We took all five kids on a month-long RV adventure in California back in February of 2020. The process of coming up with the route and itinerary for the trip was quite the process. Our trip ended up including a variety of destinations that provided us with so many wonderful memories.
We started making our plans by ordering several free California vacation guides and by doing lots of research via blogs, YouTube videos, and social media. The first step was narrowing down our list of places that we wanted to visit. Then, we started looking at maps to figure out what was a practical amount of adventure to squeeze into our month in California in an RV.
We flew into Burbank because it was the closest airport to the RV rental location. From there, we headed to my sister’s home in Buena Park, California (Los Angeles). We already had permission to park there for a couple of days. We ventured over to the La Brea Tar Pits while in the area.
Our planned trip included the following stops: Pismo Beach (Monarch Butterfly Grove and Elephant Seals), San Francisco, Cape Mendocino (Black Sand Beach), Redwood National Park, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Empire Mine State Historic Park, Sacramento, , Yosemite National Park, Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park, Death Valley National Park, Rhyolite Ghost Town, and Mohave National Preserve. After that, we were headed back to Buena Park for my niece’s birthday party.
First Part of the Trip
Second Part of the Trip
We built a little space into our schedule to allow for flexibility. Most of the travel was done at night, so we were ready for our adventures in the morning. We found places to boondock a lot of the nights, but did pay for camping at Yosemite and Whiskeytown. Our itinerary was for one day at each location, except for San Francisco, Whiskeytown, Yosemite, and Death Valley, where we planned to spend two days.
We only spent one day in San Francisco, as it was a bit too touristy for us. We wanted to get back to exploring nature. We did not make it to Lassen Volcanic National Park, due to weather and timing issues. We ended up with an extra day at the end, which we chose to spend staying in Mohave (we loved that park). As it was February, there were some sites that didn’t make sense for our family with small kids, and some routes that were unavailable – especially in a big RV.
California is such a gigantic state with extremely varied climates. There is no way we could cover every destination of interest in one short month. My advice for planning any trip like this one, is to research, research, and research. You don’t want to be surprised by enticing destinations or attractions, and then have to reroute the entire trip. Once you have an idea of all that the destination has to offer, you need to make a list of the top places you want to visit. Then, start filling in your roadmap, to see what you can reasonably fit in . . . with a little extra space for the unforeseen, both good and bad.
If you want to drive on Route 1, be aware that the road is literally on the side of a cliff, over the ocean, with no shoulder in parts. It’s a great view, but also terrifying. I would highly suggest planning your route to drive North on Route 1, so you’re on the right side of the road, a little farther away from the cliff.
Route 1
One other note to keep in mind when planning routes for a rented RV road trip: rental RV’s will come with some type of mileage limit. Our limit was 100 miles per day. If you go over that limit, then there are extra fees. We did not go over our limit, due to a couple stops where we stayed for two days, and because we had mileage for a whole month. So, even though we may have technically gone over 100 miles on a few days, we were within the total limit, over the month.
If anyone happens to find their way to this post, who is planning a trip like this, please reach out! I would be happy to answer any of your questions. Visit me on social media or email me at creatingmykaleidoscope@gmail.com
