N. Calif - Chico to Coast... Where?

[dprvashon]

Hi... we are on our first long trip and want to go from Chico Calif to the coast and up 101 or over to Hwy 1. Where (what) is a good place to stop in route? We have done Napa and want to avoid the congestion but only want to drive a max if 4 hours. Is there somewhere around Santa Rosa or further north that is interesting and nice? How about Hwy 128 to 1? Is that a good road? Any insight would be appreciated.

thanks
Dave

[WaLee]

Drop down to Williams and take 20 over to either Ukiah or all the way to the coast. Start your coastal trip at Ft. Brag. If you head up From Ukiah there are plenty of places to see and do going North.
Alternatively get down to Santa Rosa and cut over to Bodega Bay. To avoid Napa take 20 over to Ukiah then head south. All those routes involve mountain driving though.
If you want the easy pull down to Santa Rosa head down 5 to 505 to 80 over to Vallejo cross the north bay on 36 then take Lakeville rd into Petaluma. You can get to Bodega from there. 1 takes you back into 101 at Leggett.


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[McDave]

Another option is to go north on 5 to Redding, and then west on 299 to Eureka. The way previously mentioned focuses more on the coast from Bodega-Ft Bragg, while this option focuses more on the coast from Eureka north. You may be aware that there is no road along the coast from a few miles north of Ft Bragg to just south of Eureka. This is called the Lost Coast, for that reason. It is accessible by roads in from 101, such as the road from 101 to Shelter Cove, which is a beautiful hideaway and well worth visiting, but it's strictly in and back. There are no accommodations to speak of from Redding to Eureka, but plenty of RV accommodations in both places, if you wanted to break the trip from Chico to Eureka into two days.