BROWSE PRODUCTS:
AA Best Drives California - The Far North 
PRODUCT FEATURES AT A GLANCE:
› Language: English
› File size (approx):
10mb
› Download includes PDF map for each route with suggested pit-stops
› See pictures and onscreen descriptions of key points along the route
› Compatibility: nuvi 700 series, Zumo series check guide
› Different Garmin? We have travel guides for every Garmin model. See product list on left.
About AA Best Drives California - The Far North
Download these recommended AA Best Drives to your Garmin! Simply press GO! and you’ll be navigated from your door to the start of the AA Route and right round the route until the end without needing to touch your Garmin again.
The Redwood Empire 604 miles
Redwood forests, rugged cliffs, secluded beaches and old logging communities line this spectacular drive along California’s northern coast. Highway 1 is tortuous and the going is slow, but the tour returns more speedily through the vineyards of the warm valleys. The so-called “Redwood Empire” extends from San Francisco all the way to the Oregon border. The mighty redwoods, the tallest trees on earth, grow along this coastal region and although they have been decimated by logging, several major forests are still in existence. California Highway 1 continues its spectacular journey up the coast past Muir Woods National Monument, 45 minutes from downtown San Francisco; Point Reyes National Seashore, Bodega, where Alfred Hitchcock filmed The Birds, and on to an old Russian fort on the Sonoma coast. Passing through increasingly wild scenery, the road continues to the charming artists’ colony of Mendocino, skirts numerous secluded beaches and runs through redwood forests to the perfectly preserved Victorian town of Ferndale. From Eureka, the major town on the north coast, Redwood National Park is a short drive north. The return route, on the inland highway, passes through the vineyards of Mendocino County and Alexander Valley on the way back to San Francisco.
Shasta Cascade 413 miles
Redding, the starting point of this tour (a five-hour drive north of San Francisco), is the gateway to the Far North, a wild region where old Gold Rush towns cling to the slopes of Mount Shasta and the remote Trinity Alps, and weird volcanic landscapes still bubble and steam – between eruptions. North of Redding, California is as wild and challenging as any area in the country. This tour heads north across Lake Shasta, created to generate electricity with the enormous Shasta Dam, the second tallest in the world. The dam can be visited on a short side trip. As the scenery becomes increasingly dramatic, the route passes Castle Crags before the white summit of Mount Shasta comes into view, looming over the highway. To the north are high, wide open spaces and the old gold town of Yreka, which still feels like a frontier settlement. From Yreka the road continues south past the remote Marble Mountains and through the forests of the Trinity Alps. The tour then returns toward Redding, stopping at the restored Chinese Joss House in Weaverville, and continues east from Redding to Lassen Volcanic National Park, rivaling Yellowstone in the variety and drama of its thermal displays. It then proceeds past Burney Falls to the southern side of Mount Shasta and the old lumber town of McCloud, before returning to Redding, across Lake Shasta.
Capital to Coast 369 miles
Leave California’s capital, passing through the northern Central Valley, and head for the Wine Country. The Sonoma and Alexander valleys lead to the Anderson Valley’s fruit orchards. The tour then leads up the rugged Mendocino coast to Fort Bragg and returns to Sacramento via Clear Lake, the largest body of water entirely within California. This tour samples some of the more attractive and accessible areas of California’s North Country. Starting in Sacramento, it crosses the agricultural basin of the northern Central Valley and continues to Napa, on the southern fringe of the Wine Country. The old, historic town of Sonoma was the birthplace of the modern wine industry, and from here the tour continues through vineyards to the orchards of Anderson Valley and the Mendocino wineries en route to the coast. The journey reaches its prettiest section from Elk to Mendocino and continues up to Fort Bragg, returning inland past Clear Lake, the largest body of water entirely within California. After passing through the orchards of Capay Valley the tour heads back to Sacramento.
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John, UK
“The Audio commentary on the Garmin was well narrated and definitely had the feel of the audio
guides you get when you are walking around the landmarks themselves”.
Linda, New Jersey
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David, Essex
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