overland

Memorial Day Weekend Trip in Northern California

SergeiSMTH

Trail Grom
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Jan 31, 2022
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1
I'm planning a trip for 3 day-weeked starting at San Francisco. I'm debating between Lost Coast or Mendocino Backcountry Discovery Trail. I'd probably like to go to the Lost Coast, but my concern is that it can be busy on a public holiday weekend. Maybe I should look at something else? Any thoughts?
 

OTG Ben

OTG Principal Explorer
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Apr 24, 2021
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NorCal
Expect that Usal Beach will be a $*** show. But if you don't plan to stay there more than a few hours, should be a nice experience. There are a number of campgrounds around Shelter Cove like Tolkan, and AW Way by Mattole River is a fantastic developed campground.
 

Superduty

Trail Grom
Joined
Jan 2, 2022
Messages
3
Expect that Usal Beach will be a $*** show. But if you don't plan to stay there more than a few hours, should be a nice experience. There are a number of campgrounds around Shelter Cove like Tolkan, and AW Way by Mattole River is a fantastic developed campground.


How will Usal Beach be during the week in mid June? What do you mean when you say a $h** show? How bad are we talking about?
 

OTG Ben

OTG Principal Explorer
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How will Usal Beach be during the week in mid June? What do you mean when you say a $h** show? How bad are we talking about?

The locals have been partying at Usal for years, and when they party, they party hard. For Holiday weekends like the 4th and Labor Day, you may encounter 100+ vehicles camping on Usal Beach (it's illegal to drive on the beach, please respect this). Expect loud music, people partying past midnight, folks doing donuts on the beach and through the campground-- sometimes folks are firing off fireworks (another bad idea, the burn zone on the way into Usal was started by a firework a few years ago).

It can still get rowdy on weekends, but if you camp back further into the redwoods near hotel gulch, things are generally quieter back there. All of the madness seems to happen on the beach and the sites closer to the beach.
 
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