U.S. Highway 101

U.S. Highway 101 (US-101) is a major north-south U.S. highway on the west coast. This itinerary will take you the entire 1,535 mi (2,471 km) from Los Angeles, California to Tumwater, Washington.

US-101 does not serve major cities like Portland or Seattle. Those cities are instead served by Interstate 5, a more inland route. However, US-101 runs along the coast, connecting other major cities like San Francisco and San Jose.

US-101 starts in really dense suburban areas, but after San Francisco and Santa Rosa, there is not many cities over 10,000 residents. Instead of heading inland to big cities like Redding, Eugene, or Portland, it instead stays on the coast to smaller but historical cities like Eureka, Crescent City, and Tillamook. Be prepared and stock up on food and gas before leaving a city.

Be weary of rain, as they can make the road slippery.

All codes in parentheses are IATA codes, unless otherwise stated.

• Camarillo Airport (CMA)
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX)
• Salinas Municipal Airport (SNS)
• San Martin Airport [Untowered] (FAA Identifier: E16)
• Florence Municipal Airport (FAA Identifier: 6S2)
• Newport Municipal Airport (ONP)
• Astoria Regional Airport (AST)
• William R. Fairchild International Airport [Port Angeles] (CLM)

• Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA)
• San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC)
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
• Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport [Santa Rosa] (STS)
• Arcata–Eureka Airport [Humboldt County Airport] (ACV)
• Southwest Oregon Regional Airport [North Bend] (OTH)

The closest train route to US-101 is the Coast Starlight, running from Los Angeles to Seattle.

Note: State highways are referenced by their postal abbreviations, e.g., CA-60 means California State Highway 60, MS-15 means Mississippi State Highway 15, etc. Attractions and cities are listed in bold are linked to their respective Wikivoyage articles for further reading and discussion. If no such article exists on Wikivoyage it is linked to its Wikipedia article. Please feel free to plunge forward to edit this or another article or create a new Wikivoyage article that does not yet exist.

This itinerary will take you south-north. Exit numbers may be different going north-south.

From 34.05223-118.243681 Los Angeles, US-101 starts at the East Los Angeles Interchange with Interstate 5 , Interstate 10 , and CA-60 (Mile 0.0). Immediately after, you hit the interchange with CA-110 (Exit 3), which leads to 34.073611-118.241MISSING WIKILINK Dodger Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. There is an exit with CA-2 and Historic US-66 (Exit 7) where you can hop on at the western edge of the historic highway. Soon, you must keep right to stay on US-101 at the interchange with CA-170 and CA-134 (Exit 13) in 34.098333-118.3266672 Hollywood, with the right three lanes leading to US-101. In the LA suburb of 34.151111-118.4483333 Sherman Oaks, you will reach Interstate 405 (Exit 18). You will then pass by the cities and suburbs of 34.189444-118.8754 Thousand Oaks, 34.225556-119.0322225 Camarillo, 34.191389-119.18256 Oxnard, and 34.26778-119.2542067 Ventura before an interchange with CA-33 (Exit 70B) to the San Joaquin Valley. US-101 then rides along the coast, passing by the cities of 34.399167-119.5163898 Carpinteria, 34.425833-119.7141679 Santa Barbara, and 34.440556-119.81361110 Goleta before cutting inland and ending the freeway section with a couple of intersections. The 34.485142-120.2287911 Gaviota Rest Area is a rest stop with parking, vending machines, and direct access to Gaviota State Park. US-101 has an interchange with the Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1) (Exit 132) in the unincorporated community of Las Cruces. US-101 stays north, heading towards the cities of 34.614167-120.19388911 Buellton and 34.951389-120.43333312 Santa Maria before riding the coast in the cities of 35.120833-120.58666713 Arroyo Grande and 35.148333-120.64805614 Pismo Beach before going inland towards 35.274167-120.66305615 San Luis Obispo, the county seat of San Luis Obispo County. It then runs parallel to the Salinas River, where the drive starts becoming rural. You will still find some cities, including 35.484167-120.672516 Atascadero, 35.63-120.6617 Paso Robles, 36.212778-121.12611118 King City, and 36.424722-121.32638919 Soledad, before you arrive in 36.677778-121.65555620 Salinas, where you can stop for the day.

• 36.660865-121.6220681 Days Inn, 1226 De la Torre St, ☏ +1 831-759-9900.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 36.670371-121.6408182 Hampton Inn & Suites, 523 Work St, ☏ +1 831-754-4700.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 36.681836-121.6413643 Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 195 Kern St, ☏ +1 831-737-1160.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 36.680651-121.6413234 Best Western (Salinas/Monterey Hotel), 175 Kern St, ☏ +1 831-784-0176.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 36.69865-121.6700955 Courtyard by Marriott, 17225 El Rancho Way, ☏ +1 831-775-0491.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 36.678745-121.6398936 Motel 6, 140 Kern St, ☏ +1 831-268-5727.  (updated Dec 2025)

• 36.683087-121.6713051 Salinas City BBQ, 700 W Market St, ☏ +1 831-758-2227.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 36.656625-121.6603052 Elli's Great American Restaurant, 1250 S Main St, ☏ +1 831-759-8455.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 36.707459-121.6541733 Waffles Breakfast & Lunch Restaurant, 1465 N Main St, ☏ +1 831-442-8880.  (updated Dec 2025)

