Southern Tier

[TomR]

I'm cycling from Santa Monica Pier to St. Augustine staring September 7th using the Southern Tier Map. I would like the best way to connect to ACA route from the Santa Monica Pier. Also, my wife will be supporting me with our truck camper. Where is a good camp site in this area?

[aggie]

I'm not sure there is a best way to cross the LA basin to get to the Southern Tier.  The most direct route is to get to the Palm Springs area.  In North Palm Springs you can take Dillon Rd all the way to Indio to connect with Interstate 10 east.  That will take you to Blythe where you can connect to the ST.  This isn't a very attractive route.  You can follow the Pacific Coast route to San Diego and connect to the ST there.  It is a much nicer route.  Not sure there are any campgrounds in the Santa Monica area.

[Jason]

I would suggest going down the coast - if for no other reason, you'll enjoy the ride a lot more.

As for the question about the campsites before/after/outside of Santa Monica, it really depends.  I've stayed in Malibu lagoon (north/west of Santa Monica about 12 miles) and it was awesome.  Conversely, I stayed south of Santa Monica at Dana Point.  I say stayed - I mean camped @ both.  Camping should be very good for you in September.  I did it in November after coming west along the southern Tier, and had no problems.

Malibu Lagoon is about 84 miles from Dana Point; Dana Point is about 65 miles from San Diego (Where you can then grab the southern tier west.)  The 84 mile trek is a piece of cake, flat, right along the ocean, etc.

One recommendation I would make is to pick up the free map of CA's campsites.  There's a version online, but in looking over it, it seems to be missing a few.  The paper version shows all the parks, with reference to which allow camping.

Hope that helps.

[pwantzel]

One recommendation I would make is to pick up the free map of CA's campsites.

What map specifically are you thinking of, and where is it available?

[Jason]

The map in question can be found at any one of the CA campsites - given to you by the park ranger.  There's also a map online through the official CA state park website, but as I mentioned above, I think that one may be missing a few - either way, the paper one is a good one.