Pacific Coast Highway

If you have fewer days available we have an 8 day tour  – PCH North (Seattle to San Francisco). Just ask us for this shorter tour price.

Welcome to Seattle, Washington! If you arrive early for your Pacific Coast Highway guided motorcycle tour feel free to go explore this unique and eccentric city. Check out Pike Place fish market (they have more than just fish), take a ride to the top of the Seattle space needle, or perhaps go have a cup of coffee at the original Starbucks! Lots to do in town, but don’t be late for the check in desk at our airport hotel. Get yourself all signed in, meet your fellow riders, and join us for the tour briefing from your guides. Have a great night and get some rest because our adventure begins tomorrow.

Early Birds – if you’re getting in a day or two early, we suggest you rent a car or pick up your motorcycle in advance and pay a visit to Neah Bay, the northernmost town on the US West Coast. Alternatively, take a ferry to explore beautiful Vancouver Island. With more time you might even want to make it a little round trip, take the ferry across the coastal waters of British Columbia to Vancouver; from here its 140 miles back to Seattle. Or explore Seattle’s unique musical heritage.

Get yourself some breakfast, pack your bag and come on down to the support vehicle. We collect our motorcycles and head out to the ferry terminal. Here we take the ferry across Elliott Bay to the eastern side of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Our quest to get to Los Angeles in the most picturesque way starts here!

We make our way over the massive 5,000-ton Hood Canal floating bridge, then ride through dense forests and along the azure blue waters of Lake Crescent. Olympic National Park is an awesome, remote and diverse wilderness. It’s a mix of mist shrouded coast, pounding surf and wave-carved beaches with spectacular alpine mountain scenery, verdant meadows and glaciers. The finest example of temperate rainforest in the USA.

If we have enough time, and weather permits, we can take a mountain ride up to Hurricane Ridge for a fantastic view of the area. And for ‘Twilight Zone’ lovers, we overnight in Forks.

This morning on our Pacific Coast Highway guided motorcycle tour we head south, around the Quinault Tribal Reservation, and to Aberdeen. Then it’s onward along Willapa Bay on beautiful coastal roads to the Astoria–Megler Bridge. Crossing this engineering feat affords us a stunning view of the Columbia River and the border between Washington and Oregon. Our next stop is the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park; where we get a taste of American history and the story of the Corps of Discovery’s journey across the continent. After their long journey this is where the Lewis and Clark expedition built Fort Clatsop, and spent the winter of 1805-1806 before returning to St Louis. Next we pass through the seasonal beach resort of Seaside, which gained equal historical importance as the location of the Lewis and Clark Salt Cairn, where the expedition extracted salt from seawater to make fresh water. Filled with the sense of adventure and discovery, we now take a lovely Oregon coast ride to Tillamook Bay.

Leaving Tillamook, we ride around Cape Meares and Cape Lookout for some beautiful views and sweeping roads. Today is defined by the remoteness of western Oregon, it’s lush forests, bays and small coastal fishing, logging and beach towns. It’s a sparsely populated area, replete with numerous state parks, forests, wildlife refuges, marine sanctuaries and research centres. We ride through Siuslaw National Forest and Oregon Dunes National Recreation area, and make plenty of stops along the way for stunning coastal viewpoints and a few photos. The riding is just as magnificent as the scenery, with each twist and turn the road takes us past marshlands, inland mountains and coastal cliffs and beaches. Before you know it we’ve finished a great day and arrived at our hotel in Coos Bay. It’s been a long day, but worth every mile.

We set off for Gold Beach and take a look at the Rogue River where there’s a good chance you’ll get to see some wildlife such as osprey, bears, otter, eagles, elk and deer. Continuing our southbound coastal route, we make regular stops to experience the natural splendour surrounding us. We cross into California and Crescent City. You’re in for a huge treat today as we travel through different redwood state parks and touch Redwood National Park, our second National Park of the tour. In this area the PCH is, unsurprisingly, called the Redwood Highway. After another 60 miles or so we reach Eureka, a beautiful harbour town with picturesque Victorian houses. This is a perfect overnight stopping point on your guided Pacific Coast Highway motorcycle tour.

This morning we cut inland and take the road through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, otherwise known as the Avenue of the Giants. This world-famous scenic drive is by far the most outstanding display of these giant trees in the redwood belt. Along the Avenue there are several small, sleepy towns, where we can stop to browse in quaint gift shops for our redwood memorabilia.

