EYEWITNESS TRAVEL BACK ROADS CALIFORNIA EYEWITNESS TRAVEL BACK ROADS CALIFORNIA contributors: Christopher p. baker, lee foster CONTENTS ABOUT THIS BOOK 6 INTRODUCING CALIFORNIA 8 MANAGING EDITOR MadhuMadhavi Singh GETTING TO CALIFORNIA 10 Above Lassen Peak towering over the forested shores EDITORIAL MANAGER PRACTICAL INFORMATION 12 of Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic National Park Sheeba Bhatnagar DESIGN MANAGER Mathew Kurien DRIVING IN CALIFORNIA 16 Drive 5 PROJECT EDITOR Divya Chowfin WHERE TO STAY 22 WINE VALLEYS AND PROJECT DESIGNER Namrata COASTAL VISTAS Adhwaryu WHERE TO EAT 24 Healdsburg to DESIGNER Rupanki Arora Kaushik THE DRIVES 26 Boonville 62 PICTURE RESEARCH MANAGER 2–3 days Taiyaba Khatoon Drive 1 PICTURE RESEARCHERS Lokesh Bisht, ROMANCE OF THE GOLDEN Drive 6 Nikhil Verma GATE SENIOR DTP DESIGNER REDWOOD EMPIRE ROUTE Azeem Siddiqui Fort Funston to Angel Mendocino to SENIOR CARTOGRAHIC MANAGER Island State Park 28 Crescent City 72 Uma Bhattacharya 2 days 4–5 days CARTOGRAPHER Subhashree Bharati Drive 2 Drive 7 ILLUSTRATOR SACRAMENTO DELTA LAND OF FIRE AND ICE Arun Pottirayil Martinez to Wine Redding to Red Bluff 84 Printed and bound by South China and Pear Country 36 4–5 days Printing Co. Ltd., China 1–2 days 12 13 14 15 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Drive 8 First published in Great Britain in 2013 by Dorling Drive 3 Kindersley Limited, 80 Strand, London MOUNTAINS, LAKES, AND FORESTED SLOPES AND WC2R 0RL, A Penguin Company RANCHLANDS Copyright 2013 © Dorling SCENIC COAST Shasta City to Yreka 94 Kindersley Limited, London Vista Point to Point 2–3 days All rights reserved. No part of this publication Reyes Headland 44 may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, 1–2 days Drive 9 electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording CALIFORNIA’S UNDISCOVERED or otherwise, without the prior written Drive 4 permission of the copyright owner. NORTH A CIP catalogue record is available from the WINE COUNTRY Yreka to Graeagle 102 Library of Congress. Napa to Sonoma 52 3–4 days ISBN 978 0 7566 7494 6 2–3 days Front cover: Highway 1 along the Pacific Below “Jumping cholla” cacti in the Cholla Cactus Below The landmark single-arch Bixby Bridge coastline, Big Sur Garden, Joshua Tree National Park along the Big Sur coast Above Tractor ride through the vineyards at Benziger Winery Above Waves gently lapping the sands at the scenic in Glen Ellen, Sonoma County La Jolla Cove, La Jolla Drive 10 Drive 15 Drive 20 SANTA CRUZ SOJOURN SPECTACULAR YOSEMITE DESERT LOWS TO San Francisco shoreline Moccasin to Bodie State MOUNTAIN HIGHS to Salinas 110 Historic Park 162 Palm Springs to 2–3 days 3–4 days Idyllwild 210 3 Days Drive 11 Drive 16 ENCHANTING BIG SUR TOWERING TREES AND Drive 21 Monterey to GAPING GORGES EDGE OF THE WORLD Morro Bay 122 Three Rivers to Fresno 172 Redlands to Cajon 2–3 days 3 days Junction 218 Drive 12 Drive 17 2–3 days ON THE ROYAL ROAD RUGGED OWENS VALLEY Drive 22 San Luis Obispo to Lone Pine to Mono Lake SURF COUNTRY Ojai 132 Tufa State Reserve 180 La Jolla to Avalon 226 2–3 days 2–3 days 2–3 days Drive 13 Drive 18 Drive 23 THE TAHOE LOOP DESERT DESIDERATA SCENIC SAN DIEGO Sacramento to Mojave to Gaslamp Quarter to Placerville 142 Badwater Basin 190 Balboa Park 236 3–4 days 3–4 days 1–2 days Drive 14 Drive 19 Drive 24 GOLD COUNTRY MOJAVE MONTAGE SAN DIEGO BACKCOUNTRY Auburn to Desert Hot Springs Mission San Diego de Jamestown 152 to Mojave National Alcalá to Ramona 244 2–3 days Preserve 200 2–3 days 3 days Below The massive General Sherman Tree in the Below Gingerbread trimmed Firehouse Number 1 Giant Forest, Sequoia National Park Museum, Nevada City INDEX 256 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 264 Title page Highway through Death Valley National Park Half-title page A typical country house in Navarro BRCL_004-005_Contents_US.indd 5 09/11/12 4:28 PM About this Book 7 About this Book The 24 drives