Road trips from the SF Bay Area with kids

38 destinations within driving distance of Dublin, CA, each scored on the five things that decide whether a trip with a three-year-old works: density of things kids actually enjoy, logistics and nap-compatible pacing, food you would eat without them, drive ease, and total cost for a family of four. Sorted by drive time, shortest first.

Highest rated for families

Browse by what you need

Under two hours from home · Doable in a day · More than a day's worth · Enough to fill four days or more · Beach days that actually work with kids · Redwoods with short, stroller-friendly trails · Places with a real train ride · Places with a hands-on museum · National parks you can drive to · Lakes for swimming and paddling · Trips you can do for under $1,500 · Easiest logistics for toddlers · Best in April · Best in August · Best in December

Under 1 hour 1

Half Moon Bay / Pacifica

A farm with pony rides, a working fishing harbour and tide pools, all within a few miles.

4.2 kids 3.3 adults 56 min 1–2 days $1,000–2,200

Costs are a fixed yardstick: 2 nights, family of four, lodging, food and activities. Not the cost of the stay we recommend.

1 to 2 hours 7

Napa Valley / Calistoga

Wine country that works for children: a real castle, an erupting geyser, and roadside burgers.

3.2 kids 4.5 adults 1h 08m 1–2 days $1,500–3,500

Santa Cruz / Capitola / Felton

An old-fashioned seaside amusement park at one end and a steam train through redwoods at the other.

4.4 kids 3.6 adults 1h 17m 2–4 days $1,200–2,500

Sonoma / Santa Rosa

A miniature railroad children can ride and a Peanuts museum, in a walkable plaza town.

4.3 kids 4.1 adults 1h 18m 1–2 days $1,200–2,500

Petaluma

A walkable Victorian downtown with a swim centre and an adobe fort - a base town more than a destination.

4.1 kids 3.0 adults 1h 23m 1–2 days $1,200–2,500

Sacramento

A capital city with a railroad museum, a storybook park and a zoo within a couple of miles.

4.2 kids 3.1 adults 1h 46m 2–3 days $1,500–2,500

Healdsburg / Russian River

A plaza town on the Russian River, with shallow swimming water and old-growth redwoods close by.

3.4 kids 4.3 adults 1h 58m 1–2 days $1,500–3,000

Monterey / Carmel-by-the-Sea

The aquarium that sets the standard, plus wild otters, a rocky headland and serious seafood.

4.5 kids 4.8 adults 1h 59m 2–3 days $1,500–3,000

Costs are a fixed yardstick: 2 nights, family of four, lodging, food and activities. Not the cost of the stay we recommend.

2 to 4 hours 10

Bodega Bay

A working crab port with a sheltered beach - the best seafood on the coast road, and little else.

3.4 kids 3.2 adults 2h 01m 1–2 days $1,200–2,500

Sonora / Columbia State Park

A Gold Rush town preserved as it stood, with stagecoaches, gold panning and a working steam railroad.

3.7 kids 2.6 adults 2h 14m 1–2 days $1,000–2,000

Pinnacles National Park

Volcanic spires with talus caves you walk through by torchlight, and condors overhead.

2.7 kids 1.8 adults 2h 23m 1–2 days $800–1,500

Big Sur

The most dramatic stretch of the California coast, with a waterfall that falls onto a beach.

2.6 kids 3.3 adults 2h 40m 1–2 days $1,500–4,000

Calaveras Big Trees State Park

The nearest giant sequoias, on a flat paved loop a small child can walk, with a river to wade.

2.8 kids 2.4 adults 2h 40m 1–2 days $800–1,500

Mariposa / Yosemite Gateway

A Gold Rush base town outside Yosemite - cheaper beds and milder weather than the valley floor.

2.8 kids 2.7 adults 2h 47m 2–3 days $1,500–3,500

Nevada City / Grass Valley

Victorian streets, a hard-rock mine you can go down, and swimming holes on the Yuba.

3.7 kids 3.5 adults 2h 59m 1–2 days $1,000–2,000

Paso Robles

Wine country with a waterpark, and a field of fibre-optic lights worth staying up for.

3.5 kids 3.5 adults 3h 39m 1–2 days $1,500–3,000

Yosemite Valley (Direct)

Sleeping inside the valley: waterfalls, granite walls, and no commute to see them.

