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California Trip Ideas

For kids: Northern California doesn't have the number of theme parks SoCal does, but there are a couple of decent ones. Great America in Santa Clara (next to Levi's Stadium) is the big park. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo used to be Marine World Africa-USA. They dialed back on the animal theme and went with roller coasters instead. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is more low-key than the other two, but the rides are right on the waterfront.

There is also the Charles M. Schulz Museum, in Santa Rosa (the hub of the Sonoma Wine country). Schulz lived in Santa Rosa for decades before his death. The museum is fun for anyone who has ever been a fan of Snoopy. The complex also includes an ice rink and separate gift shop.

https://schulzmuseum.org/
 
My kids really enjoyed the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena and the Mt. Wilson Observatory. The Caltech campus is beautiful and interesting. They will give tours. You might go see the Rose Bowl while you are in Pasadena.

We went to the Chinese theater in Hollywood and wandered around there a bit. Fished off the pier at Long Beach. Went to the Getty Museum and the La Brea tar pits.

We have driven a lot in California and went to Sequoia National Park. In the Bay Area, have just gone to the obvious, various attractions in Golden Gate Park and Bridge, Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf.
 
norcalcy said:
If it was me and I was traveling with three kids, I would choose either a Nor Cal or a So Cal trip. Doing both is pretty ambitious. Getting from LA to San Francisco by car kills at least a day, and as cool as the PCH might be, the boredom factor would set in pretty quickly for your young ones. Couple that with the traffic you would fight both at origin and at destination. The Bay Area is a b@#th to get around these days.

You could probably attach a Yosemite stop to either a northern or southern California trip, but be warned that place is really crowded in the Summer. If you're leaning towards LA / So Cal, the Universal Studios theme park would likely be a hit. Hard to beat a couple days on LA / San Diego beaches.

I would concur with Knapp, Lassen Park is an off the trail cool place in northern CA. Kind of like a mini Yellowstone. It's isolated and takes a while to get up there though.

Things usually start to slow down a little bit in Lake Tahoe in August since a lot of California schools start back up in early August.
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What's your thoughts on starting in LA and over the course of a week make it to SF. Was thinking of heading right out of LA and spending two nights somewhere and then head another two hours up the coast and repeat until we get to the bay area.
 
FarminCy said:
What's your thoughts on starting in LA and over the course of a week make it to SF. Was thinking of heading right out of LA and spending two nights somewhere and then head another two hours up the coast and repeat until we get to the bay area.
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That's very doable. Good idea to break up the PCH/US 101 drive and enjoy the beach stops along the way. Monterey and Carmel are very nice. Monterey Aquarium good stop for the kids. My kids have always liked Santa Cruz beach boardwalk and amusement park.

I-5 between LA and the Bay Area would be of interest to ag guys like us, but probably not to many other people.
 
norcalcy said:
That's very doable. Good idea to break up the PCH/US 101 drive and enjoy the beach stops along the way. Monterey and Carmel are very nice. Monterey Aquarium good stop for the kids. My kids have always liked Santa Cruz beach boardwalk and amusement park.

I-5 between LA and the Bay Area would be of interest to ag guys like us, but probably not to many other people.
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Thanks for the tips. Good to know Santa Cruz has an amusement park. Hoping to find a way for them to do some rides without doing Disney, Universal, etc. Looking at the coast we had Monterey marked as a place to spend at least 2 days. I will look into Carmel.

I'd love to take everyone out to see some of the ag areas if possible. I've been out to Stockton area before as well as the Coachella valley. Growing up in just corn and soybean world those areas are fascinating to me.
 
KnappShack said:
Really hard to beat Mammoth. Horseback riding on the John Muir trail is like being in an Ansel Adams photo. That was an amazing experience

Idyllwild - Pine Cove has some pretty cool hiking. If you want to see the desert it is just down the mountain (and the casino). This would be little more laid back. There's also Bass Lake and Lake Arrowhead. Big Bear too.

There was an awesome place called the Hicksville Trailer Palace out by Joshua Tree. Super super cool camping in retro converted campers, but I hear it might be more marijuana tourism at this point. But the Integratron is out there if you want to meet some UFO and earth energy people. Really friendly.

Yosemite is a given. Camping can be found in the park or worth a trip in. Amazing part of the world. Bodie Ghost town. Mono Lake. All in the same general area.

