Cape Flattery on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula is the northwesternmost tip of the continental US. Most of the Pacific Coast is in the public domain, accessible, and protected from development within national, state, and local parks, which provide habitat for such rare creatures as mountain lions, condors, and gray whales. This 1,650-mile (2,655 km), mostly two-lane route takes in everything from temperate rainforest to near-desert. Road Trip USA’s Pacific Coast route begins at the northwest tip of the United States at Port Townsend near Olympic National Park, and remains within sight of the ocean almost all the way south to the Mexican border. All this may be true in small pockets, but the amazing thing about the Pacific Coast-from the dense green forests of western Washington to the gorgeous beaches of Southern California-is that it is still mostly wild, open, and astoundingly beautiful country, where you can drive for miles and miles and have the scenery all to yourself. Near the small town of Leggett (home to the famed Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree) US-101 transitions into scenic Highway 1, the most popular portion of this route and the classic Coastal California road trip.įor some reason, when people elsewhere in the country refer to the Pacific Coast, particularly California, it’s apparent that they think it’s a land of kooks, an overbuilt suburban desert supporting only shopping malls, freeways, and body-obsessed airheads. In Washington, Oregon, and at the northern end of California, the Pacific Coast route follows US Highway 101.

While many travelers begin in Los Angeles and head north, driving the Pacific Coast Highway from north to south keeps you in the lane closest to the ocean.

California coast map