Road trip Los Angeles to Seattle

Hi everybody!

My family and I are planning a road trip from LA to Seattle in August 2018.
We start in LA on the 1st of August and end up in Seattle on the 16th. This is a one way trip.
Apparently we would go through the big cities of San Francisco and Portland. (for how many days do you think we should stay in each city ?)
What places are worth a visit along the way ? I heard Yosemite, but for how many days ? Are there accommodations in the park ? Easy hikes with good viewpoint ? (I love hiking but my dad is a little bit slow haha).
Any small towns with motels along the way ? we would like to drive 4-5hrs a day max, will it be possible ?

Thank you for your help!
ZKDBR

Do you understand that August is the peak holiday month in the US. Is it essential that you go then ... 10-26 September would be so much better.

But with 15 nights, I would look at San Francisco (3 nights), Yosemite NP (2 - if you can find accomm), and Portland (2). The outstanding features for me are Yosemite NP, the redwood state parks (Humboldt SP and Jedediah Smith SP), Crater Lake NP, Mount Hood, Mt Rainier, and the Columbia River Gorge.

You can cover the distance okay with seven days travel and 4-5 hours per day actually driving. Look at the lower-end Wyndham Group motel chains - Super8, Days Inn, Comfort Inn, etc. They have a good online booking system.

Thank you! Yes we do know that this is the peak time, but we can't do otherwise as college starts on the 25th of August...

Then you will have to spend a lot of time searching for accommodation, starting with Yosemite NP, and its nearby towns.

Alright! Thanks! So would it be wise to find accommodation in a nearby town, then in the morning head to the park with a shuttle and do a trail such as the Yosemite Valley loop ? then go back to the hotel and go on with our itinerary the next day ?

What's your interests for this trip, mountains-coast-desert, small-big cities, wineries, food or just road tripping?

How much time in LA will you spend, Disneyland, Hollywood, Museums?

I think with 15 days and only wanting to drive 4-5 hours per day that you may need to cut something. Either do Seattle to SF as suggested by #1 plus Yosemite if you can get lodging inside the park or in nearby El Portal, or else SF to LA plus Yosemite.

We are interested in mountains, coast, and road tripping.
Spending 4 nights in LA is enough right ? To get a feel of the place ahaha. defo not Disneyland but Hollywood and all yeah!

Thank you for your advice ! our provisional itinerary would be : LA-Yosemite-(Someplace)-San francisco-(someplace between SF and PL)-Portland-Seattle.

What do you want to see-do in LA, 4 nights is a lot unless you have certain things to do. It's a massive suburb, goes on forever so a rental car would help.
Be prepared for major traffic at all times, slow going.

If you go with 4 nights in LA that leaves you 12 to drive all the way to Seattle via Yosemite and SF, lots of driving, too much IMO. Easy to get by with 3.

Consider LA to SF only or SF to Seattle so you can enjoy the trip, explore a bit more and have more fun versus sitting in a car the whole time.

You could try something like this, nice variety. Has everything on your list and is doable but still moving.
3 Nights - LA
2 N - Mammoth Lakes, Hwy.395 has stunning scenery, high desert and cool mountains. Mammoth offers lots of things to do, beautiful area.
You could go up the coast which would still be 2 nights lodging but you'll get plenty of awesome coast line north of SF, you don't have much time.

2 N - Yosemite Valley via Tioga Pass. Probably have to stay in El Portal. Keep trying for a cancellation in the Valley. Could also try the http://yosemitebug.com/ Good luck and keep trying!
3 N - SF
1 N - Humboldt Redwoods
1 N - Crescent City for Jedediah Smith Redwood, hike-walk Stout Grove-easy walk.
1 N - Chemult OR via Crater Lake
2 N - Portland via The Dalles
1 N - Seattle

oh wow! Thank you for this amazing itinerary ! It looks wonderful!

For Yosemite we where thinking about a full day in the park and doing a trail such as the 4 mile one... sounds good ?

We may add a day or two to our road trip... it's better i feel and would allow us to take it at a more relaxed pace.

I would add as many days as possible, the west is huge is your covering a lot of ground. Driving can be slow, especially in Yosemite and along the coast, just prepare yourself for it.

Figure about 2 days in Yosemite, depending on where you stay. The very underrated top, along Hwy.120 from Tioga to the Valley is incredible. Lots of cool short hikes and excellent view points that dad would love.
Then a full day in the Valley, yeah it's crowded but absolutely jaw dropping. For the Valley start early, like sunrise or even earlier and beat the mob, lots to do-see.

Do your best to stay in the Valley, again keep trying a few times a week for reservations, at least.

There are a bunch of cool hikes in Yosemite, the park provides very good information and maps, see what fits you and Dads needs. https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hiking.htm

If you can add a couple nights, maybe add 1 for Humboldt, try and stay in "The Avenue of Giants", really beautiful area and maybe one to Seattle.

You might enjoy " Trees of Mystery " just north of Klamath, very tacky advertisement along the way but a nice museum, folks here like it.

Also keep an eye out for the Elk Heard by Orick.

FYI, the National Redwood Parks are very average at best, the 2 best Redwood Groves are in Humboldt and Jedediah, IMO.

Lots of cool small towns, good variety of eats, micro brews-wineries and of course killer scenery along your route!

Get a cooler/ice chest before you leave LA for drinks and ice, you'll need/want it.

Oh yea, if you do head to Mammoth Lakes from LA. If it's on a weekend leave by around 9-10am, if not earlier. If it's on a weekday be on the interstate by 6am and beat the traffic, very important for a decent semi relaxing drive. By 6:30-7am the traffic will be getting very heavy, bumper to bumper.
Actually the same for heading up the coast. LA is a mess, traffic wise.

Forgot, Mammoth has lots of good hikes and Mtn. biking.
Maybe take the tram up to the top of the mountain for great views and ride a bike down. Dad can ride the tram back down.

Wow! Thank you so much for all of this information, it's more than I could expect! I will surely take all of this into account when planning. Wonderful! And most probably will follow your itinerary! We decided to cut off Seattle as we already went there last year, we will rather stop in Portland.

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