Lassen Volcanic National Park has every type of volcano known to man. Doesn't smell great but interesting.

Kick up the coast on PCH and hit Hearst's Castle. Discover the coastal communities along the way.

I miss California. If the Pilgrim's landed on the west coast, the east coast would still be wilderness.
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Yeah, Hearst's Castle is pretty cool. I took that road through Yosemite (Tioga, I think) that's only open in the summers, and that was great as well.
 
Disclaimer: I live here.

Driving between LA and SF is doable over a week. Certainly lots to see along the way.

There's also value in staying in a specific region and really getting to know it. IMO, your August timeframe probably eliminates any national parks. Shame, because Sequoia is one of my favorite places on this planet.

Some don't realize how massive the LA region is. MAPfrappe shows that drawing a shape around Santa Barbara, LA, Orange County, and Palm Springs is essentially the distance between Iowa City and Chicago.

You could do a little bit of everything without even leaving SoCal. One month is not even enough time to see all of LA:
  • Kayak through the South Pacific (Channel Islands National Park)
  • Blast off into space (Space Shuttle @ California Sci Center)
  • One of the world's greatest theme parks (Disneyland)
  • Climb Griffith Park (Hollywood sign and observatory)
  • Discover King Tut's tomb (Last world tour @ California Sci Center)
  • Hike California's famed coast (Palos Verdes or Laguna Beach)
  • Paddleboard around sea lions (Newport Beach)
  • Experience the echoes of conquistadors (Old Mission Santa Barbara, etc.)
  • Beach and surfing (Malibu, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, etc.)
  • Tour of mansions in movies (Hollyhock, Gamble House, etc.)
There is so much. Impossible to distill down without knowing more about you.
 
ImJustKCClone said:
If you aren't driving this probably won't work...but we drove down the coast highway in the summer of 2001, from SF to LA. It was just the two of us, but we're not "touristy" people. We were in no hurry, kept pulling into the overlooks & climbing around on rocks and playing in tide pools. We saw sea otters, a couple of whales, and a whole beach full of elephant seals. Very fun trip...
Unfortunately, I don't think the highway is intact any more due to mudslides in the intervening years.
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We, literally, just got back from a vacation. Flew to SFO, rented a car, did norther SF stuff (Napa, Tahoe), drove down to LA and did touristy stuff there. Helped that I lived in LA for 15 years and then SF for 15 years so I kind of knew what to do. The drive down on highway 1 is as beautiful as it gets. Or you can go inland and see Yosemite taking another route down. So much to do out there.
 
We go to Orange County and love it. We stay right on the beach in Huntington Beach a couple blocks from Main Street and with the pier, shops and restaurants there is always something to do. Disneyland is about a 30 minute drive on surface streets and is a must. We always go on a school day in the winter, so the lines will be much worse in August. Angels games are easy and fun. Close to the Long Beach Aquarium, cool castle beach tower in Laguna and Knott's Berry Farm. Hollywood/Griffith Observatory is an awesome day that isn't that far and is also close to the tar pits, Beverly Hills and Venice Beach. All of that is the tip of the iceberg, SoCal is pretty rockin!
 
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I would avoid the city like the plague but that's me. Never even considered Yosemite any earlier than thanksgiving; If you do the PCH, please use the pull offs for the faster traffic. I ride sport-bikes out there ~ 4 times a year and inevitably have to essentially break the law to get around inconsiderate people.
 
FarminCy said:
Thanks for the info. I'm torn on inland vs PCH. I really want to see both but think my kids might enjoy the PCH at this stage more. The beaches and little spots along the way are things they really enjoy. Never thought of doing Muir Woods which I will put down as an option.
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PCH is great, but if you're looking for a beach experience you should stick to Santa Barbara or south. Beaches north of point conception are typically cold and windy, not great for day at the beach with kids. You can see the elephant seals near Hearst castle and the big Sur coast is cool. Monterey museum is nice, half moon bay is a really cool little town half way between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. If you have time to go north to fort Bragg that is a cool drive through redwoods. Having said all that, southern California is my call if you have kids in tow. Better weather and more kid attractions. As the old saying goes, the coldest winter I've ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.
 
Kagavi said:
Disclaimer: I live here.

Driving between LA and SF is doable over a week. Certainly lots to see along the way.