in this book capture the fantastic whether it is a sojourn through the vineyards of diversity of California, from the snow-capped Napa Valley from San Francisco, exploring the mountains and fog-shrouded redwood forests Mojave Desert when the spring wildflowers of the north to the deserts and sun-baked bloom, touring along the dramatic Mendocino beaches of the south. The dramatic scenery coastline, or navigating the twisty mountain changes with regularity, while the urban roads of Yosemite National Park. These drives settings range from the sleepy 19th-century do not shun the region’s lesser-known regions, Gold Rush-era towns of the Sierra foothills to but introduce you to some of the most vibrant cities such as Los Angeles and San spectacular hidden corners of the state, Francisco. With its superb highway system, allowing visitors to explore facets of California California is tailormade for driving tours, that many never experience. Getting Started rugged Mojave Desert to Northern The front section of the guide California’s Redwood Empire, and Using the Sheet Map provides all the practical information from the alpine spectacle of the A pull-out road map of the region needed to plan and enjoy a driving Sierra Nevada to the beaches and is supplied at the back of the holiday in California. It includes an craggy cliffs of the Pacific Coast. guide. This map contains all the overview of when to go and how to Each drive begins with a list of information you need to drive get there, advice on hiring a vehicle highlights and a mapped itinerary. around California and navigate and details of any documentation There is advice on the best time of between the different tours. All required. In-depth motoring advice year to do the drive, road conditions, motorways, major roads, ferry ranges from driving rules to road market days, and major festival dates. ports, and airports are clearly conditions, from buying fuel to The tour pages contain descriptions identified. A comprehensive index breakdown or accident procedures – of each stop on the route, linked by will allow you to locate sights the background knowledge that clear driving instructions. Side panels quickly and easily, and a handy makes a driving trip stress-free. There highlight information on the most distance chart will enable you to is also information on money, authentic places to stay and eat. gauge the distances between the communications, opening hours, Tinted boxes feature background major cities. All these features health and safety, as well as advice on information and interesting anecdotes make the pull-out map a great accommodation and dining options, that relate to the specific drive. Each addition to the individual drive- to ensure that you experience the drive features at least one mapped itinerary maps within the book. very best of California’s hospitality. town or countryside walking tour or hike, designed to take a maximum of The Drives three hours at a gentle pace, with a longer driving holiday; or can be The main section of the guide is stops along the way. The tours are experienced as segments and divided into 24 scenic drives, ranging flexible: some can be linked to create dipped into as day trips. in duration from one to five days. All the tours can be undertaken in a standard vehicle, and no special driving skills are required, although a few tours include side-trips along sections of unpaved road where a 4WD vehicle is recommended. The drives encompass every region of the region, from Southern California’s Top left Sprawling vineyard in Anderson Valley Top right Windswept South Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore Center left Lush pastures near Etna Center right Picnic tables at Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve Bottom left Colored cliffs in Rock Canyon State Park Bottom right Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley Above Driving on a winding road through Owens Valley