Pacific Coast Family Road Trip: Oregon to California with Kids
This Pacific Coast family road trip was absolutely amazing! We soaked up sun on beautiful beaches, enjoyed wonderful family time, and stood in awe among the majestic Redwoods. To top it off, our brand-new Topo Topper Rincon made its debut and proved to be everything we’d hoped for and more.
Traveling with Kids: “How Do You Do It?”
This question comes up in nearly every conversation we have about our road trips. While our children are naturally good travelers who embrace big adventures, 53+ hours of driving still requires strategic preparation to keep everyone happy during those marathon carseat sessions.
Before diving into our trip details, here are the strategies that proved most effective on this particular journey:
Adventure Bags: I packed each child a personalized bag filled with engaging activities. The favorite was a simple DIY binocular craft made from cardboard tubes—the girls loved it, exclaiming “Wow, I can see it so much clearer!” as they peered out the windows. Their bags also included Mad Libs (perfect for our first grader who is learning about verbs and nouns), drawing pads with markers and pencils, how-to-draw books, and carefully selected reading materials.
Interactive Entertainment: We rotated through car games like scavenger hunts, travel bingo, and classic “I Spy” to break up long stretches. Audiobooks and music playlists provided intermittent relief. Dennis and I maintained our ongoing tradition of hunting for license plates from all US states and Canadian provinces—we have yet to find them all on a single trip!
The Final Leg: On those truly epic travel days, our pre-downloaded Disney movies on the iPhone became absolute lifesavers for powering through the final exhausting hours.
Now, on to the adventure itself!
Grand Junction CO → Ventura CA
Our Pacific Coast family road trip began with a 14-hour drive from Grand Junction to Ventura, California to pick up our new Topo Topper Rincon camper. Preparing for this trip was a bit more complicated than usual—we had to remove our truck topper and rooftop tent to make way for the new camper installation, which meant we couldn’t just toss everything in the truck bed like we normally would.
The cab of our CrewMax Tundra became a tetris game of backpacks, duffel bags, blankets, pillows, and snack bags. By the time we hit the road, there was barely any wiggle room left! I have never been more thankful for having a giant cab!
We checked into a hotel upon arriving in Ventura—a rarity for our family since we almost always camp. The hotel overlooked a harbor with the ocean just a short walk away. The next morning, Dennis went to drop off the Tundra for the camper installation while the kids and I enjoyed breakfast. A dear friend who lives in Ventura kindly shuttled Dennis back to us, and together we all walked to the beach. It was such a joy to reconnect with our friend and to watch the kids play in the sand and surf!
Ventura’s beautiful beach ended up being one of many highlights of our journey.
Around noon, Dennis picked up the truck with our new Topo Topper Rincon installed. We were so excited that we immediately set it up in a parking lot for everyone to check out, though we wouldn’t actually be sleeping in it for another week.
Ventura CA → Monterey CA
From Ventura, we drove north to Monterey to visit more close friends. They treated us to an incredible time. These are some of the memorable things we did in Monterey:
- Sipped our friend’s homemade fancy Americanos and Lattes
- Walked around downtown and checked out some of the incredible gardens
- Enjoyed a delicious brunch at a local spot
- Played at a beach and learned about some of the shells and anemones
- Got a personalized tour from our friends at the aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is truly spectacular! The jellyfish exhibits were my absolute favorite—so mesmerizing to watch them gracefully pulsing through the water in an almost hypnotic display. Besides the jellyfish, we enjoyed seeing sharks, a kelp forest, sea otters, huge spider crabs, puffin birds, and more! The aquarium makes for a worthwhile visit when in Monterey, though admission prices are steep. We justified the cost as an educational experience for homeschooling.
Monterey CA → Bend OR
When it came time to say goodbye to our friends in Monterey, we headed to Bend, Oregon to visit my brother and sister-in-law who had recently welcomed a new baby. After months of anticipatory build-up, my kids were thrilled to finally meet their baby cousin! We shared accommodations with my parents, making it a wonderful week filled with family time.
