oldhamite.com
About oldhamite.com
Pacific Coast Route Planning and Travel Logistics, Based in Seattle Since 2017
oldhamite.com is a route planning and travel logistics company that designs self-guided driving itineraries along the Pacific Coast of the United States. The company was founded in March 2017 in Seattle, Washington, and has operated from an office at 2140 Western Avenue since that date. Total staff is 14 people: 6 route planners, 4 reservations and support staff, 2 vehicle and logistics coordinators, and 2 administrative staff members. The company does not operate guided tours; all routes are self-driven. The coverage area extends 1,650 miles from Cape Flattery on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington to the United States–Mexico border south of San Diego, California. This area is divided into 12 route segments and 47 mapped overnight stops. In 2023, 6,410 travelers used company-planned routes. The median trip length was 8 days, and the median daily driving distance was 168 miles. Route planning is handled in-house, while lodging is reserved through contracted partner properties and third-party reservation systems.
Company History
The company began in March 2017 with a single 4-day Olympic Peninsula route between Seattle and Cape Flattery. In its first year of operation, 380 travelers used that route. A second route covering the Oregon Coast between Astoria and Brookings was added in 2019, followed by the Northern California segment between Crescent City and San Francisco in 2020. The Central California segment through Big Sur and San Luis Obispo opened in 2021, and the Southern California segment between Santa Barbara and San Diego opened in 2022. By the end of 2023, all 12 segments were in operation and the network covered the full 1,650-mile coastline. The company has not operated outside the Pacific Coast region.
Coverage Area and Highway Network
Routes use three principal highways: U.S. Route 101 from Washington through Oregon and into California, California State Route 1 between Leggett and Dana Point, and short connectors on Interstate 5 and U.S. Route 199. Of the 1,650 total miles, approximately 612 miles run directly along the shoreline on California State Route 1, with 388 miles on U.S. 101 in Oregon and 210 miles on U.S. 101 in Washington. The network is divided into 12 segments ranging from 62 miles (Monterey to Big Sur) to 214 miles (Astoria to Newport). Each segment is documented with mile markers, average travel times, fuel availability, cellular coverage notes, and turnout locations. Segment documentation is revised twice per year, in March and September, based on field verification drives.
Team and Qualifications
The route planning team has 6 members with an average of 9 years of professional experience in travel logistics, park interpretation, or commercial driving. Three planners hold Wilderness First Responder certification, renewed every 2 years. Two planners have completed the National Association for Interpretation Certified Interpretive Guide program. Support staff handle an average of 240 inquiries per week during the June to September peak and 70 per week from November through February. All support staff complete an internal 40-hour training program covering the highway network, seasonal road conditions, and reservation systems before handling traveler communications independently.
Operations and Support Hours
The office operates Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 18:00 Pacific Time, and Saturday from 9:00 to 14:00. The support line is staffed during those hours, and emergency voicemail is monitored outside them. Average email response time was 4 business hours in 2023, measured across 18,900 email threads and 7,300 phone calls. Route documents are issued digitally 14 days before the start date, with printed versions available on request. Travelers on active trips receive road condition updates by text message when closures or significant delays are reported on their itinerary segment.
Registration, Permits, and Insurance
oldhamite.com is registered as a limited liability company in Washington State, and the registration number is available through the state business registry. The company holds a Washington State Seller of Travel registration and a California Seller of Travel registration, both renewed annually in January. General liability insurance is carried at $2,000,000 per occurrence, and commercial vehicle coverage applies to the 15 vehicles the company operates directly. Partner lodging properties are contracted individually and are required to hold current state lodging licenses. Of the 47 contracted properties, 44 have been audited in person at least once since 2021, and all 47 are reviewed remotely each year before the season begins.
