Harris Ranch Coalinga, CA

[sheridany]

For those of you traveling in CA and have spent the night at Harris Ranch in the gravel parking lot. Be aware they have decided to turn that gravel lot into a football field of Tesla superchargers. No more parking there. You might get lucky if you show up early and park in the lot by the hotel. Otherwise you have to look elsewhere.

 

[Voyageurs]

For those of you traveling in CA and have spent the night at Harris Ranch in the gravel parking lot. Be aware they have decided to turn that gravel lot into a football field of Tesla superchargers. No more parking there. You might get lucky if you show up early and park in the lot by the hotel. Otherwise you have to look elsewhere.

Yah, it’s one of the bigger Tesla Superchargers on the west coast now. Even has pull thrus for those of us towing. It caters mostly to the LA to San Francisco and Sacramento crowd. It was definitely needed. Especially on fridays, sundays and long weekends.

 

[J&JD]

As far as I’m concerned traveling 5 in central California is to be avoided period. I’ll use 101 no matter if it costs me substantial travel time.

 

[Rich W.]

Ive driven 5 south of Sacramento a few times in the last couple years and found it wasnt that bad - no worse than many other interstates, although I do prefer smaller highways. Also stopped at Harris Ranch a coulple times and never had trouble finding room over by the hotel/restaurant. But I could see it being an issue for late arrivals.

 

[J&JD]

Ive driven 5 south of Sacramento a few times in the last couple years and found it wasnt that bad - no worse than many other interstates, although I do prefer smaller highways. Also stopped at Harris Ranch a coulple times and never had trouble finding room over by the hotel/restaurant. But I could see it being an issue for late arrivals.

It’s certainly not worse than many, many other state’s freeways. The road surface itself is mostly in good shape. It’s just that there are alternatives that are much more conducive to an enjoyable Rv experience.

 

[Voyageurs]

As far as I’m concerned traveling 5 in central California is to be avoided period. I’ll use 101 no matter if it costs me substantial travel time.

101 is a nice route and a little less hectic when towing. And the also have good DC fast charging and Supercharger infrastructure although not as much as I5.

 

[udidwht]

101 is better route than 5. The 5 is boring and if an issue pops up help can be further away than on the 101.

 

[Rich W.]

I just took I5 south from Sacramento again and overall it was perfectly acceptable. The road surface between Sac and Stockton was a little rough in areas but not bad compared to most interstates, and south of 580 it was actially quite good for the most part. Traffic was typical, not heavy or light (on a Thursday afternoon) and I ran at 65 most of the time. I prefer to keep my speed around 60 but I also don’t want to be the one impeding traffic. 65 worked well considering the towing speed limit of 55.

We rolled into Harris Ranch around 6pm, easily found a good spot, and headed out in the morning. We took 46 over to 99 because as I recall 58 between 5 and 99 isnt that great but maybe it has improved. The only issue was fog on Friday morning keeping speeds in the 50’s which was fine with me. Traffic was very light on 46. Never even considered 101 but if I ever have destinations along that route I’ll give it a try.

Since it was dark when we got to Harris Ranch and foggy when we left I didnt see the extent of the new charging area, but I did see that it occupies the area on the south side of the road east of the Harris Ranch complex. I also found myself parked next to the sign advertising a future Rv park there, so once thats in place my guess is that free parking in the hotel/restaurant parking lot will end.

Google maps still doesnt have an updated view showing how much of the overflow parking area has been consumed by the charging station, which was completely vacant both times I drove by. Maybe it will be a busy spot five years from now - for now it looked to me like a big tax write off- large expensive installation with nobody using it. Looks cool though.

 

[sheridany]

@Rich W. consider yourself lucky you were able to pull in there and stay. The last two times I was there it was packed and could not stay at Harris. You can go across the freeway and park on the street behind the McDonald’s if Harris has no room. Easy in and out. You are right once that park opens no more free parking. I’ll still stop there as it’s the perfect overnight stopping point on I5 for me.

 

[Rich W.]

I thought it would be busy and was a little concerned because we got a late start as usual - rolled out at 1:30pm but it was a nice stress free easy drive down there and yes, I felt lucky to find so much available space. Several came in after us and it never did completely fill up.

