15 Days on the Road Through Northern California and Southern Oregon

Plotting our trip out on an actual map helped the kids visualize our route.

In the summer of 2017, I decided to take my first road trip with the kids. Our family isn't particularly good at easing into things, so rather than dip our toes in the water with a shorter trip close to home, we jumped in with both feet for a full two-week adventure on the road. With my husband saving his vacation time for 4th of July week, I did most of the trip on my own with the kids, which was certainly a challenge, but left me feeling a huge sense of accomplishment (mostly just proud that I kept them alive)!

My son had been singing "This Land is Your Land" all year with his guitar-strumming Montessori teacher and was adamant that we visit "The Redwood Forest." After all, we had taken the kids to "The New York Island" for spring break in April, so it was time to hit "that ribbon of highway" in the west. (I'll spare you any further Woody Guthrie lyrics from this point on.)

Our road trip actually began with a short flight as we wanted to focus on Northern California and Southern Oregon and had ambitiously planned to visit three separate national parks, with stops in between. To get the kids involved, I went old school in my planning and bought a small square of cork board over which I pinned down a map (yes, an actual paper map!) of where we hoped to go. We stuck green push-pins into our intended destinations and then plotted out our route. The kids could hardly wait to get on the road!

Sydney had just turned 7 and Brevin was 5 when we took this trip, so I intentionally kept each leg of the trip reasonably short in order to keep backseat whining to a minimum. My goal was to keep the kids totally "unplugged" throughout our journey so that they could truly absorb and appreciate all of the natural beauty that we would encounter along the way. I had survived plenty of road trips as a child with nothing more than John Grisham books and a walkman, so I figured the kids could do the same. They easily entertained themselves by counting cows along the highway, singing along to their favorite songs on the radio, and recounting highlights from the adventures we'd left behind in our rear view mirror.

Below, you will find a day-by-day itinerary of our trip, complete with drive times and annotations that we made along the way (several lessons learned the hard way). For more details on each destination, including suggestions about where to stay, where to eat, and what to do, simply click on the links provided; they will take you to our blog posts and recommendations for each stop along our route. We hope this helps you with your planning!

DAY 1

Depart Truckee and drive to Healdsburg, CA.

Travel Time: 210 miles = 3.5 hrs.

Accommodations in Healdsburg: Hotel Healdsburg

Notes: You could easily spend a couple of days in Healdsburg, but we had recently visited and were using it more as a jumping off point for our trip. See our blogs about Healdsburg for more details.

DAY 2

Depart Healdsburg and drive to Redwood National Park.

Travel Time: 247 miles = 4 hr. 20 min. (took us a bit longer due to mudslide reparations on the road).

Accommodations in Redwood National Park: Elk Meadow Cabins

Notes:

Shop in Trinidad on way into park -- basically no grocery store & no restaurants once you get inside.
Eat at the Beachcomber Cafe in Trinidad - organic breakfasts, coffee, and packable lunches (they do not have paper cups, so BYO mason jar or coffee mug).
We walked down to the end of the street that the Beachcomber is on and found Trinidad Bay with a lighthouse overlooking the most beautiful scene!

DAY 3

Full day in Redwood National Park.

Guided tours available through Redwood Adventure Eco Tours.

Notes: See our Redwood National Park blog for full details about this stop.

Feeling tiny as we hiked among some of the tallest and oldest trees in the world.

DAY 4

Depart Redwood National Park and drive to Ashland, Oregon.

Travel Time: 114 miles = 2 hrs. 20 min.

Accommodations in Ashland: farm stay at Willow Witt Ranch

Notes: It’s quite possible that this farm stay was the #1 highlight of the trip for the kids. I loved it, too. See our Ashland Farm Stay blog for full details about this stop.

DAY 5

Full day in Ashland on the farm.

DAY 6

Full day in Ashland - check out of farm and head into town.

Accommodations in Ashland: Ashland Creek Inn

Notes: See our blog about our stay in downtown Ashland for full details about this stop.

DAY 7

Full day in downtown Ashland.

DAY 8

Depart Ashland, Oregon and drive to Crater Lake National Park.

Travel Time: 80 miles = 1.5 hrs.

Accommodations at Crater Lake: Crater Lake Lodge

Notes:

Stop at Beckie’s Café on the way for famous huckleberry pies and breakfast or lunch, depending on the time of day.
Crater Lake is one of the most beautiful sights you'll ever see. Reservations for the lodge are needed at least 5-6 months in advance, if not earlier. Though you could call incessantly in search of a cancellation and maybe get lucky.

DAY 9

Full day in Crater Lake National Park.

Notes: See our Crater Lake National Park blog for full details about this stop.

The historic Crater Lake Lodge, opened in 1915 and full of rustic charm. Yes, there was still snow in June!

DAY 10

Drive from Crater Lake to Klamath Falls.

Travel Time: 69 miles = 1.5 hrs.

Accommodations in Klamath Falls: Running Y Ranch Resort

DAY 11

Full day in Klamath Falls.

Great Resource: "48 hrs. in Klamath Falls with Kids"

We booked a ½ day fishing tour through Roe Outfitters.

Notes: Klamath Falls was a convenient and comfortable place to stop, do laundry, and enjoy a few outdoor activities. However, if you are crunched for time, it's not a critical stop. We had fun and caught 7 big trout on our fishing excursion. There is also zip-lining that my kids weren’t quite old enough for, as well as horseback riding. For us, it served as a nice place to pause and regroup.

DAY 12

Depart Klamath Falls in afternoon and drive to Mt. Shasta.

Travel Time: 80 miles = 1.5 hrs.

Accommodations in Mt. Shasta: Best Western Tree House

Notes:

The hotel was inexpensive and practical. We had 3 queen beds and I even got my own room (which, as much as I love my two rascals, was dreamy at this point in the trip).
While staying here, we drove to the McCloud River Trail and hiked from the Lower McCloud Falls to the Middle Falls. It was the perfect distance for the kids with a huge reward at the end (a gorgeous and huge waterfall)! When we returned to the Lower Falls, we took the 15-foot leap into the pool below and the kids were so proud of themselves!

DAY 13

Morning drive to McArthur-Burney Falls State Park.

Afternoon drive from Burney Falls to Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Travel Time: 45 min.

Notes:

We did not stay, but there is camping available at McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park.
Our visit was short, but this was a must-see - an incredibly spectacular waterfall. President Theodore Roosevelt called it "The 8th Wonder of the World," and it did not disappoint. Kids can easily do the 1.2 mile loop around the falls if you’re looking to include a hike.

Burney Falls - over 130 feet from top to bottom!

Accommodations in Lassen Volcanic National Park: Drakesbad Guest Ranch

Notes:

Beware of road closures and weather issues in this park. Snow sticks around for a LONG time and can make a 45-mile trip into a 4-hour journey. Truth be told, we got lost along the way as GPS is all but useless!
Once we arrived, this place was magical and totally off the grid!
See our Lassen Volcanic National Park blog for full details about this stop.

DAY 14

Full day at Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Drakesbad Guest Ranch at Lassen Volcanic National Park.

DAY 15

Depart Lassen Volcanic National Park and drive to Truckee (or your final destination).

Travel Time: 142.4 miles = 2 hrs. 54 min.