2.6 kids 2.9 adults 3h 55m 2–4 days $1,500–4,000

Mendocino

A clifftop village where the redwoods run to the sea, with a beach of tumbled glass nearby.

3.1 kids 4.0 adults 3h 59m 1–2 days $1,500–3,500

Costs are a fixed yardstick: 2 nights, family of four, lodging, food and activities. Not the cost of the stay we recommend.

4 hours and beyond 20

San Luis Obispo / Avila Beach

A children's museum, a farm stand and a calm beach within a few miles of each other.

3.7 kids 4.0 adults 4h 10m 2–3 days $1,500–3,000

Fort Bragg

A beach of sea-polished glass and a steam train into the redwoods, in a plain working town.

3.5 kids 3.2 adults 4h 10m 1–2 days $1,000–2,500

Morro Bay

A harbour town under a volcanic plug, with sea otters rafting in the bay below it.

3.7 kids 3.5 adults 4h 15m 1–2 days $1,200–2,500

Cambria

Pine-backed coast next to an elephant seal colony you can watch, free, from a boardwalk.

3.2 kids 3.5 adults 4h 16m 1–2 days $1,200–2,500

Reno, NV

Cheap rooms, a good children's museum and a wildlife sanctuary - a casino town used sideways.

3.8 kids 3.0 adults 4h 17m 1–2 days $1,000–2,500

Pismo Beach

A wide flat beach you can drive onto, a dinosaur-themed playground and a monarch grove.

4.0 kids 3.1 adults 4h 23m 2–3 days $1,200–2,500

Lake Tahoe (North & South)

An alpine lake with shallow turquoise coves in summer and snow play in winter.

3.8 kids 4.0 adults 4h 28m 3–5 days $1,500–3,500

Carson City, NV

A cheap, central base for Tahoe and Virginia City, with two state museums and a replica mine.

3.2 kids 2.4 adults 4h 32m 1–2 days $1,000–2,000

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Boiling mud pots and a lava tube you walk through by torchlight - Yellowstone in miniature.

2.4 kids 2.2 adults 4h 46m 1–2 days $800–1,500

Virginia City, NV

The best-preserved Wild West mining town in America, with a steam train and a mine tour.

3.2 kids 2.8 adults 4h 51m 1–2 days $1,000–2,000

Humboldt Redwoods / Avenue of the Giants

A parkway through old-growth redwoods, and a drive-through tree on the way.

3.2 kids 2.9 adults 5h 04m 1–2 days $1,200–2,500

Kings Canyon / Sequoia National Parks

The largest living things on Earth, reached on flat paved trails a small child can manage.

2.9 kids 2.4 adults 5h 04m 2–3 days $1,000–2,500

Mount Shasta

A 14,000-foot volcano over a swimming lake, with a waterfall you can walk behind.

2.6 kids 2.8 adults 5h 10m 1–2 days $1,000–2,500

Solvang

A Danish-built village of windmills and bakeries, with an ostrich farm outside town.

3.5 kids 3.8 adults 5h 27m 1–2 days $1,500–3,000

Mammoth Lakes

High alpine lakes, a gondola to 11,000 feet, and a cliff of hexagonal basalt columns.

3.0 kids 3.5 adults 5h 36m 2–4 days $1,500–3,500

Eureka

Old-growth redwoods inside the city limits, wrapped around a small zoo, on a fishing harbour.

3.0 kids 3.2 adults 6h 04m 1–2 days $1,500–3,000

Santa Barbara

A zoo on a hill above the sea, a hands-on science museum, and warm south-facing beaches.

3.7 kids 4.9 adults 6h 07m 2–4 days $1,800–3,800

Ashland, OR

A hands-on science museum and a long creekside park, in a theatre town over the Oregon line.

3.5 kids 4.0 adults 6h 40m 1–2 days $1,500–3,500

Redwood National Park (Crescent City)

The tallest trees on Earth, a canyon walled in ferns, and elk grazing beside the road.

2.4 kids 2.9 adults 7h 55m 2–3 days $1,500–3,000

Palm Springs / Joshua Tree Gateway

Desert warmth in midwinter, a cable car up to alpine air, and a zoo where you feed giraffes.

3.3 kids 4.0 adults 8h 26m 2–4 days $1,800–3,800

Costs are a fixed yardstick: 2 nights, family of four, lodging, food and activities. Not the cost of the stay we recommend.