Super Scenic California Road Trips

By Michele E. Buttelman

Signal Staff Writer

The Highway 1 Pacific Coast Highway road trip that passes through Big Sur on California’s Central Coast is perhaps the most famous scenic drive in the Golden State. But it’s not the only beautiful and unforgettable road trip in California by far.

Consider one of these five classic road trips, rich with magical scenery like pounding surf, rolling hills, waterfalls and plenty of wineries.

Redding to Lassen Volcanic National Park

Length 188 miles Prime Seasons Spring and Summer

The northeastern Shasta Cascade region reveals a lot of California’s best-kept secrets. Start in Redding and head up I-5 and drive past the 14,162-foot Mount Shasta; seeing it for the first time, John Muir once wrote, made his “blood turn to wine.”

While you’re in the area, don’t miss the spires at:

Castle Crags State Park, 20022 Castle Creek Road, Castella 96017

After viewing the dramatic 6,000feet tall granite spires of the park, which are more than 170 million years old, head back to I-5 and head south on Highway 89, which is part of the 500-mile Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway and visit:

McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, 24898 CA-89, Burney 96013

The park is home to the 129-foot, fern-draped Burney Falls. The popularity of these spectacular springfed falls means weekend access to the park in summer is often limited due to crowds of visitors. It’s best to visit during a weekday. Visit parks.ca.gov /?page_id=455.

Finish your trip at the bubbling mud pots and steaming geysers of:

Lassen Volcanic National Park, Loomis Museum, 29489 Lassen National Park Hwy, Shingletown, 96088 Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center, 21820 Lassen National Park Hwy, Mineral 96063

Most first-time visitors to the park begin by driving the 30-mile park highway. Begin your drive at the Northwest or Southwest entrance.

Highway 1 from San Francisco to Fort Bragg

Length 175 miles Prime Season November through April

This stretch of the highway offers windswept beauty and dramatic ocean views. It starts when you cross the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito and Marin County, where you’ll encounter the coastal hills and redwoods of:

Muir Woods National Monument, 1 Muir Woods Road, Mill Valley 94941

You will need parking reservations to visit at gomuirwoods.com. There is no cell phone service at the park.

Continue by the dramatic sea cliffs and remote beaches of:

Point Reyes National Seashore, Bear Valley Visitor Center, 1 Bear Valley Road, Point Reyes Station 94956

From there, cruise through the rolling vineyards of Napa Valley and Sonoma County’s wine country.

Then explore the seemingly untouched beauty of the North Coast, from the craggy coastline at:

Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, Lighthouse Road, Point Arena 95468 www.blm.gov/visit/point-arenastornetta-unit

Visit the rugged terrain of:

Mendocino Headlands State Park,1000 Brewery Gulch Road, Mendocino 95460 www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=442

Be sure to visit the quaint, Victorian-style town of Mendocino.

Next, head north on Highway 1 for 20 minutes to Fort Bragg and explore:

MacKerricher State Park, 24100 Mackerricher Park Road, Fort Bragg 95437

At the park see seals, migrating whales (from November through April) and Glass Beach, which looks like it’s covered with jewels.

Sierra Vista Scenic Byway

Length 90 miles Prime Season June through October

While scarred by recent fires this drive along forest roads offers a window into what the High Sierra looked like roughly a century ago, which means you’ll traverse a few dirt roads, too.

Start on Forest Road 81 near the town of North Fork, 45 miles northeast of Fresno and follow the route for about 90 miles.

Views include plenty of peaks, granite domes, and conifer forests; prime stops include Jesse Ross Cabin, which dates back to the 1860s and the 2,700-year-old Bull Buck Tree, one of the world’s oldest sequoia trees: Nelder Grove, Sky Ranch Road, Oakhurst 93644

Highway 101 from Malibu to Lompoc

Length 120 miles

Prime Season: Year-round

This stretch of Highway 101, which overlaps with parts of Highway 1, gives you a greatest-hits road trip of both beach and wine country.

Start in iconic Malibu, where the highway runs along the base of the rugged Santa Monica Mountains before passing through Oxnard, Ventura and idyllic Santa Barbara.

Look west, out over the water, for signs of Channel Islands National Park and walk in the sand on one of Santa Barbara’s local beaches, such as El Capitán, Refugio or Gaviota.

The highway then turns inland through rolling ranchlands, bound for Lompoc.

Glass Beach. PHOTO COURTESY VISIT CALIFORNIA Most famous for its summer flower fields, Lompoc also is known for excellent Pinot Noir. You’ll find numerous wine tasting rooms along your route.