At Leggett, we make a right turn and find ourselves at Drive-Thru Tree Park and the enormous Chandelier Tree. Here we take some time for photos of ourselves riding through this enormous redwood. It’s named for the gigantic branches balanced on either side of the trunk, which are the size of small trees, and begin about a hundred feet up.

Back on the road we head west onto the incredibly curvy and twisting Shoreline Highway, another thrilling ride on your Guided Pacific Coast Highway motorcycle tour. After cruising past MacKerricher State Park we reach Fort Bragg on the Mendocino coast.

Just a little further south is the funky and eclectic little town of Mendocino – the only town on the California Coast that is designated as a Historical Landmark. Established in the 1850s, the architecture is reminiscent of Maine with its grand Victorians and quaint Saltbox cottages.

Back on your Harley we soar on down the rugged coast. Crossing Russian River we take an exciting ‘roller coaster’ ride all the way to Bodega Bay. Alfred Hitchcock loved this seaside hamlet and decided that this would be the ideal location for his movie, ‘The Birds’. You’ll see that he couldn’t have found a more surreal spot for this film when you check out the 150-year-old Potter School House; featured in the movie.

Hwy1 continues to Point Reyes National Seashore and Muir Beach. Here the road cuts back inland and we stop for lunch at charming Sausalito. Enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and wonderful views of the San Francisco skyline, Angel and Alcatraz Islands and the Golden Gate Bridge. Then on the road again for the final ride of the day, but it’s not just any road, it’s the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge. This engineering marvel takes us into the metropolis of the ‘Paris of the West’, San Francisco.

A free day to explore everything the beautiful city of San Francisco has to offer. Head down to the Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf, or over to Chinatown. Don’t forget to ride the famous cable cars! There’s also the option to take a tour of the infamous Alcatraz Island Prison, just be sure to get your reservations for it before coming over for the tour as it fills up very quickly. How about a pre-bookable Napa Valley wine tour, or a fabulous sunset cruise with live music and food? Whatever you want to do today there’s plenty of ways to enjoy this fantastic city in the day and at night.

For those of you leaving us in San Francisco, you can book extra nights here, or enjoy the city before heading for home.

We ride out of the city on the beautiful, winding Skyline Boulevard, stopping for coffee at the famous Alice’s Restaurant. We then head west through the hills and back onto the Pacific Coast Highway, Route 1. We cruise along the cliffs and beaches of the Pacific ocean, curving, twisting, rising and falling along beautiful views until we stop for a break just outside of Santa Cruz. Yet another great ride on your guided Pacific Coast Highway motorcycle tour! Ahead we have the coastal grandeur of the Monterey Peninsula, whose crescent shaped bay and cypress groves have been celebrated by poets, authors and artists. This evening, take in the shops, Steinbeck’s Cannery Row and the wonderful ambience of the bay.

Today is all about the most famous stretch and most spectacular section of Highway 1 – Big Sur. We ride along the cliff edges, where rocky cliffs form a sublime landscape, redwood groves line river canyons and the Santa Lucia Mountains rise out of the blue-green Pacific. The twists and turns seem to never end until we arrive at our rest break at Ragged Point. Next we cruise up to Hearst Castle, where you can take an optional guided tour of this grand mansion. Afterwards it’s a quick ride towards our overnight stop in Pismo Beach.

It’s into the home of the California beach scene on this morning’s ride! And you have time to enjoy it all. After cutting inland at Santa Maria to visit the Danish (yes really) town of Solvang, experience the great back roads and scenery until we get back on Highway 1 at Santa Barbara and cruise along the coast again into Malibu, the famous beach town renowned for its celebrity residents. After 10 miles we’re in Santa Monica, LA’s oldest resort. Once a wild beachfront playground, it’s now a self-consciously liberal and healthy community. Finally, it’s time to return our motorcycles and enjoy our farewell dinner.

Today is the day to pack your bags, filled with the experiences and memories of a fantastic tour down the entire West Coast, through the states of Washington, Oregon and California. It’s time to head home. Thank you for joining us on this Pacific Coast Highway guided motorcycle tour. Have a safe trip home and we hope to see you again soon on another Orange and Black tour.