Northern CA Road Trip
Chris and I have had the itch to go camping for awhile and as badly as I wanted to go, I just wasn’t ready to fully “rough it” with an under-one-year-old. So we compromised and decided to rent an Airstream trailer (check it out here).
As we started looking for open campsites, Chris stumbled across a video featuring Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and decided that was going to be our ultimate destination. We booked the last open days we could find in July and the rest of our trip was planned from there.
OVERVIEW
We drove from Southern CA (Orange County) to Folsom Lake, Lassen National Forest, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, then headed down through the Monterey area to get back home.
I’ve got a full run down of our trip below, but the TLDR is;
1 night (quick stop) in Folsom Lake
3 nights in Lassen National Forest
3 nights in Prairie Creek Redwoods
1 night in Monterey/Salinas
DAY 1 - Drive from Orange County to Folsom Lake
We stopped to meet a friend for lunch at Woodward Park, Fresno (playground available for kids but SUPER HOT mid summer!!).
Set up camp for the night and made dinner at Beals Point Campground at Folsom Lake.
DAY 2 - Drive from Folsom Lake to Butte Lake Campground (Lassen National Forest)
We stopped in Los Molinos for gas, and wish we had stopped at one of the cute farmstands in the Dairyville / Red Bluff area - next time!
It was a VERY rocky drive from the main road in to the Butte Lake campground location (towing the trailer, it took about an hour to go maybe 3 miles?).
Set up camp by late afternoon and had a nice steak dinner.
DAY 3 - Butte Lake Campground
Had steak and eggs for breakfast before heading down to the lake with our inflatable kayak (I gave Chris a hard time about getting this but am glad he did, because it ended up being awesome! We took turns taking Callie out and letting my parents go out on the lake too.)
Any sort of a nap schedule definitely flew out the window with this trip. And we paid for it in a few tantrums, but the trip and experience was worth it all and more.
DAY 4 - Butte Lake Campground
In addition to the tantrums, we encountered one of our first overnight accidents since Callie’s been potty trained. Not to worry, we had several backup sheets/blankets available and were able to easily fix the situation :)
We decided to tackle the Cinder Cone hike, which was the main trail out of the campground. Callie again had a bit of a meltdown when it came to getting in her hiking backpack, but we got her in eventually and I carried her while Chris carried Ford. It was super hot and to be honest, I didn’t last long before feeling ready to turn around. We got to the base of the cinder cone, enjoyed the view for a moment, and then headed back for some brunch.
We spent the afternoon on the water again which was perfect because this location was about 90F on average for the days we were there.
Dinner back at camp and an early night!
DAY 5 - Butte Lake to Elk Prairie Campground
Packed up and left camp; found a dump station on our way out at Old Station.
Grabbed some coffee at Higher Grounds and groceries in Redding (gross and hot, 110+).
We didn’t stop as the kids were napping but next time I’d love to take our time and stop at the cute little towns along the way like Whiskeytown and Weaverville.
Set up camp at Elk Prairie Campground which was UNBELIEVABLE!
My parents stayed about 30 minutes away at Sound of Sea RV Park.
DAY 6 - Elk Prairie Campground
We made breakfast and drove over to Gold Bluffs Beach for another hike at Fern Canyon.
TIP: You have to make a day reservation in order to get in/access the parking lot for this hike. Super easy to do, just visit: https://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/ferncanyonpermits.htmHiked the Coastal Trail and made it to a small waterfall, where we stopped nearby to have our paperbag lunches.
Visited my parents’ RV camp and then made our way back to Elk Prairie where we made some massive burgers for dinner.
We ended the night taking a stroller walk, finding a big group of elk and listening to a campfire talk.
DAY 7 - Elk Prairie Campground
Chris and Callie went on a morning run while I walked around with Ford.
Met my parents down at Agate Beach where we combed the shore for agates, shells, and other pretty stones. Needless to say, Callie’s pockets were heavy and full!
Then we drove a little further down to Trinidad and had lunch at Trinidad Bay Eatery.
Stopped at Moonstone Winery in town for a quick tasting and then headed back to our campsite for the night.
DAY 8 - Elk Prairie to Monterey/Salinas
We had an easy breakfast and packed things up as quickly as we could to get on the road.
Made our way down through Northern California and managed to squeeze in a quick stop to say hi to some friends in the East Bay.
Decided to drive as far as we were comfortable with and ended up booking a KOA campsite in the Monterey/Salinas area, not far from Santa Cruz.
DAY 9 - Travel Home
Not really anything exciting to report for our last day of the trip - it was another “get home as quickly as we can” type of day. Stopped once in the middle of nowhere for gas and made it home by mid afternoon.
Once we were home, we immediately unpacked the trailer, cleaned, and got it ready to return the next day.
We had SUCH a fun time on this trip and are already dreaming up next trips to take! It was awesome renting the trailer and we are excited to try out different models/floor plans in the future.
Do you have (or have ever rented) an Airstream or RV? Would love to hear any tips, tricks and recommendations you have from experience!