Beach-to-Desert Drive from San Diego

Length 90 miles Prime Seasons Late Winter and Spring Bounce from the coast to the mountains and then the desert in this scenery-packed trip across Southern California. From the beaches of La Jolla or Del Mar, take State Road 56 east to Highway 67, which winds through rural Ramona, dotted with farm stands. Then turn onto Highway 78 and into the Cuyamaca Mountains toward Julian, the mountain town known for its apple crops. Reward yourself with a slice of pie at:

Julian Pie Company 2225 Main St. Julian 92036

Then ease back down the road’s twists and turns into the desert. Visit the 600,000-acre Anza-Borrego Desert State Park:

200 Palm Canyon Drive, Borrego Springs 92004

The park is home to an explosive wildflower bloom every year, around February and March. Borrego Springs is an International Dark Sky Community known for its epic stargazing. 

NEWS FEATURE STUNTMEN

Continued from page 5 could get an adjustment or added pay, he said, for performing a particular stunt or stunts. That adjustment, Barker added, is based on the danger or difficulty involved.

Scott recalled one particular movie he did as a stunt coordinator with director Clint Eastwood where the stunts paid especially well.

“On ‘Outlaw Josey Wales,’ (Eastwood) gave me two or three days to go set up the last battle scene,” Scott said. “We rehearsed it all, and when he came to shoot it, we shot this whole battle in a half a day. Because it was all set up. Clint, when it was over, he’s shaking my hand and (saying), ‘Thank you, boys. You did a great job.’ And all the stunt guys are standing there, and I’ve got the list — I’m making out the adjustments for everybody. And (Eastwood) said in front of everybody, ‘Whatever he gives you guys, double it.’”

Regular cowboy stunt work, however, didn’t last forever, and the stunt performer’s job took on different forms as the business changed.

“You evolved,” Scott said. “The westerns died out. In the ‘80s, there were no more westerns. We were all scrambling. You’re learning to drive the cars, you’re learning to do the 180s. We were all going out and renting cars and learning to drive and do other things.”

Scott talked about his transition from doing westerns to doing a film like 1991’s “Backdraft,” where he knew nothing about fire but had to learn. He and others were learning on the fly, he said, as he did with that particular film.

Asked if they were ever scared or hesitant about the work they did, both Scott and Lilley said they wouldn’t do a stunt if it was too dangerous. Stunt performers typically aren’t afraid, they added, because they know how stunts work.

To illustrate the point, Lilley recalled a story about a particular stunt driver he and Scott knew who was

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Stuntman Walter Scott discusses how he had to evolve into other stunts when westerns died out. once tasked with tipping a car on its side and having it end up in a general area for the camera to capture on film. The stunt driver responded.

“He reached into his pocket,” Lilley said, “took out a coin and flipped it over. He said, ‘My head will hit right there.’”

Lilley added that the driver did just what he said, landing exactly where he said he’d land. These guys were that good, Lilley continued, and they knew from experience what they could and couldn’t do.

To know what was possible, however, it was the stunt coordinator that a director would rely upon to plan a scene. But that position didn’t exist until the 1960s, according to Lilley and Scott. With a stunt coordinator, they said, gone were the days when the director or first assistant would order a stunt performer to do something a bit too dangerous or sometimes just plain stupid.

“(The stunt coordinator had) the authority to say, ‘No, you can’t do that that way. We do it this way, and we won’t hurt anybody,’” Scott said. “And most of your coordinators have to have been stuntmen so that they have the knowledge of how to do it.”

But knowing the boundaries of stunt work and feeling safe about what they were doing didn’t mean Lilley and Scott were going to let their kids become stunt performers. In fact, as their kids got older and interested in the business, Lilley and Scott encouraged them to get behind the cameras instead. They were unsuccessful.

Lilley has two sons, Clint Lilley and Clay Lilley, who both got into stunts. And Clint’s son, Cash Lilley, has been carving out a niche for himself in the business as well. Scott also has children who are stunt performers. His son, Wesley Scott, and his daughter, Ann Scott, both work in the business. Stunt work, it seems, is in the blood, and Lilley and Scott seemed proud when speaking of their accomplishments. During the conversation with The Signal, Lilley and Scott laughed, recounted old times and old friends, some who they said had passed on, and they talked about how so much in life has changed over the years. It’s a different world, they added. Even the neighborhood reflects a shift — Lilley’s ranch, which you could picture being out in the middle of nowhere at one time, is now surrounded by suburbia, several neighborhoods having sprung up around the place during the course of growth in the valley. The film and stunt business has no doubt changed, too — computer animation is filling in for many stunts these days, and skills like “falling a horse” are becoming a thing of the past. One thing, however, still remains constant: Lilley and Scott have been friends through it all, always there for each other — like going out of the way to bring the other onto a show he’s doing if the other was ever in need of a job. Their friendship is something they’ve never taken for granted. It’s something you can tell, to this day, the two cowboys absolutely cherish. 