Getting back on the road, US-101 shifts inland to 36.79972-121.6672221 Prunedale , 37.011944-121.5822 Gilroy, 37.0878-121.623 San Martin , and 37.130556-121.65444424 Morgan Hill before reaching the so-called "Silicon Valley" with its most populated city, 37.304167-121.87277825 San Jose. In San Jose, it has major interchanges with CA-85 (Exit 377A), Interstate 680 and Interstate 280 (Exit 384), Interstate 880 (Exit 388B), and CA-237 (Exit 396C). It then turns back to the coast, running up the Bay Area Peninsula with the cities of 37.392778-122.04194426 Mountain View, 37.429167-122.13805627 Palo Alto, 37.554167-122.31305628 San Mateo, 37.625-122.41529 San Bruno, and 37.656111-122.42555630 South San Francisco before entering the cultural center of Northern California, 37.775-122.41944431 San Francisco. There, you hit your first traffic lights along the route, as the road runs as Van Ness Avenue and Lombard Street after an interchange with Interstate 80 (Exit 433B, southbound exit on the left). You can visit places like Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, or one that is directly along your route, the 37.819722-122.4786112 Golden Gate Bridge . Tolls on the golden gate bridge can cost anywhere from $9.75 with a FasTrak card to $10.75 for a toll invoice with a normal, 2-axle car. Carpools with a FasTrak Flex card cost $7.75. Across the Bay, you will reach the cities of 37.857778-122.49027832 Sausalito, 37.925556-122.527533 Corte Madera, 37.934167-122.53527834 Larkspur, 38.1075-122.56972235 Novato, and 38.245833-122.63138936 Petaluma before splitting off from the coast for the rest of the day (it will rejoin the coast near Eureka). You then enter wine country with the city of 38.448611-122.70472237 Santa Rosa, probably the last city along your path with more than 100,000 people. In Santa Rosa, there is an interchange with CA-12 (Exit 488B), a major east-west highway in California. 38.799167-123.01722238 Cloverdale is the next city on the route.The highway then enters Mendocino County, with the historic towns of 38.973056-123.11638939 Hopland and 39.15-123.207540 Ukiah, where you can rest for the day.

• 39.128185-123.1985477 Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 1270 Airport Park Blvd, ☏ +1 707-462-1514.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 39.133397-123.2056598 Motel 6 (Downtown Ukiah), 1208 S State St, ☏ +1 707-213-4933.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 39.133397-123.2122589 Motel 6 (North Ukiah), 1340 N State St, ☏ +1 707-213-4925.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 39.133607-123.19946810 Hampton Inn, 1160 Airport Park Blvd, ☏ +1 707-462-6555.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 39.160371-123.20965811 Days Inn, 950 N State St, ☏ +1 707-462-7584.  (updated Dec 2025)

• 39.131198-123.1965164 The Alley Grill, 1245 Airport Park Blvd, ☏ +1 707-462-2110.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 39.1526-123.2014545 Super Taco, 506 E Perkins St, ☏ +1 707-462-5979.  (updated Dec 2025)
• 39.148905-123.2071126 Stan's Maple Cafe, 295 S State St, ☏ +1 707-462-5221.  (updated Dec 2025)

From Ukiah, US-101 has an interchange with CA-20 (Eastbound) (Exit 555B) that goes to Yuba City. US-101 then starts going towards the coast, meeting with the city of 39.409722-123.35555641 Willits, with an interchange with the other side of CA-20 (Westbound) (Exit 568). A few miles later, there is an intersection with CA-162 that goes to Willows. The road then turns left towards the city of 39.865833-123.71416742 Leggett , with the end of the Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1). US-101 then starts following (most of) the bends of the South Fork Eel River, passing by the small towns of 39.966389-123.79527843 Piercy , 40.068611-123.78444444 Benbow , 40.100267-123.79385845 Garberville, 40.499167-124.10638946 Rio Dell , and 40.598056-124.15722247 Fortuna. You then meet with the biggest cities of the day, 40.801944-124.16361148 Eureka and 40.866389-124.08277849 Arcata, with a metro population of 132,380. Pretty much your last city on the day is 41.526389-124.03833350 Klamath until you reach 41.756111-124.20166751 Crescent City.

• 41.747642-124.20364412 Oceanfront Lodge, 100 A St, ☏ +1 707-465-5400.  (updated Mar 2026)
• 41.747642-124.18562313 Quality Inn & Suites, 100 Walton St, ☏ +1 707-376-9157.  (updated Mar 2026)
• 41.750854-124.18190614 Best Western Plus, 655 US-101 (right off the highway), ☏ +1 707-464-9771.  (updated Mar 2026)
• 41.749709-124.18082615 Super 8, 685 US-101, ☏ +1 707-652-9491.  (updated Mar 2026)

• 41.748532-124.1804177 Fisherman's Restaurant, 700 US-101, ☏ +1 707-465-3474.  (updated Mar 2026)
• 41.751808-124.1957258 Lily's Wok, 155 I St, ☏ +1 707-460-1539.  (updated Mar 2026)
• 41.767786-124.1923499 Redwood Curtain BBQ Co., 1124 US-101, ☏ +1 707-460-1314.  (updated Mar 2026)

US-101 is known to have dense coastal fog, causing low visibility and major pileups. Roads are also known to be slick, made even worse by the fact that most of the affected route is a 2-lane undivided road winding through the Redwood forests.

• U.S. Route 1 - On the opposite side of the coast, US-1 goes north-south from Florida to Maine.
• Interstate 5 - The modern version of US-101, it runs from California to Washington, passing through major cities like Sacramento, Portland, and Seattle.
• The Pacific Coast Highway - The Pacific Coast Highway follows the coast of California, ending at US-101 in Leggett, California.