 

[Scooterfan]

Hmmm...we're regular customers of Harris Ranch over the years (live on the Central CA Coast) ...I find it no surprise they are considering an RV park. I certainly don't fault them and one thing for sure, it'll be "well done"


Maybe something like this...

RV Park - Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant

www.harrisranch.com

 

[Voyageurs]

It’s becoming a huge travel centre. There are over 100 Tesla V2 and V3 Superchargers there including some with pull thru trailer slots. And apparently the long term plan is to install some mega chargers. An RV park would be a great addition for the overnight travelling crowd.

 

[sheridany]

The last time I pulled into Harris recently was a Sunday night and there were more teslas charging up than you could imagine at the new charger area. People used to wait like 20-30 minutes in peak times when the chargers were in the corner of the hotel parking lot. Friday and Sunday is lots of Tesla’s traveling between LA and SF thus creating the demand. It’s only going to get busier when they open the network to other non teslas.

 

[Rich W.]

I’m so out of touch….But I will definitely use their RV park when its up and running. I have a couple stopovers I use when heading south, such as the Visalia KOA on 99, but I’m not particularly fond of any of them. And I agree - a Harris RV park would be done right.

 

[Voyageurs]

The last time I pulled into Harris recently was a Sunday night and there were more teslas charging up than you could imagine at the new charger area. People used to wait like 20-30 minutes in peak times when the chargers were in the corner of the hotel parking lot. Friday and Sunday is lots of Tesla’s traveling between LA and SF thus creating the demand. It’s only going to get busier when they open the network to other non teslas.

That might be awhile. So far Tesla is pretty mum about those plans. And the only CCS compatible superchargers are V4’s and there are only two of those in the US (under construction) and none in Canada. And although it hasn’t been confirmed it looks like neither of those V4 locations have CCS cables. We’ll probably find out next month. It’s not a simple switch. Lots of hardware and software updates required to make a supercharger CCS1 compatible.

 

[RKins]

What a flashback - I taught a 2 week class in the Harris Ranch complex back in '06. I remember when I stepped outside to grab a smoke (back when I smoked) and the wind was blowing the right way, all you could smell was cow poop - WOW!! They called it "the smell of money". I drove up the freeway on the weekend and saw a super humongous feed lot - thousands of cattle walking around in knee deep poop
Well, stupid me pulled over to take pics. The closer the cattle got to the feed troughs, the deeper the "mud" got.

Once I got out of the car and took a breath - whooooooa, the urine smell hit me. I snapped these pics and then ran for the car. I headed back to the freeway and headed back toward the Harris Ranch with the windows down and barely got the smell out of the car.
Another teaching trip to that area was to teach at the prison where Charles Manson was being held - Corcoran, CA. It was a 70 mile drive from the closest decent hotel. Tule fog was exactly as they said. I couldn't see the front of my car yet people were flying by me on the freeway like they had super vision. Dangerous for sure. The prison was so far off the freeway that I got used to landmarks to turn at but in that fog, and driving at 25mph, I got to see all the ditches and other non-landmarks along the way I missed. I was amazed.

 

[sheridany]

That feed lot is still there and just as aromatic as ever. When you pass it on I 5 heading north there’s no stopping it from wafting into the drivers compartment especially with the ac on in the heat of summer.

 

[widdershins]

I used to make the trek from Monterey Park to Visalia every week or two when I was working for SoCal GAS.. it was a good day when the wind was still or blowing the other way...whatever magic kept the stench down.....

 

[Scooterfan]

Harris Ranch beef is renown as high quality. Grass fed beef from around the State are brought to Harris Ranch Feed Lot to finish off before being processed. Yup...it can get pretty ripe in the neighborhood

 

[Rich W.]

@Rich W. consider yourself lucky you were able to pull in there and stay. The last two times I was there it was packed and could not stay at Harris. You can go across the freeway and park on the street behind the McDonald’s if Harris has no room. Easy in and out. You are right once that park opens no more free parking. I’ll still stop there as it’s the perfect overnight stopping point on I5 for me.

That was Dec 22 at 6pm too and I expected it to be busier, but it was actually pretty quiet. I had a couple contingency plans but fortunately didn’t need them. I didn’t know about the area on the west side so I’ll add it to my list of back-ups.