Top 10 Locations to visit on a road trip north of San Francisco

Pandemic blues got you down? Looking to do a road trip to enjoy the views and avoid the people? There’s a lot of California north of San Francisco. Traffic and shops start to fall away quickly once you get out of Marin and Napa, and into the more expansive, forested true Northern California. The sparse population and beautiful nature makes it easier to avoid people and be outdoors. Up here, amongst the redwoods and the rocky beaches, you might start to see flags for the state of Jefferson, the proposed breakaway state, first thought up in the 1940’s, compromising much of northern California and some of the counties in southern Oregon. This is the beautiful and remote true North of California.

COVID-19 Thoughts: All travel right now is a risk. The downside of traveling to a rural area is the potential of bringing germs with you that might easily overwhelm the population. I think it’s the responsibility of all travelers right now to travel smarter. Get your vaccine, follow all safety protocols recommended by the CDC, and generally do what you can to not be a part of the problem.

With that said, this road trip got me out of my own Southern California comfort zone and get me to be comfortable being very much on my own in a way I hadn’t been in a long time. It was a great time to truly enjoy the views, the quiet, and the wonders up along this lesser-seen stretch of the coast.

Here’s how you should plan your stops on this fascinating trip!

Point Reyes National Seashore

The first stop is about an hour north of San Francisco. This gorgeous beach and park is a popular destination for Bay Area residents. The dramatic cliffs make for an excellent introduction to the vast northern part of the state. Us SoCal folks have very few dramatic cliffs, and I love them! Side note: I might have read too many gothic romances as a teenager. Take a walk out to the historic Point Reyes Lighthouse (if it’s not a foggy day), whose lights have been warning mariners since the 1870s. Check to make sure the trails are open before you go - COVID has closed some of the more well-traveled paths. Also make sure to stop by the beautiful (and Instagram-friendly) Cypress Tree Tunnel for photos. Please follow all signs on where to park, as overly-aggressive Instagrammers have been damaging tree roots with their cars. Lastly, make sure to bring warm clothes - the shores of Point Reyes are one of the windiest places on the west coast!

Beautiful beach, but I purposefully did NOT take a selfie at this site. My hair was… windswept, to put it kindly!

2. Fort Ross

About 2 hours north of Point Reyes along Highway 1 is Fort Ross. This spot in the tiny town of Jenner was the southernmost Russian fort in North America. When I first learned about this fort, I was surprised, and then embarrassed, to realize I had completely forgotten that there were Russian settlements on the west coast! Fort Ross served as a fur-trading and ship-building hub until the mid-1800’s, when the Russian-American company sold it to an immigrant by the name of Johann Sutter. Yes, that Sutter of Sutter’s Mill and Gold Rush fame. Fort Ross, and the trappers and colonists who lived in the area, were responsible both for decimating the local sea otter population, as well as spreading smallpox and other diseases amongst the local indigenous communities. I know, I know, I’m selling it well. However, despite that dark role, it really is a fascinating stop to see a part of the international historical significance of the northern California coastline.

Courtesy of wikimedia commons. It was far cloudier and wetter while I was there.

3. Gualala

What’s there to see in the tiny town of Gualala? To be honest, not a whole lot. However, I’m recommending stopping here solely because of the fantastic Trinks cafe. My drive up was on a chilly, wet day. About 45 minutes north of Fort Ross I came to Gualala. Here I spent a couple hours hanging out at Trinks, eating an amazing bowl of soup followed by some lovely-looking baked goods. All the while enjoying one of the few places with good wifi that you can find along this stretch of highway. Definitely check out the hours before going - they close early, particularly during COVID.

4. Greenwood State Beach

Between Gualala and Mendocino, the drive along Highway 1 goes through a number of small unincorporated communities, state preserves, and isolated beaches. If you’re going to stop at one, I’d recommend Greenwood State Beach in the town of Elk, about 45 minutes north of Gualala. From the parking lot, you’ll find a (reasonably clean) restroom and map of the area. It’s a short but lovely hike down to the driftwood-strewn beach. You might find yourself alone with the ocean waves, staring out into the Pacific Ocean. As mentioned before, I spent a lot of my teenage years reading and watching Gothic romances, so I might have strolled along this beach with arms outswept, pretending I was an 1800’s English heroine. But this is part of the fun to be had when you’re traveling alone!

5. Shopping in Mendocino town

The cute, artsy town of Mendocino sits on the edge of dramatic bluffs known as the Mendocino headlands. The picturesque town is a common overnight point for those coming from San Francisco (taking the 101 up from Marin County is a shorter trip than the coastal route). Its collectibles shops are a great browse - selling everything from glass otter artwork to beard creams. My favorites included Mendocino Country Store, as well as Gallery Bookshop, with their fantastically unimpressed store cat Catsby. From here on north you’re also going to see a lot of offerings for marijuana and CBD products. Mendocino and Humboldt counties have been growing weed, semi-legally, for decades, and are proud of their local strains. You’re well out of the Bay Area now. If you have time, definitely pick up a warm beverage at one of Mendocino’s cafes (I liked the Good Life Cafe) and take a stroll along one of the Headlands paths. It’s a favorite at sunset.