Here are some of the other memorable things we did during our Bend visit:
- Visited with family and soaked in so many snuggles
- Walked to fun parks in my brother’s neighborhood
- Played and hiked near the Deschutes River
- Ate delicious food from different restaurants and food trucks
- Enjoyed the best pizza ever out of my brother’s pizza oven
- Made tasty s’mores
- Visited the High Desert Museum
The High Desert Museum exceeded our expectations with its impressive variety of indoor and outdoor exhibits. Our kids were particularly fascinated by the mining exhibit, the hands-on fractals display, the Native American cultural exhibits, and the playful otters. But, there was so much more than that! We enthusiastically logged this as a valuable educational outing for our homeschool year. If you’re visiting Bend, this museum is absolutely worth your time.
On top of all of this, I managed to sneak away for a few refreshing bike rides on Bend’s trails—what a treat! I can still recall the distinctive smell of pine trees as we wound through the forests.
The Overland Adventure Begins
After our time in Bend, we transitioned to a more “overland” style journey for our trip home, finally putting our new Topo Topper camper to good use!
DAY 1: Bend → Umpqua Lighthouse State Park
Leaving Bend, we drove through lush green mountains toward Newport and the Oregon Coast. It was a beautiful and relatively short journey of just a few hours. A favorite stop along this stretch was Sister’s Bakery, where we indulged in some delicious donuts and pastries! While we chose the fastest route to the coast, there are plenty of alternative options featuring additional trails, campgrounds, and waterfalls for those wanting to take their time.
Our family could barely contain our excitement when we reached the coast. What a spectacular place! The kids were so eager to get to a beach that we drove right past the Newport Sea Lion Docks that I had planned as a quick leg-stretching stop. Instead, we headed south on Highway 101 and made our first stop at a beach near Seal Rock. The kids had a blast playing in the sand, watching the waves, and searching for anemones in tide pools.
From here, another short drive brought us to Yachats State Park, where we explored a rocky beach, discovered more anemones, watched powerful waves crash against the rocks, and climbed on driftwood.
Next, we drove to our pre-booked campsite at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. What a lovely spot! The facilities were clean, and we were fortunate to snag a campsite right next to the trailhead for a path that circles a small lake. The mile-long hike around the lake is absolutely worth doing! Coming from Colorado’s desert climate, walking through the lush, green vegetation with abundant ferns felt refreshingly exotic.
This was our first night in the Topo Topper! Even without all the final touches (insulation, lights, etc.), it was a tremendous success. The girls and I fit comfortably up top while Dennis found a cozy sleeping space below (though at 6 feet tall in a 5.5-foot bed, he had to angle himself diagonally). Having all five of us snuggled into the same space was wonderful—a significant improvement over our previous rooftop tent setup.
DAY 2: Umpqua Lighthouse State Park → Harris Beach State Park
The next morning, we packed up and made the brief drive from our campsite to the beach. We spent a few blissful hours playing in the sand and building castles, mermaids, and even a sand-Maui (we’ve been in a Moana phase).
Our middle child particularly loved climbing over all the driftwood—I think she could have explored those natural jungle gyms for hours if we’d had the time! But with the afternoon nap time approaching, we needed to get back on the road for our short 2.5-hour drive to the next campsite.
The coastal drive is absolutely breathtaking! We made just one impromptu stop at Ariya’s Beach. It was one of those “Oh my gosh, this is so beautiful—pull over!” moments. What we didn’t anticipate was the incredible wind! We zipped up our coats and pushed through the gusts to explore driftwood, find crab shells, and check out some massive beach rocks.
It was a very short drive from Ariya’s beach to our next reserved campsite at Harris Beach State Park Campground. This was another great campsite and gets a 5 star rating from us! We popped our camper, made dinner, and headed to the playground—a major highlight for the kids! After about an hour of running around, we hiked the short trail to Sunset Point, which lived up to its name with a spectacular sunset view.
DAY 3: Harris Beach State Park → Jedediah Smith Redwoods
The following morning, we enjoyed a pancake breakfast before hiking down to Harris Beach. The day was much warmer and sunnier than the previous one. We ran along the water’s edge, explored more tide pools, and rolled in the sand—a perfect morning at the beach.
As nap time approached, we jumped in the car and continued our Pacific Coast family road trip with a short drive (less than an hour) from the Oregon beach to California’s Jedediah Smith Campground. The drive through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park on Highway 199 was absolutely incredible! The trees were massive! There were a couple small pull-offs with hiking trails, though we didn’t stop at them this time.