What a Route Contains
Segments, Coastal Towns, City Stops, Viewpoints, and Overnight Lodging
A completed route document covers five categories of information: highway segments with distances and travel times, coastal towns with services and stop durations, major city stops with transit and parking notes, documented viewpoints, and reserved overnight lodging. Each category is compiled from field visits, state department of transportation data, and property inspections. Routes are sold in two formats: 8 pre-built fixed itineraries and a build-your-own format in which travelers select segments from a catalog of 12. The build-your-own format accounted for 61% of bookings in 2023. Fixed itineraries range from 5 to 14 days, while custom routes range from 3 to 21 days.
Ocean Highway Segments
The ocean highway portion of the network covers 612 miles on California State Route 1 and 598 miles on U.S. Route 101 in Washington and Oregon. Segment lengths are set between 60 and 215 miles, which corresponds to 1.5 to 4.5 hours of driving under normal conditions. Each segment document lists posted speed limits, the number of passing lanes, known congestion points, and turnout locations. Ten segments include at least one section where vehicles over 30 feet in length are restricted or discouraged, and those sections are marked accordingly. Fuel stations are listed at intervals of no more than 45 miles across all segments, with the fuel type noted for each.
Coastal Towns
The network documents 84 coastal towns and settlements. Twenty-six are designated as primary stops with lodging, fuel, and full services; 58 are designated as secondary stops with limited services. Primary stops include Astoria and Newport in Oregon, and Crescent City, Eureka, Mendocino, Monterey, Cambria, and Santa Barbara in California. The average recommended stop duration is 2 to 4 hours for secondary towns and 1 to 2 nights for primary towns. Town entries list population, grocery and pharmacy availability, fuel types, and the nearest medical facility with an emergency department.
Major City Stops
Five metropolitan areas are included in the network: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. City stops are configured as either entry or exit points for a route, with a recommended stay of 2 nights. San Francisco and Los Angeles appear in 74% of all booked itineraries. City documentation covers airport transfer options, downtown parking rates (measured in May 2024 between $18 and $65 per day), public transit passes, and designated vehicle drop-off points. Routes that begin or end in a city include a 90-minute orientation document covering drop-off procedures, toll roads, and bridge crossings.
Viewpoints and Roadside Stops
Ninety-six viewpoints are documented across the network with GPS coordinates, parking capacity, and average visit duration. Average visit duration across all viewpoints is 24 minutes. The list includes Cape Flattery, Haystack Rock, Thor's Well, Face Rock, the Kuchel Visitor Center overlook, Bixby Creek Bridge, McWay Falls, Piedras Blancas, and Point Lobos. Viewpoint entries note parking capacity and typical availability by month. Thirty-one of the 96 sites have fewer than 20 parking spaces and reach capacity between 10:00 and 15:00 during July and August. Eleven viewpoints are marked as requiring a permit or an entry fee, with the current fee listed for each.
Overnight Stops and Lodging
The network contracts 47 overnight stop locations: 22 hotels or motels, 14 inns or bed-and-breakfast properties, 6 campgrounds with full hookups, 3 cabins, and 2 hostels. Nightly rates for the 2024 season range from $112 to $438 for double occupancy, with a median of $189. Properties are selected on three criteria: distance from the route (within 12 miles of the highway), a minimum rating of 4.0 from at least 200 verified guest reviews, and cancellation terms of 48 hours or longer. Reservation requests are submitted at least 30 days before the start date, and 91% of requests in 2023 were confirmed within 48 hours.
Practical Information
Distances, Timing, Costs, Vehicles, and Road Conditions
The information below reflects the planning parameters used for the 2023 season and the 2024 season. Distances are measured along the planned route rather than by the shortest available road. Costs are estimates in United States dollars and exclude airfare. Driving times assume no extended stops and average speeds of 42 to 48 miles per hour on two-lane coastal highways. Actual times vary with seasonal traffic, construction, and weather conditions. Figures marked as seasonal are based on records from 2019 through 2023 and include partial data from years affected by travel restrictions.
