San Francisco to Seattle
 

I am heading from San Francisco to Seattle at the end of May and have about a week to do this stretch. Any advice on the best route to take. what to see and where to stay would be greatly appreiciated.

I'm not from that area, but have been that way a couple of times. Obviously, highway 1 up the coast is spectacular, and through some really nice little towns like Mendocino and Elk. I did that ride in two long days, would have much preferred a week!

on a different trip, I spent a couple weeks zig-zagging through oregon and washington. after a certain point in oregon, I think when you're about even with eugene, the road goes away from the coast and gets fairly tedious. there's a great road through mckenzie pass heading toward i think bend oregon, then you can head toward mount hood, hood river (cool town), mt st helens, mt ranier, and then up to seattle. hopefully some locals will chime in, and i would check on advrider as well. there is some really great riding in that area, so have fun!

Check out (into) the Lost Coast in northern California - Humbolt County.

While Hwy 101 up along the Oregon/Washington coast is good, to my liking it is too crowded, too touristy. Motoreiter made a lot of good suggestions I would concur with. Try a bit of the coast, but try the interior as well - lots of great rides through the coastal range into the interior.

Just rode up that way. Coast highway whenever possible (rt. 1, then 101) until about halfway through Oregon, where it starts getting more congested and less scenic. At that point, think about heading away from the coast into the Coast Range, where there are lots of twisty local highways, or Cascades, where there are volcanic features not seen many places. During May, remember that much in the Cascades will still be snowbound, so check ahead. Remember also that it's still rainy season along the coast, so that as you get further north you're likely to see more greenery, more rivers and streams, more big trees....but correspondingly more logging devastation and more miserable, gloomy, rainy weather. Although you could luck out for a week.

The Lost Coast is wonderful in any sort of reasonable weather. I never get tired of the redwoods, and if you're a fan of large trees the rainy side of the Olympics (e.g., Hoh River Valley in Olympic National Park) is amazing.

You don't say what sort of riding you're interested in, or what sort of bike you're riding. More specifics from you might elicit more specific suggestions; personally, I favor backroads and dirt whenever I've got the time, but you could also easily buzz the whole route from the Bay Area to Seattle in a couple of days along the dreaded I-5 corridor.

Hope that helps.

Mark

The three things that you should hit among many...

1. Lost Coast Road...Humboldt County...and its state forests...stunning.

2. Cougar Dam...over by Eugene Oregon

3. Highway 229 in Oregon...

Oh and don't forget the Redwoods...

HTH

forgot to mention--don't stay in eureka, it sucks!

I also forgot to mention...skip Crater National Park. Winter snows usually keep the roads in the park closed until late June.