America’s west coast gives you everything from sun-drenched sub-tropical beaches to year-round skiing, starkly beautiful desert to temperate rainforest, youthful volcanoes to ancient mesa. Then there are the cities, like Los Angeles in California. Here Hollywood draws hopeful starlets by the score, Anaheim’s Disneyland brings the families, surfers come for the waves especially at Huntington Beach Orange County, and a great climate brings everyone else.
There is just so much to see and do in this part of the United States that you could plan to come for a week and end up staying a year, just to fit everything in.
The views of San Diego are superb from Ramona, in the Sierra Nevada foothills, where golfers will enjoy Mt Woodson Golf Club. While here you must go to the excellent San Diego Zoo, Sea World and Belmont Park. Go shopping at Horton Plaza, visit the historical Gas Lamp Quarter and head down to Tijuana, Mexico, as well as visiting the beautiful beaches on Coronado Peninsula. Watch the baby seals frolic in La Jolla’s cove and surf and dive its waters, or play the Torrey Pines golf course.
Del Mar’s beautiful beach is great for boogie boarding and the view from Solana Beach’s sandstone cliffs are superb. The foothills around golf-mad Carlsbad are carpeted with wildflowers each spring and worth visiting if you’re there at that time of year. Also check out Oceanside’s surf museum. San Clement has an incredible beach and is the one Southern Californian coastal town with wilderness on both sides.
Tehachapi, alongside the Mojave Desert, is another good golf spot, while Palm Springs, in the Colorado Desert, has over one hundred courses. Enjoy the giant redwoods of Mount San Jacinto, the oasis in Indian Canyons, and Joshua Tree’s unusual desert. The lakes in the picturesque valleys of the San Bernardino Mountains offer a cool respite, serene pine forests and remarkable rim-of-the-world views. Fish, swim, hike, ski and snowshoe Big Bear Lake and Lake Arrowhead. Helensvale’s PGA-Rated Robert Trent Jones golf course is top notch, and the whale watching is good all along the spectacular Big Sur coast.
Catch a boat to the Channel Islands from Oxnard and visit Avila Beach which has great hot springs. It is said that Rincon Point’s surf, near Ventura, is the best state-wide. Go wine tasting in flower-filled Santa Ynez Valley near Danish-style Solvang, fish Pismo Beach’s long pier before touring Hearst Castle, and whatever you do, don’t miss the drive from Carmel to Pacific Grove – it is simply gorgeous. The rocky promontories of Monterey Bay are filled with hidden cove beaches, tidal pools and marine life, while the antique cable cars and steep streets of San Francisco are iconic, as is the Golden Gate Bridge.
Tour the exquisite Yosemite National Park for the wonderful views and magnificent wildlife. Napa is California’s best-known wine area and Clear Lake is perfectly positioned between three of the best wine producers – Napa, Mendocino and Sonoma. Point Arena also offers some of the best sport fishing around, and Lake Tahoe is famous for so much - fishing, snow, and glamorous parties. And, the crisp Sierra air, blazing sunsets and deep clear water are all spectacular.
Oregon also has nice beaches, but they’re more renowned for beachcombing, tidal pools and kite surfing. This focus on sea life is perhaps why Newport’s aquarium is among the nation’s best. Sport fishing here is first rate too - including for shellfish – so seafood is a must when eating out. The surrounding area is known for tall spruce forests, barking sea lions, state parks and lighthouses. Kayak the wildlife refuge offshore Otter Rock or surf legendary Devil’s Punchbowl, or go whale-watching from the towering basalt cliffs around Depoe Bay (for all but two months of the year) and feast on clam chowder in Gleneden Beach.
You can drive interesting country roads to Salem from Lincoln City, or go bird watching in Nestucca Bay, while the fishing where Neskowin and Hatch Creeks merge is fantastic.
Take the picturesque Three Capes Scenic Drive past the Tillamook cheese factories to Rockaway Beach’s miles of sandy shores - Seaside is reputed to have the best swimming beach. Visit Crater Lake National Park on your way to Sunriver, where you can either play golf on one of its two championship golf courses or go exploring the rich volcanic heritage, especially the Newberry Crater Volcanic Monument and the lava observatory at night.
For shoppers, Oregon is tax free and Bend has some great outlet malls. You’ll be sure to pick up some great bargains! Go white water rafting through the Deschutes River Gorge in summer and ski Mt Bachelor in winter. Climb Smith Rock State Park, hike the Cascades and fish Billy Chinook Lake.
Try and get to Welches for year-round skiing on Mt Hood. You’ll also find glaciers, lakes, waterfalls and three good golf courses. The youthful Washington volcano, Mt St Helens, is close enough to Ocean Park, with its enormous beach, lighthouses and dramatic Cape Disappointment. Ocean Shores is excellent for anglers, bird watchers and horse riding on the beach.
Copalis Beach has otters in the creek, more razor clams and the Quinault Casino. Union has gourmet seafood restaurants and nearby Lake Cushman is a favourite for anglers and hunters. And the emerald expanse of the Hoh Rainforest is a must to see.
From Auburn take a visit to Spray Falls in Mount Rainier National Park, gaze at Tacoma’s Chihuly Bridge of Glass and come back to a mega-mall, horse racing and great casinos. Dive Kent’s Saltwater State Park, play its popular Riverbend golf course and visit its unique powerboat museum.
Seattle may be rainy, but it also has the Space Needle, the Boeing Plant, Pike Place Market, vintage clothing and brew pubs in eclectic Fremont, as well as the best coffee – or so everyone says. Catch a ferry to Sequim and the amazing Olympic Peninsula, lavender fields and wineries. New Dungeness Bay has a historic lighthouse and incredible birdlife and you can walk the wooden bridge into the lush Cape Flattery wetlands. When not fishing for salmon, go skiing or snowshoeing, have breakfast at Blueberry Hills, and play Desert Canyon and Bear Mountain golf courses.
If you fly into Roche Harbor on a seaplane, the scenery will be the first thing that impresses. Then there’s the orca viewing and scuba diving at Lime Kiln Point and beachcombing on Crescent Beach. Glacier offers skiing at Mt Baker and there are waterfalls you must see at Nooksack River Falls.
The Pacific Coast of the United States has just so much to offer, you won’t be able to see it all in one visit. Spanning the states of California, Oregon and Washington, each wonderful region has enough to keep you entranced for your entire holiday. But with so many adventures to be had, you will simply have to go back for repeat visits.
Discover where 7Across members are exploring.
Browse below to see some of the resorts other members have recently booked and spark your curiosity.