Daily Distances and Driving Time
The standard planning target is 165 miles and 3 hours 40 minutes of driving per day. The maximum recommended daily distance is 220 miles, and the longest single leg in the network is 245 miles between Crescent City, California and Fort Bragg, California. Seventeen of the 47 overnight stops are positioned so that the following day's drive is under 150 miles. Routes are scheduled so that no more than 3 consecutive days exceed 200 miles. A shorter daily profile of 120 miles is available, which lengthens a full Washington-to-San Diego trip from 14 days to approximately 21 days.
Season and Road Conditions
Peak season runs from mid-June through mid-September. Coastal fog is most frequent between June and August, particularly between Monterey and Big Sur, where visibility below 200 feet is recorded on an average of 21 mornings per season. The recommended shoulder periods are May and October, when average daily traffic counts on California State Route 1 are 38% lower than in July. California State Route 1 through the Big Sur area closes after significant storms at an average of 4 days per winter season; the longest recent closure was 87 days in 2023 following landslide activity at Paul's Slide. Routes include a documented inland detour via U.S. 101 and California State Route 46, which adds 68 miles. Winter driving on the coastal highways requires no special equipment, although chains may be required on passes above 3,000 feet.
Vehicles and Transportation
The company operates 15 vehicles for one-way logistics and shuttle service: 9 Subaru Outback wagons, 4 Ford Transit passenger vans, and 2 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans. The fleet average age is 2.3 years, and the average odometer reading is 41,000 miles. All vehicles are serviced every 7,500 miles, with records retained for 5 years. Travelers using their own vehicles receive route documents formatted for both standard and electric vehicles, with charging stations listed at intervals of no more than 80 miles on the California and Oregon segments. One-way vehicle drop fees with partner rental agencies range from $75 to $250 depending on the city pair.
About oldhamite.com
For a two-person, 8-day trip in the 2024 season, the estimated total cost range is $2,410 to $3,940. That range includes lodging at the median contracted rate, a route planning fee of $35 per day, fuel estimated at $0.19 per mile for a mid-size vehicle, and standard park entrance fees. It excludes airfare, meals, and optional activities. Park entrance fees as of 2024 are $30 per vehicle for Olympic National Park, $35 per vehicle for Redwood National and State Parks, and $10 per vehicle for Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. An $80 America the Beautiful annual pass covers most federal sites in the network, and most California state park day-use areas charge $10 per vehicle.
Reservations, Changes, and Cancellation Terms
oldhamite.com was established in March 2016 in Portland, Oregon, as a route-planning service for self-guided travel along the Pacific Coast. The coverage area extends roughly 1,650 miles (2,650 km) between the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and the US–Mexico border at San Diego, California. North of Leggett, California, the corridor follows US Highway 101 through Oregon and the redwood region; south of Leggett it continues on California State Route 1 through Mendocino, Sonoma, Big Sur, and San Luis Obispo County. The route database currently holds 214 points of interest, 47 coastal towns with verified overnight accommodations, and 5 metropolitan areas: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. The planning team has 11 members, each with at least three seasons of field travel on the corridor, and the office maintains annual documentation of road conditions, seasonal closures, and viewpoint access. An itinerary request is processed as follows: the customer specifies a start point, an end point, total trip length in days, and a preferred daily driving limit; the planning team segments the route, places overnight stops, and returns a document file plus an offline-capable mobile version. Standard turnaround is 2–4 business days, with a 24-hour option available for trips beginning within one week. Average daily driving distance in delivered itineraries is 148 miles, and overnight stops are positioned at intervals of no more than 180 miles. Seasonal data is applied during planning: Highway 1 through Big Sur was closed four times between 2017 and 2023 because of landslides, with closures lasting between 3 and 14 months, and the inland alternative via US 101 adds 62 miles between Monterey and San Luis Obispo. Tide tables are matched to 38 shoreline viewpoints, since access at locations such as Point Lobos, Bandon, and Cape Perpetua depends on tide height. Pricing is a flat $60 per itinerary regardless of trip length, which includes two revision rounds within 30 days of delivery and a route-status update sent 72 hours before the start date. Since 2016, 9,400 itineraries have been delivered; 71 percent of them covered travel dates between May and September, and 18 percent included travel outside the United States into British Columbia as far as Tofino. The company does not operate vehicles, does not act as a travel agent, and does not hold reservations on behalf of customers — lodging, ferry, and park entry bookings remain with the traveler. Recommendations are provided with direct contact details for each listed property. Post-trip survey response rate is 24 percent, and the average accuracy rating for delivered routes is 4.6 out of 5. Road status is confirmed against Washington State DOT, Oregon DOT, and Caltrans feeds before each itinerary is finalized, and customers are advised to re-check conditions 24 hours before departure, since 9 of the 214 listed points of interest are subject to temporary access restrictions during winter months.
