The best way to explore California is by taking a road trip, preferably across the entire state or at least its northern and central parts.
Last updated: September 25, 2024
3-Day Road Trip across Northern and Central California: Itinerary
A road trip is one of our favorite ways of traveling across our so-to-say backyard. This “backyard”, however, can be way too broad and slip into neighboring states.
About a week ago, we focused solely on our home state. This time, our epic 3-day road trip took us from Southern California to central, eastern, and northern regions of the state.
A Rough Start of Our Road Trip across Northern and Central California
I must confess, we struggle a little bit with sticking to our plan, especially when it comes to leaving on time. Our plan was to hit the road at 8:00 a.m. But sometimes, things come up unexpectedly. That morning it was Dylan who decided to sleep until almost 8:00 a.m. Right after the boy got up, Roshan got a phone call that further slowed us down.
And with all of these and the last minute packing, we left the house around 9:00 a.m. Only one hour late. It’s quite a progress for us.
Note: At the time of updating this post, our packing and scheduling game improved tremendously. Moreover, we’ve been on multiple road trips across California and neighboring states, including Oregon, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.
From Los Angeles, we took U.S. Route 395 and headed north to Central California first. The first stretch of our 3-day road trip across the state took us nearly 5 hours.
Sitting in a car for such a long time, you don’t have anything else to do but talk your ear off. But these conversations go far beyond mere gossip and involve topics about values and life. This helps time go by so fast and you don’t even notice when you arrive at your next destination.
More Destinations for Future California – Nevada Road Trips
5 hours later, we reached Mammoth Lakes, the first point of our California road trip adventure. The truth is, there were many incredible temptations along the way, such as Red Rock Canyon State Park (we finally visited it last year) and Ghost Town.
On any other day, we’d definitely go off our path and explore all of them. During this California road trip, however, they didn’t make the cut. Our itinerary was pretty packed. There was simply no room for extra activities.
READ MORE: 3 of the Best Cross-State California Road Trips
3-DAY ROAD TRIP ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: DAY 1
Stop 1: Mammoth Lakes
During the first four hours, I couldn’t stop feeling guilty for overpacking. In late May – early June, it felt like summer had arrived in Southern and most of Central California. Furthermore, our previous trips taught us how to embrace minimalist travel and pack less. And here, I had almost the entire suitcase filled with warm clothes.
The weather forecast predicted temperatures in the low 50s in Central and Northern California. But it didn’t feel anything colder than 70 degrees until we reached Mammoth Lakes, which was winter cold. Relieved, I threw all those guilty feelings out of the window and put on a few layers before heading outside.
Mammoth Lakes is a town surrounded by snow-capped mountains and several alpine lakes. Lake Mary, our next destination, is one of the largest lakes in the region. Even at the end of May, it was freezing cold and looked like a winter wonderland.
Despite these harsh weather conditions, the gorgeous lake with the colossal mountains in the background attracted enough visitors. Yet since the adventure seekers chose different parts of the lake to explore, it didn’t feel busy and overcrowded at all.
Some travelers booked small lodges, nestled right on the shore, and enjoyed this “wintery idyll” in sunny California from the porches of their temporary houses. Others, like us, came just for one day to get a feel of the winter in Central California almost at the beginning of the summer.
Hiking in Central California
We planned our first road trip across Central and Northern California in the last days of the snowiest May in the history of Mammoth Lakes. Relishing this phenomenon longer was of most importance at that time.
Sadly hiking around Lake Mary with a sleepy baby was close to impossible. On top of that, some areas still held tight to the deep snow that reached almost to our waists. If it wasn’t enough, it started snowing. Big flakes that looked like hail quickly added a fresh layer atop the old snow. It was surreal (the heavy snow in California almost in the summer?) and beautiful at the same time.
Stop 2: Mammoth Mountain
Roshan, who’d been to the area before, wanted to revisit the famous Mammoth Mountain, a superior place to master your skiing game.
It could be such a fun experience for us. But with Dylan so small, we do simpler activities such as hiking, walking, and boating. Mammoth Mountain, though, is definitely a place to return sometime in the future.
Note: We haven’t been back to Mammoth Mountain yet. I think at seven now, Dylan would love to slide down the mountainside.
Stop 3: June Lake
Located roughly 24 miles north of Lake Mary, June Lake was ready for a change of season. The snow was gone, and trees turned green. Moreover, a few boats were cruising across the lake reminding us of the imminent warmer season.