As soon as we found our campsite, we began exploring and immediately discovered Trillium flowers and banana slugs! After preparing dinner, we ventured onto the campground hiking trails. These were perfect for families with young children! We took a short side trail to a beach on the Smith River (watch out for poison oak!), where the kids enjoyed throwing rocks in the water. The main trail through the redwoods featured informational signs about the trees—it was humbling to stand beneath these towering giants.
As part of our homeschool, we had done some educational preparation for our redwoods visit. Two great resources we used were the NPS and the Save the Redwoods League websites. We learned about the history of the redwoods forests and the trees themselves. We also learned cool facts about banana slugs, like how they have 26,000 teeth on their tongue! Studying these amazing creatures before our adventure made finding them in the wild even more exciting. There is so much more to learn on these sites! I’d highly recommend all Redwood visitors look through them before their trip.
DAY 4: Jedediah Smith Redwoods → Gold Bluffs Beach
After a refreshing night in the redwoods, we had breakfast and headed south to the Trillium Falls trailhead. This beautiful hike took us through towering redwoods to a lovely little waterfall nestled in the woods. We did a simple out-and-back to the falls, though there is a larger loop option available.
Following this enchanting trail experience, we drove through the forest back to the coast and found our campsite at Gold Bluffs Beach Campground. What an amazing spot—our campsite was practically right on the beach! It was very quiet, and we felt like we had the whole beach to ourselves. Important note for fellow travelers: this campground cannot accommodate trailers.
In retrospect, I wish we had arrived earlier to tackle the Fern Canyon hike that’s adjacent to the campground. This is apparently where scenes from Jurassic Park were filmed! Not wanting to push our luck with daylight, we stayed and explored the beach instead. It was beautiful and peaceful, but the GNATS were terrible. We called it an early night and took shelter in the truck camper to escape the biting insects. We continued to battle the itchy bites for another 10 days afterward! I’m unsure if the gnats are seasonal or a year-round nuisance there.
DAY 5: Gold Bluffs Beach → Lassen National Forest
The next morning, we woke to find Roosevelt elk at our campsite! It was amazing! We enjoyed elk-watching, breakfast, and some beach time before we bid farewell to the ocean, packed up, and headed inland.
The scenery along the winding Highway 299 was stunning, with the climate growing progressively drier as we drove. We stopped in Redding, CA for fuel and picked up dinner at Trader Joe’s before continuing just under an hour to our next campsite. This time, we found dispersed camping in the National Forest outside Lassen Volcanic National Park.
The return to familiar dispersed camping felt refreshing after our string of established campgrounds. The forest was impressive with ENORMOUS pinecones! We enjoyed playing on the bare forest floor that evening.
Despite the logging trucks that began rumbling by around 3:30 AM, the camping was great, and we would definitely stay there again. There seemed to be many dispersed sites available, all of which were empty during our visit.
DAY 6: Lassen National Forest → Bonneville Salt Flats
We had specifically chosen the Lassen National Forest campsite for its proximity to Lassen Volcanic National Park—we couldn’t just drive by without exploring!
The next morning, we drove into the park, which wasn’t very crowded. The main road was closed due to snow, so we drove as far as the closure and let the kids play in the snow for about an hour. They had a blast sliding down slopes and throwing snowballs before we packed up for another full day of driving.
We journeyed 8-9 hours across Nevada. Upon reaching Utah, we pulled off onto BLM land near the Bonneville Salt Flats, where we found one of several dispersed campsites. It was dark when we arrived, but the stars were absolutely stunning! We appreciate how easy the Topo Topper is to set up—it didn’t take long before we could transfer our sleepy kids into bed.
DAY 7: Bonneville Salt Flats → Grand Junction, CO
In the morning, the view of the Salt Flats was impressive.
On our way out, we drove right by the Bonneville Salt Flats International Raceway, though we didn’t stop to explore it this time. By this point, we were eager to complete our journey and return home to Colorado. We did make one priority stop for coffee at a cute shop in Salt Lake City. The cold brew was delicious and the girls thoroughly enjoyed their pastries.
We arrived home before dinner that evening, bringing our incredible Pacific Coast family road trip to an official close. A week later, we’re still unpacking and finding little piles of sand that make us smile at the wonderful memories we created during this unforgettable Pacific Coast adventure.
We’d love to hear about your Pacific Coast adventures in the comments below! What are your favorite campsites, must-do hikes, or hidden gem destinations? Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions about our route, the campsites we stayed at, or our Topo Topper setup. There’s nothing better than connecting with fellow camping enthusiasts!