6. Glass Beach in Fort Bragg

Fort Bragg, an hour north of Mendocino, struck me as the more working-class, scruffy cousin to Mendocino’s quaint village. It’s the jumping-off point for the Skunk Train, a historic train that takes passengers on a picturesque round-trip journey through the Redwoods. It also is home to the North Coast Brewing Company, an excellent California microbrewery. However, for your road trip stop, I recommend visiting the well-known Glass Beach at the north end of town. Glass Beach, located in MacKerricher State Park, was a former dump site for the community. Metal and other refuse was either carted away or degraded over the years, and the pounding waves polished the discarded glass into smooth, colorful stones. It’s been a popular stopping spot for several decades, and unfortunately most travelers have picked through the glass. What remains is less dramatic than past photos would have you believe. However, the site, and the park, are still fun stops. If you go at low tide, there’s also quite a few tide pools to look through and spot some local aquatic life.

smooth glass fragments in between the rocks at Glass Beach. Closed-toed shoes are a must!

7. Avenue of the Giants

Past Fort Bragg, Highway 1 winds its way through several more empty beaches, multiple dramatic cliffs, and then up a somewhat motion sickness-inducing switchback road to connect you to Highway 101 at Leggett. From here, you are solidly in Redwood Forest Country. And here, roadside Americana beckons you and your tourist dollars. You’ll see signs for ‘Drive through a redwood tree’, which... I did. The Chandelier Tree, pictured below. I honestly don’t think it’s worth it, especially as a solo traveller. The actual drive takes about 10-20 seconds. The people in front of me kept hopping out of the car to take pictures of their driver in the tree pass. Doing the experience as a solo traveler means that you’re spending that time, well, driving the car straight as to not hit the tree. So I would not recommend paying for that brief experience.

Looks cool. Experience lasts about 20 seconds. Worth it? Eh……

Also along that stretch of 101 is a series of houses and shops carved into redwood trees - all of which you can enter, for a fee. There are signs for Confusion Hill, a tourist trap that uses optical illusions to convince you that the area defies physics. It does not. It is an optical illusion. Unless you’re a big fan of quirky stops, I would bypass most of these. About 30 miles north of Leggett there’s a turnoff for the southern entrance of Avenue of the Giants. Here are some sights that are worth the detour!

Avenue of the Giants is a 30-mile long scenic byway that goes past some of the larger and older redwood trees in the area. Pull-offs allow for great photo ops all along the route. If you’re hungry, I had a fantastically unhealthy lunch at the Avenue Cafe midway through the route.

Avenue of the Giants goes through the edge of Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The park goes over 17K acres, encompassing some fantastic hiking and camping. Also for Star Wars nerds, you’ll find much of the area resembles the forest moon of Endor featured in Return of the Jedi. The actual filming location was further north in California, but if you are inspired to take a video pretending to be on a speeder while running through the trees, I wouldn’t judge you (I might have definitely done that myself).

This is the way to feel dwarfed by nature!

8. Breweries of Humboldt County

Humboldt County, from its former timber roots, has developed thriving industries in marijuana growing and beer brewing. Whatever your predilection, you should try out some of the local offerings. I’m more of a beer person myself. Close by Highway 101, you’ll find Eel River Brewing, Mad River, and the large Lost Coast Brewery. Lost Coast has a factory tour (in non-COVID times) at their main site. They also have a brewpub in downtown Eureka, which I recommend visiting both for the atmosphere and to enjoy some of the murals painted around downtown. My favorite is their hazy IPA. If you take a walk outside of the brewpub, you’ll find some fantastic murals in downtown Eureka.

Downtown Eureka mural showing a busy, urban, traffic-strewn city that can’t be found for hundreds of miles.

9. The Victorian homes of Eureka

Eureka was the furthest north I went on my road trip. It’s an interesting city of contradictions. It’s a working-class town with a storied past of timber mining and timber barons. The politics are a mix of conservatism, libertarianism, and general suspicion of outsiders (see earlier mention of the state of Jefferson, a flag that is flown prominently around town). It’s next to Humboldt State University and houses a large student population. And it is where you can find a number of large, colorful Victorian homes, a mark of the town’s prosperous past. Go on a self-guided walking tour of the buildings to learn more about the houses as well as the history of the town.

10. Wine Tasting in Ukiah

Driving back from Eureka towards the Bay Area, I had one more stop to make. North of the more well-known wine country in Sonoma and Napa, Ukiah and Mendocino County have a number of lesser-touristed, relaxed, family-run wineries that are worth stopping at to adjust yourself back to the more sunny, dry California life. I stopped at Nelson Family Vineyards, which was a fantastically beautiful location with plenty of outdoor space to wander as you drink your wine and reflect upon your trip.

I hope you enjoyed this look at what to do on a Northern California Road Trip!

Pin this for later!