California Glamping & Family Road Trip Ideas

What do you like to do when the weather gets warmer? Our family loves to travel and explore new places. Our recent family adventures took us down the coast of California, over to Colorado and back up to Coeur d’Alene Idaho. We visited some of our extended family in California and stayed in our toy hauler RV trailer, which makes traveling with kids so much easier. Our RV provides our kids comfortable spaces to nap after a shopping trip and a place to rinse off after a swim at the pool. We can also wake up in the morning and make a full breakfast, saving money and reducing the hassle of eating out with little kids. Here are some of the highlights from our California glamping road trip!

Our California road trip took us near Mount Shasta where we enjoyed gorgeous views and balmy weather. The weather may not be quite as nice towards the top of this mountain!

RV Camping

We stayed at several RV parks in Northern California. One of our favorite stops was at the Durango RV Resort in Red Bluff CA, which offered walking paths, a fire pit and lounging area, luxurious pool, hot tub and beautiful views of the nearby river. My kids also had fun chasing the many little frogs that hopped along the paths near the river.

Our toy hauler RV trailer allows us to bring along bikes! The back of the trailer folds down to make a little patio area, which my daughter wasted no time in turning into her ballet stage.

Bike Riding & Park Stops

We also stopped at several parks along the way so the kids could stretch their legs from our long car rides, run around, play on the playground and enjoy bike riding. We borrowed this tag-along bike which took some getting used to for me. I think we didn’t have it aligned to the bike quite correctly when we attached it. After a few adjustments I had an easier time riding along the park trails with my little girl cruising behind. My daughter sweetly encouraged me several times with the phrase I regularly say, “You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to do your best.”

Lunch at In-N-Out

We also had to stop by our favorite lunch place, In-N-Out. When we lived in California we often went to this fast food burger place for the delicious hamburgers and crispy fries. In-N-Out makes their menu from fresh ingredients and they only have locations in California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Utah. We always love eating lunch at In-N-Out every time we are in the area.

Hiking Through the Redwoods

Another day took us through the California Redwoods. My kids enjoyed this family hike and they were able to crawl through several massive hollowed out tree trunks. We stopped for a snack break right across from the General Grant Tree, the largest giant sequoia in Kings Canyon National Park and the second largest tree in the world.

The redwood forests have many paths that are easy to hike. Along the walking paths you can explore hollow trees and climb over boulders. Most of the trees are big and some of the older redwoods are absolutely huge! It is very cool to see these amazing displays of nature, especially for kids.

Swimming & RV Camping

During our RV glamping trip we went swimming at several locations. We could have done alot more swimming but because we have little kids we mainly enjoyed the pool at Durango RV Resort. The weather was beautiful during our stay, the perfect temperature for playing in the pool. Our kids also gained some confidence in learning how to swim on this trip. Of course, it’s important to stay close by when little kids are playing near a pool or swimming in the shallows. My husband and I took turns tag-teaming watching the kids and we all enjoyed lounging in the pool chairs after our swim.

Overall we found many things to do on the California segment of our road trip. Our schedule didn’t take us too close to the coast but going to the beach would be another fun activity to include next time. At this stage in life we can mostly enjoy one main activity per day before we have to feed the kids lunch and get them down for naps. We tried to keep our afternoons pretty chill so we had time to enjoy each location we stayed in. We enjoyed slower days by riding bikes with the kids and going on family walks.

What would be your top destination picks for a California road trip?

Katie Wallace

Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 4 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, photography, and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist, and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!