Western Parks & Forests

The Western Parks and Forests Road Trip

Following on from last year’s postponement of my planned coastal Seattle to San Diego road trip, 2024 brought more disappointment. Caltrans finally opened up the re-built section of Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, at Paul’s Slide in early July 2024.

However, more violent storms in February ’24 had caused further mud and rock slides at Regent’s Slide, a few miles north of Paul’s Slide. This completely engulfed the roadway and fully closed another section of PCH. To add even more disruption, in March another section of the road collapsed near Rocky Creek Bridge about 30 miles north of Regent’s Slide. This however did not lead to a total closure as alternate one-way driving was possible via temporary traffic signals.

In late Spring 2024, the timetable to repair Regent’s Slide was always looking like it might extend to at least the Fall of 2024. And unfortunately in August Caltrans had to suspend repair work there because of continuing slide activity in and around the repair site. But I’d already made my decision before then. By mid-year, with no predicted opening date and PCH still not fully open all the way through Big Sur, I was forced to find yet another alternative route for this year’s trip.

When I looked at places, mainly in California, that always appeared on my ‘would like to visit’ list but which I’d never managed to include in a trip to date, I created a route that included most of them. Places such as Yosemite, Death Valley and Sequoia National Park. Hence the Western Parks and Forests Road Trip was born. It’s still Seattle to San Diego. Just by another route, inland, a lot of it on US-395, the Three Flags Highway. West Coast USA here I come again!