six hours. I do see 410 can close seasonally. It is open/safe in late October? Same for the rest of that route. Obviously I would not bother if it is raining or foggy. I figure I can spend a day getting from SEA to PDX via the mountain route, then two days on the coast down to SFO.

What parts (if any) of the PCH in OR and CA are not worth bothering with, where I-5 would be a better option to save some time?

Gardyloo

I'd skip the FS roads and most of those back ways; you'll be eating up too much time. An early start is fine; however it's not daylight until almost 8 AM, dark by 5:45 at the end of October, so there's not much point in driving around the mountains at 6 AM (9 Eastern) especially if it's foggy/rainy (which it almost certainly will be by then.)

My recommendation would be to pass on Mt. St. Helens this time - to get to the visitors center requires a 2 - 3 hour side trip from I-5 (and it opens at 10) which isn't really compatible with your route/time.

Instead, I'd depart Seattle early Saturday morning and head to Paradise Lodge on Mt. Rainier - I-5 through Tacoma to SR 7 to SR 706, allow 2 1/2 hours. By Halloween there may well be snow on the road up at Paradise; you'll need to decide if the conditions are okay. You can walk around the lodge for a while, maybe on some of the hiking trails if the weather allows, take some pictures.

Then continue east to US 12 and over White Pass down to Yakima. This has a double benefit - it avoids backtracking to I-5 to go to Portland (intensely boring) and puts you on the east side of the Cascades, where (a) it's likely to be dry and (b) the scenery is fabulous "old west" stuff, with the additional likelihood of good fall color on the east slope of the mountains.

At Yakima turn south on I-82 as far as US 97, then head south on US 97 through the Yakama reservation and over Satus Pass down to Goldendale. If the weather's okay you'll have amazing views of Mt. Adams along this road.

Just past Goldendale you'll hit the Columbia River near the Maryhill Art Museum (well worth a stop if there's time) - www.maryhillmuseum.org - and the nearby Stonehenge memorial.

Follow WA SR 14 west along the north bank of the river - that's Mt. Hood on the other side - to Hood River. Cross to the Oregon side at that point, and - if it's still daylight - continue along the "historic" Columbia Gorge highway - NOT THE FREEWAY - to Troutdale at the west end of the Columbia Gorge. If it's getting dark/dismal by the time you get to Hood River, stop there - you don't want to miss the Gorge in daylight.

If you make it to Troutdale, consider staying at the Edgefield or if you make it to Portland itself, consider McMenamin's other fun place, the Kennedy School.

Sunday, I'd recommend taking I-205 around Portland and connect to I-5 southbound. Follow I-5 for a couple of hours to the junction with SR 38 a little south of Cottage Grove (at the aptly named town of Drain, to be specific) and follow SR 38 out to the coast at Reedsport. SR 38 is by far the most scenic connection between I-5 and US 101 (you go through the lovely Umpqua river gorge near the mouth; also there will be a lot of elk on the south side of the road near the west end of the drive.) By roaring south on I-5 through the Willamette Valley you're missing much of the northern and central parts of the Oregon coast, but to include them would really chew into your time.

Continue south on US 101 until you start running out of daylight; Bandon is a cute place for an overnight, but if you can make it to Gold Beach or Brookings, so be it. Bandon to the California state line is IMO the most scenic portion of the Oregon coast; do it in daylight (even if the windshield wipers are running fast, a strong possibility.)

Monday just point the car south on 101 and get ready for the high point - the north coast Redwoods. Take your time between Crescent City and Eureka or Garberville - this is a completely unique environment, one you don't want to rush through. Take the "Avenue of the Giants" loop road, and be sure to stop and walk in one of the larger groves (I'd recommend the Founders Grove, but others' MMV.)

From Eureka on south, 101 becomes freeway for most of the way; it's roughly 5 hours from Eureka to the Golden Gate.

If by some chance you make it farther on Sunday, then you could divert from US 101 to SR 1 at Leggett, and take SR 1 all the way to SF. It's a glorious ride, but can be quite slow, especially if it gets foggy, not unusual at that time of year. I would not recommend driving SR 1 after dark, especially in weather. As it is, by using SR 1 instead of 101, the Eureka-to-SF time goes from 5 hours to 8 or more.

mjcewl1284

Vote 2 for the Blue Ridge Parkway ^

crabbing

when i first saw this thread, i thought about posting the flint hills, but strictly as a joke. when i lived in wichita but went to KU in lawrence, i was told i would get to see the flint hills on my drives, but i never actually saw them. i later learned that i did see them, but the problem is that the flint "hills" average about 1 meter in height. kansas eventually put up a sign, as otherwise many drivers would never know they are passing through "hills."

UA Fan

Any good drive in ND?