There's also value in staying in a specific region and really getting to know it. IMO, your August timeframe probably eliminates any national parks. Shame, because Sequoia is one of my favorite places on this planet.

Some don't realize how massive the LA region is. MAPfrappe shows that drawing a shape around Santa Barbara, LA, Orange County, and Palm Springs is essentially the distance between Iowa City and Chicago.

You could do a little bit of everything without even leaving SoCal. One month is not even enough time to see all of LA:
  • Kayak through the South Pacific (Channel Islands National Park)
  • Blast off into space (Space Shuttle @ California Sci Center)
  • One of the world's greatest theme parks (Disneyland)
  • Climb Griffith Park (Hollywood sign and observatory)
  • Discover King Tut's tomb (Last world tour @ California Sci Center)
  • Hike California's famed coast (Palos Verdes or Laguna Beach)
  • Paddleboard around sea lions (Newport Beach)
  • Experience the echoes of conquistadors (Old Mission Santa Barbara, etc.)
  • Beach and surfing (Malibu, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, etc.)
  • Tour of mansions in movies (Hollyhock, Gamble House, etc.)
There is so much. Impossible to distill down without knowing more about you.
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The Space Shuttle is interesting and free if I remember right. Pretty cool to see the The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum there too. The Natural History Museum next door is pretty amazing.

The number of dinosaurs is outstanding. The displays are pretty amazing too.
 
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I'd avoid the Hotel California. Plenty of room and such a lovely place. However, after you check in..........

:rolleyes:
 
Just got back from my first trip to SoCal a few weeks ago. We were there just over a week and here a few of the highlights I would recommend if you chose to stay there:

-Channel Islands National Park (we backpacked and camped a night, but well worth taking the ferry and doing a day trip from Ventura Harbor)
-Joshua Tree National Park - Amazing scenery, almost feels like you're in a different world.
-Griffith Park - Breathtaking views of the city of LA and surrounding areas/mountains. Not to mention the famous Hollywood sign (we lucked out and went on a day with very little haze)
-Hollywood tour (several options) - It's the touristy thing to do, but pretty cool to see especially if you haven't been on one before
-Comedy show - There are so many great shows going on all over the city. We went to an improv show starring Jason Mantzoukas (famous for playing Rafi on The League) and it was hilarious.

Will definitely be making a trip back out to the area now that my sister lives there. IMO, I would stick to doing either SoCal or the Bay Area but not both. I feel like I just scratched the surface on SoCal and was there for just over a week.
 
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FarminCy said:
I need help from the collective brain trust on here with some ideas as to what to do. I've been to San Diego, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree NP, and San Fransisco/Silicon Valley but never with kids. I'd love to take them to Joshua Tree if that fits but it's not necessary due to it's location. I'm assuming one day we may try to hit DisneyLand so that could also check off the need to ever do a damn Disney trip in the future. My kids are 12, 9, and 6. Not overly into touristy stuff, they enjoy hiking, beach, rides, bikes, etc. Plans are to most likely rent a car for the week so we can be mobile as well. Would rather not stay in one place the whole time either.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

And before anyone mentions Wally World I already brought that up!!
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There's a lot of great mountain hikes you can do year round in LA. Griffith Park is great and can be anything from a relaxing day in the park to a 10-12 mile hike. If your family is in decent shape I'd highly recommend hiking up to the famous observatory (about a 3 mile loop) rather than driving up there and parking. Just a little further out than that and you can really tackle some really major mountains if you're into that.

I do love Joshua Tree though, just it is a little far and obviously very hot in the summer.
 
FarminCy said:
We were in Idyllwild in early March so it was in the off season. We got snowed on while there and for the first 15 minutes back to Palm Springs until we dropped enough elevation. We left Palm Springs at 90 degrees wearing shorts, thank goodness we had sweatshirts. Spent the day exploring the area, got snowed on, and headed back to 90 degree Palm Springs. If I had my choice we would have just stayed in Idyllwild the rest of the trip.
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Just spent long weekend in Idyllwild for my wife's birthday. It's becoming our favorite getaway. California is pretty crazy in it's diverse climates having grown up around the midwest where the climate is the same for miles and miles. I'm not even that hardcore of an adventurer but I have surfed and been in the snow on the same weekend a few times.
 
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