My 50 State Adventures
California Roadtrip
A 12 day road trip through California. Cities, parks, and the coast.
California is so large and has so many different areas to take your breath away. I have been to California 3 times. Twice with my kids, at which time we explored a little and visited family. The last time I visited was in 2023 while visiting Washington and Oregon.
When visiting family, we stayed in Ocean Side, which is located between San Diego and Los Angeles. We enjoyed local beaches, shopped and walked the boardwalk in Carlsbad, visited the San Diego Safari Park and went to Disney Land.
Our second trip out we started in San Francisco. Here we did a city bus tour, saw the Golden Gate Bridge, drove to Salinas and stayed with family. While in Salinas we went to Monterey, saw Pebble Beach and splashed in tidepools. After, we drove down to Oceanside to stay with family again. On this trip, US Hwy 1 was closed due to mudslides, so we didn't get the full experience of driving down the coast.
My last visit to California can be read in my Pacific Northwest blog post. This was the first time Matthew and I visited California together, and the only time for Matthew. We barely dipped into California but what we saw was so amazing as we drove and walked through the Redwoods National Forest. We also crossed back down into California to see the Lava Beds National Monument on the very northeast part of the state.
California has several national parks, and while that isn't the only objective of our vacations, I do want to see as many as I can. I planned a trip longer than our average vacations because I found it so difficult to cut anything out. I still have more destinations I hope to see at some point, but I packed a lot into this one.
This road trip will be a lot of driving and exploring the same day, but I believe we are up for it!
Day 1: Fly into LA, drive to Oceanside
Rent Car
Day 2: Visit San Diego and Carlsbad
La Jolla
Children's Pool
Coastal Walk Trail
Sunny Jim Cave
Balboa Park
Prado
Spreckels Organ Pavillion
Alcazar Garden
Spanish Village Art Center
Lily Pond and Botanical Garden
Old Town
Day 3: Drive to Joshua National Park
Cholla Cactus Garden
Arch Rock
Scull Rock
Barker Dam Trail
Keys View
Day 4: Drive to Death Valley National Park
Day 5: Drive to Sequoia National Park
Day 6: Visit Sequoia National Park
General Sherman Tree
Big Tree Trail
Moro Rock
Tokopah Falls
Crystal Cave
Day 7: Drive to Yosemite National Park
Day 8: Visit Yosemite National Park
El Capitan
Bridal Veil Falls
Cook Meadows Walk
Mirror Lake
Tunnel View
Glacier Point
Taft Point
Day 9: Drive to San Francisco
City Tour
Day 10: Drive to Monterey
Point Labos
Day 11: Visit Big Sur, Drive to Santa Barbara
Bixby Bridge
Pfeiffer Beach
Piedras Blanca
Hearst Castle
Morro Bay
Bishop Peak
Los Alamos
Day 12: Drive to LA, Fly Home
Stearns Warf
Channel Islands National Park