After a week in Portland (and a two-week Alaska cruise before that), we started driving south toward Sacramento. We took a couple of days for it, with one-night hotel stays on the way, and it turned out to be one of the best parts of the whole trip: quiet walks through towering redwoods and empty beaches along the coast.
The drive
Our drive south took us through the Redwood National and State Parks area and then the stretch farther south: Humboldt Redwoods State Park, where we drove the Avenue of the Giants and walked through Founders Grove, and Highway 1 along the Mendocino coast, which we drove just for the ocean views. Along the way we stopped at Seaside Beach, Laguna Point and Glass Beach in Fort Bragg.
It was mid-September, so I think we just missed peak tourist season. We booked hotels as we went: one night at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Eureka ($282) and one at the Wyndham Garden Redwood Valley/Ukiah ($147) before reaching Sacramento. Pack layers; it gets really chilly in the evenings this time of year.
Highway 1 and the Lost Coast are two different drives. We took Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, down the Mendocino coast. The "Lost Coast" is a remote, much wilder stretch of Humboldt County reached by narrow roads off US 101, The last bullet below has the basics.
Know before you go
Redwood National and State Parks
- Redwood National and State Parks charges no entrance fee. Day-use fees apply only at a few spots, including Jedediah Smith, Gold Bluffs Beach/Fern Canyon and Elk Prairie (NPS 2026 visitor guide).
- Driving to Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon between May 15 and September 15 requires an advance reservation on top of the $12 day-use fee (GuideAlong). Check before you go, since we visited right around the end of that window.
- Two scenic drives worth the detour: Howland Hill Road, 10 miles through old growth with a half-mile walk in Stout Grove, and the 10-mile Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. Motorhomes and trailers are barred from Howland Hill's gravel section (NPS).
Humboldt Redwoods and the Avenue of the Giants
- The Avenue of the Giants is a 31-mile scenic road running parallel to US 101 through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and driving it is free (Travel Awaits). Just off it, the flat, accessible Founders Grove loop is about half a mile and passes the Dyerville Giant, a 362-foot redwood that fell in 1991 (Visit Redwoods).
Highway 1 on the Mendocino coast
- Glass Beach is at the south end of MacKerricher State Park in Fort Bragg. All of it is protected, so look but don't take any sea glass home (California State Parks). In the same park, an accessible boardwalk at Laguna Point overlooks harbor seals and, from December to April, migrating whales (Lonely Planet).
- Seaside Beach, a sandy beach about 10 miles north of Fort Bragg, is another easy Highway 1 stop (Mendocino Land Trust).
If you want the Lost Coast instead
- The Lost Coast runs about 75 miles with only two paved roads reaching the ocean: the 23-mile road to Shelter Cove from Redway near US 101, and the route through Petrolia to Mattole Beach (American Southwest). Mattole Road is scenic but narrow and sometimes harrowing, so allow extra time (AAA Via).
Details were checked in October 2026. Fees and reservation rules change, so confirm before you go.
Next stop: Sacramento
From the coast we cut inland to Sacramento, a stop we'd never planned: Hyatt Globalist on the West Coast. The whole trip's costs are in Portland to LA on Points.