This summer is the perfect time to take a Northern California road trip! NorCal is absolutely gorgeous, one of the great treasures of the country. But it can be difficult to plan your trip effectively to get the most out of our lovely state.

Lucky for you, we’ve done this a few times. At Sacramento Car Transport, we spend a lot of time driving around California and taking in the beautiful scenery. Therefore, we’ve amassed a fair amount of knowledge about how to best enjoy the Golden State. So let us help plan your road trip!

The must-sees: Yosemite, the Redwoods, and Big Sur

Northern California road trips have to include one of these three parks to call themselves road trips. After all, if you’re road tripping in California, chances are good that you’ve had one of these places on your bucket list for a long time.

The problem is, they’re not particularly close together. From Big Sur to Yosemite, it takes about 5 hours on the road. And that’s the shortest trip of the three! Not to mention that all three places take a couple of days to really enjoy, especially Yosemite.So, when planning your trip, make sure to allow for multiple days at each destination as well as a full day of travel time between them.

Prioritize what you really want

Road trips require a fair amount of pragmatism when in the planning phase. You have to sit down and decide: what do I really want to do? If you would love to visit Yosemite but expect to find the redwoods a little underwhelming, then either cut it from this trip or plan to do it at the end of the trip. When you first set out, you’re fresh-faced (and freshly washed) and ready to tackle anything. You’ll want to use that energy on the things that you really want to do, and save your tired, road-weary self for less important destinations.

Take care of yourself

Nobody sees the whole state of California in one trip. Nobody expects you to! It’s important on a Northern California road trip to pay attention to yourself and your needs. If you’ve bitten off more than you can chew (most people do this on any road trip), there’s no shame in staying in a nicer hotel for a couple of days to recharge. You can always cut the trip short, too! We bet that you’ll want to come back soon anyway, so leave some sights for the next time.