These may be the only stops along the 5 freeway that won’t ruin your day.
Everybody in Southern California has an inner ranking of freeways , ground mostly on where they live and their steady commutes ( even thoseintrepid public transit users ) . To humour : the 2 is endearing , the 210 and 134 have good and bad reach , and the 405 is vestal refuse no matter how many lanes they add . But perhaps no piece of route is as generally reviled state - wide as the 200 - ish mile stretch of highway 5 through theCentral Valley . It is flat and dull , full of big cheat , and prone to over-crowding and twist . But it is a necessary evil , the fastest and most unmediated path between LA and points northerly , and despite the drabness of the campaign itself there are in fact several worthwhile place to stop along the 5 freeway .
The I-5 freeway ladder the duration of the West Coast of the US , from San Ysidro on the Mexico border to Blaine , Washington on our edge with Canada . At some point almost every Californian will make the long , dust-covered crawl between the Grapevine in Southern California and Tracy in Northern California , and lots of ambitious tourist who want to see both San Francisco and LA will opt to take the not - so - scenic road up highway 5 instead of ingest the much longer , and much more scenicPacific Coast Highway . Those tourists , though , will get a roundabout way through one of the largest and most important agricultural centers in the US — don’t permit our portrayal of the drive call on you off of the Central Valley itself . There’splenty of beauty , nature , andcultureto be base in the area at large , and it is as quintessentially Californian as redwood , wine country , and silicone vale , beach , and lips .
But for those times when you ’re just trying to nail up the 5 to make it to the Bay forSF Restaurant Weekor down to LA for a quickhike , you ’ll need a primal stop or three for petrol , intellectual nourishment , and some jumping jacks to get the rake run . For those times , we ’ve put together this ready to hand guide to the practiced places to stop on the 5 freeway between LA and San Francisco , arranged from South to North .
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Where to Stop Along the 5 Freeway
Laval Road
Just after the exorbitant line of descent that marks the end of the Grapevine and right before the 5 - 99 freeway rip sits a shining beacon of consumerism : an outlet mall , a half - dozen gun stations , and every fast nutrient chain imaginable all pack in to one lilliputian corridor along the 5 . It ’s all bump at Laval Road , a concrete haven in a vast expanse of farmland . It ’s a little too close to LA to be an indispensable closure , but this In - N - Out is forever busy from open to close , as is the nearby Chipotle . And if you ’ve just realized you packed all wrong for the weather or you step on your shades or you left in the dead of Nox with only the clothes on your back , channelize across the freeway to the outlet mall to refreshen that closet , boss . Hopefully you wo n’t be spending too long here , but when the Grapevine is incubate in snowfall or on fire — both of which seem to happen only on the busiest travel weekend each twelvemonth — this is in all probability where you ’ll be camping out until the situation resolves itself .
Lost Hills
Once you ’re in the Central Valley , there are n’t many options to hit the eject button and get out . But that ’s why Lost Hills is a great stopover . This is the Ithiel Town where the 46 freeway meets the 5 , which affords you the rare chance to cut away from this excommunicate thrust if you could and head over the hill into the lovely Central Coast — Paso Robles , San Simeon , andthe 101are just on the other side of theJames Dean Memorial Junction , about an hour by . If you do n’t heed the call , there are a few seemly places to get out in Lost Hills , too . The usual fast nutrient range and motel sit down along the main road , but there are also some more interesting options : El Dollar is a better than decent taco truck with handmade tortilla and a few patio tables out front , and Maharaja Punjabi Dhaba serve reasonably good Indian nutrient from a trailer park in the Arco batch .
Harris Ranch
Harris Ranch is fighting an uphill struggle to be worthy of your fourth dimension : it ’s red-hot , there ’s only one substantial option for gas and snacks , it smells uniquely terrible thanks to the actual cows ranch just a few miles aside , and it ’s utterly chock full of Tesla drivers because of a monolithic installing of Tesla - specific battery charger . But against all betting odds , the place turns out to be alright . It ’s right around the halfway mark between LA and San Francisco so it ’s a honorable time to get out anyway , and the speedy - service barbecue sandwiches are fine , peculiarly the ones with local beef ( some might argue the beef is a littletoolocal ) . The baby-sit - down eating house is great , an previous - school steakhouse with a sport bar , and if you ask to extend your pause a small moment the hotel is actually quite squeamish , with a great pool . And do n’t miss the ( chophouse - unaffiliated ) bonsai stick out across the street , a unique landmark in the flyspeck tree universe .
Santa Nella
Santa Nella is another essential cut - through to the 101 if you want it , this metre directly to the pungent township of Gilroy , the so - call garlic capital of the reality . But Santa Nella itself also has a little more to offer than a lot of other spots on this drive . For one thing , it ’s a small pretty than intermediate , greener with a product line of trees leading up to the strikingHotel Mission de Oro . Yes , the bar is low , but it really is squeamish . you may also take a 15 - minute detour to the San Luis Reservoir if you take to look at a body of water for a hour , stretch your leg , or picnic atSan Luis Creek . There ’s plenty of truehearted food , include an In - N - Out , but there ’s also the fabled kitsch ofPea Soup Andersen’sand very solid taco at the La Jaliscience truck and also at El Grullense .
Rest Areas on the 5 Freeway
If you just demand to get out and utilise the restroom — and perhaps let an brute companion do the same — then you may skip all of the fast food and gas station nonsense and use one of several rest stops . frankly , unless you need gas these might be your best option . They ’re generally well - maintained ( just make certain they ’re stock with commode paper ! ) , roomy , warm , and fresh , and occasionally they even have fun piffling informational plaques about local chronicle and geology , so they ’re educational too . It ’s really the best you could desire for . Sometimes they ’re under construction so it ’s worth double - checking that they ’re heart-to-heart before you make a design to stop , but the major rest areas are : Buttonwillow , Coalinga / Avenal , Westley , and the John “ Chuck ” Erreca Rest Area .
Flickr/David Prasad
Flickr/Sarah Stierch
