Seattle to San Fran road Trip

Redwoods NP is a must. Could spend two days there if you wanted to. Hike Fern Canyon, see the Elk, walk on the beach there.

Go to Trinidad and see the lighthouse and get an icecream or coffee.

Eureka/Arcata for lunch at a brewery.

If you like seeing terrain in the car make a loop on 299 to Weaverville and then back on 36. Just be careful in the Trinity Mtns.

Also pick a ocean/fishing town in Oregon. Bandon and Newport are nice.

My wife and I have driven the entire coast and one place I’d recommend to everyone is Mendocino. It’s a beautiful coastal town north of SF. There are some fantastic restaurants there and cool little shops. Driving through the redwoods and Avenue of the Giants is a must also in Northern California.

TL/DR.
IMO 12 days is short for a Seattle to SF trip.


I am putting together a similar trip for the SO and myself in late Sept/Oct. We have 3 weeks so we have a little more flexibility. We like the outdoors and hiking so we are going to visit some the National and state parks.

We are flying out of IAH direct to SeaTac and driving up to Burlington WA. We'll take the ferry to the San Juan Islands then ferry/drive to Olympic NP. Then on to Mt. Rainier NP, Bend OR, Crater Lake NP, Redwood NP and Lassen Volcanic NP. We will fly out of Sacramento since United has a nonstop back to IAH.

We are mostly staying in Vrbo's and Airbnb's as we like the conveniences of a kitchen, washer/dryer, and privacy.

IMO, Seattle to the Bay Area is a long haul for just 12 days with so many things to see in that area. Think about it: Seattle to SF is almost as far as BR to Chicago...

You could just hit Olympic, Mt Rainier, Bend OR and some of the nicer state parks in WA and OR and that's your 12 days easy..Fly back out of Portland OR.