CalifornYEAH! Van Life in the Golden State Surprised Us

Our November was spent in California. We’d looked forward to visiting with family and friends, but to be honest, aside from that, we expected a posh, crowded landscape, unfriendly to Van-lifers and just waaaay too expensive to enjoy. While there was a kernal of truth to that stereotype– at least in some places– we surprised ourselves and loved the Golden State.

Totally plan to go back, too.

California is HUGE, after all, and diverse in its landscape, its culture, and its recreational opportunities. We won’t even try to sum it all up; too many items on our must-see list were left unchecked. Instead, we’ll detail the parts of the Golden State we did get a chance to explore. We hope our experience will help you plan your own travels.

A Few General Tips About Travel In California

Distance: California is a big state, really big. Don’t expect to zip from one cool area to another in an hour or two. We made that mistake in the valley central, which took us TWO days to cross owing to (many) twisty little roads and a work related stop outside of Fresno. When driving here, use your GPS to estimate driving time, and make sure you plan for some outside-the-van exploration along the way.

Gas Prices: California has higher gas prices than many other states. When we visited in November, that meant $5-6 something a gallon(!) When your home is a 14 mile-per-hour behemouth and the distances are looooong, travel can get pricey. Plan accordingly.

Eat and Drink Everything: There is a wealth of amazing food in California: both in variety and quality. Whatever kind of food you’re into, you will find it. We visited Peruvian food trucks, microbreweries, wineries, fast food falafel, amazing Italian, H Mart, and several taco stands… sigh. It was wonderful.

Cheap camping is possible, but you have to really look for it. Camping in California State Parks isn’t cheap, and at least some of the national parks (Pinnacles, for example) are run by private companies that don’t honor the 1/2 price for Golden Age Pass policy. But you can find cheap or free camping opportunities. While here, we used iOverlander , Harvest Host and other apps, stayed with family and friends, and traveled to less populated areas where free camping was plentiful. If you plan to camp on the coast, or near populated areas, you will have to spend a bit… or be super stealthy.

An overview of our California travels

Mount Shasta

After a lovely stay at a Harvest Host Brewery in the amusingly named town of Weed, California, we settled in with a kind friend for a few days of moochdocking in Mount Shasta. We loved the town of Mount Shasta right away.

First off, the majestic, imposing MOUNT SHASTA loomed over everything. Secondly, for us Western Mass folks, the town felt immediately like home. We felt like we were back among our peeps in the Pioneer Valley: ex-hippies, local artisans, progressive signs… there was even a natural foods co-op! But the scenery here was much more dramatic.

We went for a hike and enjoyed epic mountain views and an icy lake. Though we didn’t explore too far from town, we noticed that the national forest was closeby, with many more recreational opportunities. The whole Northeast corner of California felt woodsy and somewhat remote, New England-y, but with bigger everything.

The Central Coast

Next we headed west to visit family in Halfmoon Bay. This lovely, low-key beach town is south of San Francisco. We spent two weeks enjoying the company of family and exploring the beaches, walking paths, harbor views, and breweries nearby.

We also visited Filoli, a historic mansion with miraculous gardens. A few weeks after our visit, President Biden and Chinese Prime Minister Xi Jinping met in the very same gardens.

After our visit, we headed down the coast. We enjoyed the wild wind-bitten road with an expansive view of the ocean, so different from the forested coastline of Washington and Oregon. Then we stopped in Santa Cruz for groceries and to walk the pier. It was pretty quiet there mid-day, mid week. But we enjoyed the MANY sealions just below our feet on the pier. We also enjoyed some delicious falafel sandwiches. (Though they did make us homesick for the most awesome Pita Pockets filafel back home— check it out if you are ever Northhampton way)

Dry Creek Valley Wine Country

We were lucky to travel along with our California family on a tour of three wonderful wineries in the Dry Creek Valley. So much fun! We learned a lot about wine and got to taste a lot of wine too. It opened our eyes to a whole new kind of travel experience!

San Joaquin Valley

We didn’t plan to end up in the broad valley in the center of central California, but a landslide had closed the coastal road. So we headed inland to Pinnacles National Park. It turned out to be a lucky twist of fate– and twist was definitely the right word! We followed one twisty little farm road after another, zooming up and down, dry blond autumn hills. It was a lovely– though slow– drive.

The campground in Pinnacles, with its lively creek, was a true oasis. There was wildlife everywhere! We enjoyed watching deer, quail, turkeys and jays as evening fell. In the morning, we hiked Lower Bear Gulch Cave Trail, which was a fun, lowkey climbing experience.

Eastern Sierra

We skirted around sprawling, hot Bakersfield (might have been great there, but we had a destination in mind) and followed the Old Kern River Canyon up into the southern edge of the Sierras.

What a spectacular area this was! We had no idea, California held such stunning landscapes. We camped at Lake Isabella then headed down into the Owen’s River Valley.

There was no way we were going to bipass the iconic “van-life” boondocking opportunity that is the Alabama Hills. Managed by the BLM, this is a ridiculously scenic area. We spent five days among the wild rock formations and snow-frosted Sierra mountains. Camping at Alabama Hills is free– though you might lose a hubcap driving around looking for designated dispersed camping spots. (We did.)

After leaving the Alabama Hills, we headed along the edge of the Eastern Sierra as far as the town of Bishop. There, we replenished our groceries, did laundry, bought some (much needed) new-to-us shoes and a daypack at Mammoth Gear Exchange, and visited Mountain Rambler Microbrewery where we shared an extra large flight. We even had a soak at Keough Hot Springs.

Bishop was a great town. It felt like California… with a Wyoming edge. So many outdoor folks here! It was a great stop, and we will definitely return to do some hiking higher up in the Sierras.. and to revisit all the awesome spots we found.

Death Valley and Tecopa

This was the last area we explored in California. We’d planned to travel to some of the more remote areas of Death Valley National Park but most dirt roads were closed due to flooding when we were there. No matter, we camped in Texas Springs Campground, a “typical” national Park style spot, designed to fit as many people in as can be done comfortably.

We drove to some of the iconic spots, took a detour into Nevada for Thanksgiving week, met a friend, then drove back through Death Valley to Tecopa Hot Springs.

Tecopa was a whole different kind of California: a quirky desert outpost with several hot springs and a couple of haphazard restaurants. We loved it! We camped at Delight’s Hot Springs Resort. It was pricier than our typical spots, but unlimited soaks are included so…. why not?

If our time in California taught us one thing, it was that this state is much (much) more than the stereotype. California is deep woods, majestic mountains, windswept beaches, beachy boardwalks, vinyard covered valleys, flat acres of farmland, fields and fields of blond grasses. It is multicultural cities and towns, national parks, caves, an actual desert full of colorful badlands, hot springs, joshua trees, and an expansive range of snowcapped scenic mountains. What a state!

Do you have any tips for our next ramble around the Golden State? We’d love to hear them!