Stop 4: Mono Lake
The day was slowly coming to an end. Sunset was supposed to be in about an hour or so. But we didn’t come so far to spend the golden hour on the road. For this special time of the day, we planned a stop at Mono Lake. The remarkable place is famous for its signature tufa groves and is known as one of the saltiest lakes in California.
It took us approximately 30 minutes to get to the saline soda lake. Initially, we missed a turn to the salt rocks and ended up at the Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center. With some instructions from a few random visitors, we got back on the road and traveled about eight miles back, reaching the right destination this time around.
Stop 5: Bridgeport
Bridgeport was the last stop during the first day of our 3-day road trip across Central and Northern California. We chose this place for a few reasons. First, it was on our way to our next destination, Lake Tahoe. Second, it offered the cheapest accommodations in the Mammoth Lakes area.
3-DAY ROAD TRIP ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: DAY 2
Stop 1: Bridgeport
Our original plan was to spend a night in Bridgeport and return to Mammoth Lakes the next day to explore more of its alpine kingdom. But the beauty of any road trip, especially the one across such a diverse state as California, is that you can always change your plans. We did just that, quickly and without any remorse.
We left our room in Bridgeport at 8:00 a.m. with the intention to spend a few more hours in the town. A map, conveniently provided by the hotel, showed that the area had a few interesting spots.
First thing first, I couldn’t leave Bridgeport without soaking in one of its abundant hot springs. Again, this was not something new for Roshan. The closest hot spring was just 2 miles away from our hotel.
Soaking in Hot Springs in Bridgeport, California
The dirt road to the hot spring area was bumpy, which slowed us down significantly. Yet we still didn’t expect to see hordes of travelers here. It was a cold Sunday morning. Who wanted to freeze here so early? By the time of our arrival, however, the closest to the road hot springs were already occupied.
We parked and went in the opposite direction, hoping to find some empty pools. Roshan spotted one after just a few minutes of walking. While we were testing the water of this hot spring, a couple with a dog approached it from the opposite side. They were the next after us to sit in the warm pool with the dramatic California mountains in the background.
More Places to Explore in Bridgeport
We explored a few more places in Bridgeport before hitting the road again. The highlight was a short, 5-mile road trip into a forested area up in the mountains. The road was steep, and the forest was getting denser the farther we drove. The wind picked up as well, threatening to blow us off the road.
But the views of the valley down at the bottom of the mountains were worth it. As a nice surprise, it began to snow. But this time big snowflakes, not snowy balls that looked like hail (from the day 1 of our 3-day road trip across Central and Northern California) were descending from the sky.
Stop 2: South Lake Tahoe
It was almost noon when we left Bridgeport and drove to South Lake Tahoe. Two hours later, Roshan checked into our lodge and we were ready to explore. Not quite sure where to go, we started at a beach 5 minutes away from our home away from home.
The weather in South Lake Tahoe also didn’t have any intention to pamper us with any beach activities. It was the coldest of all the places we visited during this 3-day California road trip. I read that during this time last year, Lake Tahoe was getting ready for all the spring and summer activities. It wasn’t even close to it this year.
Stop 3: Emerald Bay State Park
A few more locations and city beaches later, and we were on our way to Emerald Bay State Park, one of the most beautiful California parks nestled on the outskirts of South Lake Tahoe. The farther we drove, the more we liked what we saw.
Emerald Bay State Park is the crown jewel of Lake Tahoe. The place boasts several scenic hikes, famous Fannette Island, and plenty of opportunities for water activities.
3-DAY ROAD TRIP ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: DAY 3
Sacramento
Our 3-day road trip across Central and Northern California was coming to an end. We had one more destination on our list before heading back to Los Angeles.
Located just 2 hours west of South Lake Tahoe, Sacramento is the capital of California. We didn’t have too many expectations from the city. They say you have to see the state capital at least once. And since none of us had been to Sacramento before, we used this 3-day California road trip to accomplish this goal.
While the city deserved its own praise and laurels, the 2-hour road trip to the capital of California left us in awe. During these couple of hours we experienced all four seasons. Four seasons in the matter of just 2 hours and about 100 miles, was it even possible? It was.
We left South Lake Tahoe in, what it looked and felt like, late fall. About 40 minutes later, the winter wonderland unexpectedly greeted us with the heavy snowfall. It was so beautiful that nothing could stop us from pulling over and playing in that fresh snow.
The winter, however, didn’t last long. In about 30 minutes (while we were driving), spring with its warm rain took over. By the time we reached Sacramento, the summer was reigning outside.
