With 4 friends, 2 tents, and 1 doggo, odds were in our favor for a fun adventure up the northern coast of California. Our trip began with one night in the quintessential surf town, Santa Cruz. The next day we picked up our van from Lost Campers right outside San Francisco and made our way to Highway 1.

Note: When picking a van to rent it can be a huge pain. Lost campers is a budget friendly option that provides all the basic camping equipment and unlimited miles. Everything was perfect and I couldn’t recommend them enough.

    • If you’ve never seen the coastline of California, I highly recommend driving the 1. It may take longer, but you’ll be peaking out your window at every turn. There are a few cute towns along the way to stop and have fresh seafood or pull over to take scenic photos. You really can’t go wrong choosing your adventure.

    While there are some amazing places to stay and campgrounds to reserve, we chose to find dispersed camping in national forests. It can be tricky along the coast, but using the app Ioverlander is extremely helpful for navigating. I’ve included the coordinates of where we stayed below.

    • Our Trip

    Starting in Point Reyes, we made our way up to Bodega Bay, through Jenner, and stopped for a quick leg stretch at Russian Gulch State Beach. The beaches along the coast are breathtaking and worth enjoying with a picnic and some vino!

    After some fresh air, we hopped back into the car and drove up to Point Arena. Our first night was spent on the water’s edge. This was easily my favorite spot of the trip. Keep in mind the location is on the coast and can get cold & wet at night, but the sunset views are truly special. Spend the morning drinking coffee and looking for all the seals waving hi.

    Coffee & breakfast in the belly, we headed to Mendocino to check out the seaside town. There are restaurants and cafes on every corner, and the old victorian homes are worth the stop. As a result of a few mishaps, including me pushing our van out of some rocks, we found ourselves in Garberville for a very random, but incredible find. Our home for the night was along the Eel river surrounded by mountains.

    • Dispersed camping may take some effort and a little patience, but it never seems to disappoint. In the morning, we took a quick swim in the river and then headed to the Avenue of Giants. Bri and I drove up to the little town of Trinidad for the day and hiked down to College Cove Beach. You could easily spend a few days in Trinidad as it’s charming with a coastline of turquoise blue waters and large, jagged rocks. From here, we took a quick jaunt up to explore Redwood National Park, and then met up with our friends just outside Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

    • The following day was spent hanging out and relaxing at Trinity Lake. A much needed day of rest after a bit of driving. Finally, we finished the trip in Sonoma for some wine tasting and then headed back to Santa Cruz.

    When it comes to exploring, it’s safe to say, California has something for everyone.

    ROADTRIP ITINERARY

    DAY 1

    San Francisco to Point Reyes, Bodega Bay, and Jenner

    Stop at Russian Gulch State Beach

    Camping: Point Arena

    DAY 2

    Drive through Mendocino

    Head to Garberville

    Swimming spot and campsite: (40.1792358, -123.7813761)

    DAY 3

    Avenue Of Giants

    Head to Trinidad & College Cove Beach

    Redwood National Park

    Campsite just outside Shasta-Trinity: (40.84379, -123.48727)

    DAY 4

    Spend the day at Trinity Lake

    Campsite: Alpine View Campground (40.8859181, -122.7667005)

    Day 5

    Head back to Santa Cruz

    Stop in Sonoma for wine tasting

    For more camping itineraries head here: https://kelseymarie.co/epic-5-day-road-trip-in-the-sw-of-america/