Records and Standards
Traveler Numbers, Feedback Data, Safety, and Environmental Practices
The figures in this section are drawn from internal operating records and post-trip surveys covering the period from 2017 to 2023. Sample sizes and collection methods are noted alongside each figure. Survey data is collected by email 3 days after the end of a trip and is reported without filtering of negative responses. Financial figures are stated in United States dollars and exclude airfare.
Traveler Numbers
Between 2017 and 2023, 21,470 travelers used routes planned by oldhamite.com. Annual volume grew from 380 travelers in 2017 to 6,410 in 2023. Repeat travelers accounted for 18% of 2023 bookings, and 43% of travelers came from within the three Pacific Coast states. The most frequently booked itinerary in 2023 was the 9-day Oregon and Northern California route between Portland and San Francisco, selected by 1,180 travelers. The least booked was the 5-day San Diego to Santa Barbara route, selected by 210 travelers.
Feedback Data
Post-trip surveys were returned by 1,912 of 6,410 travelers in 2023, a response rate of 29.8%. The average overall rating was 4.7 out of 5. Route document accuracy was rated 4.6 out of 5, and overnight stop satisfaction was rated 4.5 out of 5. The lowest-scoring categories were cellular coverage documentation (3.9 out of 5) and summer traffic estimates (4.0 out of 5). Both categories were revised for the 2024 season, and 340 miles of routes were re-surveyed in person between October 2023 and February 2024. Survey results are reported in full, including responses below 3.0.
Safety Record
No fatalities involving company-operated vehicles have been recorded since operations began in 2017. Vehicle incidents requiring insurance claims numbered 4 in 2023, all involving minor damage at low speed. The company's commercial insurance experience modification rate for 2023 was 0.86. Traveler-reported incidents on self-driven routes are tracked separately; in 2023, 62 incidents were reported, of which 51 involved vehicle damage or roadside mechanical problems and 11 involved minor medical issues. Support staff maintain contact lists for the nearest hospital and urgent care facility for each of the 47 overnight stops, and those lists are reviewed annually.
Environmental Practices
Vehicle fleet emissions are offset through a certified program covering an estimated 1,240 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. Nine of the 15 company vehicles are hybrid or plug-in hybrid. Route documents for 2024 list 612 electric vehicle charging stations across the network, an increase of 148 compared with 2022. The company contributes $12 per booked itinerary to the California State Parks Foundation and the Oregon Coast Trail maintenance fund; total contributions in 2023 were $76,900. Printed route documents are issued only on request, and 96% of travelers in 2023 used the digital version.
Accessibility Notes
Of the 47 contracted overnight stops, 31 have at least one fully accessible room and 8 have roll-in showers. Twenty-two viewpoints on the network are marked as wheelchair accessible, with paved paths of no more than 200 yards. Accessible vehicle options are limited: 3 of the 15 company vehicles accommodate a wheelchair with 21 days of advance notice. Routes can be adjusted to reduce daily driving distance, with a minimum building block of 90 miles per day. Accessibility adjustments are arranged through the contact details listed in the footer.