OT: Driving California Options

[patssle]

Seems like there are a ton of Cali 914ers around here, so thought I would pop the question here.

In September I will be driving out to California for 2 weeks (not in the 914). Never been west of Vegas yet, so this will be a first. Last year I drove about 10k miles between the 4 corner states in May and the Appalachians in November - so I love driving.

I'm in the research phase right now. I tentatively have in mind of heading up California on the eastern end through Death Valley, Yosemite, and to Tahoe...then over to the coast and down Highway 1.

My main question would be...is it worth the entire drive from San Francisco down to San Diego on the coast, or does it get repetitive?

I'm not really interested in the touristy stuff (with a couple exceptions), I'm more for the geography, national parks, and getting away from the populated areas. If you have any suggestions on natural areas, I'd appreciate it!

[zx-niner]

I'll be the dissenter here. Hwy. 1 is boring. Everytime I try it, I get about 2 hours into the drive and cut east to Hwy. 101. If you take the PCF and find yourself bored, too, get over to the 101 and find Hwy. 58 east to Bakersfield. Great road and tons of little known canyons in the same vicinity. I'm sure that Highways 166, 154 and 198 are also great canyon roads.

I would rank Death Valley highly except for the time of the year you're traveling. You really should do that drive before May 1. If you do end up in Death Valley and are near Hwy. 395, any one of the 5 passes over the Sierra Nevadas coming off 395 are terrific-- Hwy. 155, Hwy. 120, Hwy. 108, Hwy. 4, or Hwy. 88. Highway 49 running north-south through the Gold Country is also nice.

You can probably sense where my preferences lie. I realized long ago I am not an ocean or forest person. I love the desert and foothills. The other benefit is these roads tend to be less traveled, therefore fewer rolling chicanes and CHP.