Big Basin State park

Hi All-

A group of friends are going to visit our friend that lives near SF and then drive back on the Cal coast(Hwy1) to Oregon in lateApril/earlyMay. I have a few questions...

Has anyone stayed at Big Basin State Park, specifically their tent cabins? How was it? Is this a relatively good place central to Santa Cruz %26amp; montarery Bay, %26amp; SF?

I looked on the Cal State Parks page and was wondering if there were any other %26#39;tent cabin%26#39; or yurt camping along the North coast Parks. It didn%26#39;t look like it but, thought I%26#39;d ask anyways.

What are the great parks/towns to see from SF up to Eureka? I%26#39;m pretty familiar with the Redwood area up north from Eureka to CC.

Thanks for your help!!!

Big Basin State park

If you like camping, the tent cabins are nice areas in Big Basin. There are other places that are fancier close by such as Costanoa for tent cabins; if you want to take a look, here is their web site:

http://www.costanoa.com/site.php

Coastanoa is definitely upscale.

Big Basin State park

The tent cabins at Big Basin are pretty nice, much better than the Camp Curry or Housekeeping cabins at Yosemite for example. You have a full size campsite with firepit and picnic table and each cabin has a wood burning stove that keeps it toasty inside (buy almond wood outside the park, it will last longer than the pine blocks they sell at the park).

It%26#39;s great for a night or two, while visiting and hiking in the park, although the trees are not as big and the forest is not as lush as north of Eureka. But not a good place to camp and commute back and forth to Monterey or especially San Francisco, the roads are too narrow and winding, and the road to the north is very very narrow for ten miles. Not bad as a one time thing, but you wouldn%26#39;t want to be going back and forth over several days.

Costanoa would be a better place to camp and commute.

Bayatuning is right. Big Basin is not a convenient base from which to visit Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Francisco. It is on winding roads and your commutes back and forth would not be timely.

From SF to Eureka you could leave Hwy 101 and drive the Alexander Valley, with wineries and lovely scenery.

Or, you could take River Road from Hwy 101 in Santa Rosa and drive down the Russian River, stopping near Guerneville to visit Armstrong Grove Redwoods State Park, and then turning north on Hwy 1 at Jenner for a spectacular 13 mile drive to Fort Ross and then on to Gualala and Sea Ranch and on to Mendocino.

Search here to see if any of these interest you.

Thank you all for your help- maybe Big Basin wouldn%26#39;t be such a hot place. I was kind of hoping to visit SC and Monterey Bay area, somewhat on the cheap(without staying in a grumpy hotel).

I hadn%26#39;t thought about going through the winery area N of SF. I%26#39;m not much into winerys, but since we%26#39;re in the area-it might be kind of fun to at least say we went through sonoma area.

Another option is to check the KOA Campgrounds - they have camping cabins - some of these parks are nice and they have them throughout California. Just another idea to explore...

koakampgrounds.com/facilities/…ca.htm

If you want to try visiting Santa Cruz and Monterey on a budget, it is off season and you might be lucky near the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz with low rates. (on weeknights). Then, only a less than hour%26#39;%26#39;s drive to Monterey, which will be pricey. Try www.bayfrontinns.com and santacruzmotels.com. (I am thinking specifically of the Carousel for a good rate), There are also two Super 8%26#39;s in that area, but they don%26#39;t give websites. You might google. The rates start at $49, according to the AAA Tour Guide.

Good luck on your decision.

Hey Puter-

That sounds pretty reasonable for prices. Thanks for everyones help,,,I will check it out. :)

';But not a good place to camp and commute back and forth to Monterey or especially San Francisco, the roads are too narrow and winding, and the road to the north is very very narrow for ten miles. Not bad as a one time thing, but you wouldn%26#39;t want to be going back and forth over several days. ';

You all do realize of course, that many people do indeed do this commute DAILY because they live in Boulder Creek and work in SF, Silicon Valley, etc. But yes, no sane person recommends this.

I doubt that anyone who commutes from Boulder Creek to the SF Bay Area would take Hwy 236 through Big Basin State Park on their way to work. They would stick to Hwy 9, which is winding enough, but it%26#39;s almost a freeway compared to 236.

Check out Sanborn Skyline park. I was just there on Sunday. I believe they have some sort of hostel accomodations. It is just outside of Saratoga which is a charming little town a bit inland. It is between SF and santa cruz if you take 280 to 85 or 17 to get to Saratoga. There may be a bit more to do but you still get to stay up in ';the woods';. Big Basin is a bit remote and the drive in can be brutal if you get car sick.

http://www.sanbornparkhostel.org/about.html