Compiled and reviewed by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy · Last reviewed Apr 18, 2026 · Editorial standards
Drive Time
10h 59m
Distance
568.2 mi
914 km
Drive Score
7/10
Good drive
Same Day?
2-day trip
Fuel Cost
$131
one way
EV Charging
Unknown
Estimated drive times based on typical traffic patterns. Actual times may vary with weather, construction, and real-time conditions.
Fort Bragg, CA
Wikimedia Commons
Long Beach, CA
Wikimedia Commons
The drive from Fort Bragg, CA to Long Beach, CA covers 568.2 miles and takes about 10h 59m behind the wheel. It usually feels better as a 2-day road trip than as one long push.
The route leans on Westside Freeway, CA 20, I 5 Truck for much of the mileage, and the overall profile is long-distance drive. The longest uninterrupted segment is about 224.4 miles on Westside Freeway. At current regular gas prices, budget about $130.60 one way before food or hotel costs.
Trip Pace
Best split across 2 days
Treat the return leg as its own travel day rather than an afterthought.
Break Rhythm
3 planned breaks
Plan on a short reset every 3 to 4 hours to stay fresh behind the wheel.
Midpoint
284.1 miles from Fort Bragg, CA
A natural place for your longest stop of the day , about 5h 43m into the drive .
| Road | Distance | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Westside Freeway | 224.4 mi | 4h |
| CA 20 | 116.7 mi | 2h 19m |
| I 5 Truck | 58.6 mi | 1h 7m |
| Arthur H. Breed Junior Freeway | 29.3 mi | 33m |
| Fort Bragg-Willits Road | 26.8 mi | 39m |
| I 405 Truck | 23 mi | 26m |
| San Diego Freeway | 18 mi | 20m |
| William Elton Brown Freeway | 17 mi | 18m |
Step-by-step road directions between Fort Bragg, CA and Long Beach, CA.
Start on this road
Turn left onto East Laurel Street
Turn right onto North Franklin Street
Turn right onto East Redwood Avenue
Turn left onto CA 1
Turn left onto CA 20
Continue on CA 20
Turn right onto CA 20
Continue on CA 20
Take the ramp onto CA 20
Keep slight right at fork onto I 580
Merge onto I 80; I 580
Keep slight left at fork onto I 580
Keep slight left at fork onto I 580
Merge onto I 580
Keep slight right at fork onto I 580
Keep slight right at fork onto I 580
Keep slight left at fork onto I 580
Merge onto I 5
Keep slight right at fork onto I 5 Truck
Keep slight left at fork onto I 5
Keep slight right at fork onto I 5 Truck
Keep slight right at fork onto I 405 Truck
Keep slight right at fork onto I 405
Take the exit
Continue on this road
Merge onto I 710
Continue on I 710
Take the exit
Continue on Shoreline Drive
Turn left onto South Chestnut Place
Turn right onto West Ocean Boulevard
Continue on East Ocean Boulevard
Arrive at destination
Morning Departure
Start early — leave by 6-7 AM to arrive at a reasonable hour.
Evening Departure
This is a long drive — plan for a morning departure or consider splitting it into two days.
Consider an overnight stop or starting very early.
Departure
Before you leave
Start with fuel, water, and navigation already sorted so the first hour feels easy.
First stop
Around 125 miles or 2h 42m in
Use this first pause for coffee, a restroom break, and a quick traffic check ahead.
Halfway reset
Around 284.1 miles or 5h 43m in
This is the best place for your longest stop, a real meal, and a full fuel check.
Overnight split
Day 1 wrap after about 284.1 miles or 5h 43m
Stop before fatigue turns the last few hours into a grind. You want day two to start fresh, not just resumed.
Final approach
Final hour starts around 9h 47m
Traffic, exits, and arrival timing usually matter more near Long Beach, CA than in the middle of the route.
Open the route before leaving Fort Bragg, CA so your first major turns are already loaded.
Leave with enough water and a charging cable within reach, not packed away.
Check your fuel range against the first long segment, especially if you are starting outside city service areas.
Pick one backup stop option before the midpoint in case traffic changes your pacing.
Treat this as a 2-day road trip and book the overnight stop before the busiest arrival window.
Day 1
Settle into the route from Fort Bragg, CA
Aim for roughly 284 miles and 5.5 hours of wheel time on this day.
Day 2
Finish the approach into Long Beach, CA
Aim for roughly 284 miles and 5.5 hours of wheel time on this day.
Rest stops, refuel points, and overnight suggestions along this route.
First major stop
Coffee and fuel
188 mi into the route
Best for: Coffee, fuel, and an easy first stretch
This is a natural early stop once the first hours of the drive are behind you.
Second major stop
Overnight candidate
375 mi into the route
Best for: Hotel check-in, dinner, and a fresh start
This lines up well with a realistic day-end stop if you are breaking the drive into stages.
Find hotels in Brentwood, CANight 1
284 mi · about 5.5h in
A practical overnight split lands near Richmond, CA after about 284 miles or 5.5 hours of driving.
Find hotelsA short stop after about 125 miles helps settle the day before fatigue starts building.
The midpoint is around 284.5 miles from Fort Bragg, CA, which is a good place for a longer meal and fuel stop.
Overnight split
Hotel stopFor a steadier pace, wrap day one after about 285 miles or 4.6 hours on the road.
These stop ideas are pacing suggestions — the exact town or exit can change with traffic, hotel plans, and fuel range.
5 decision points cluster between mile 154.2 and 565.7 — GPS handles the exact turns, but know they're coming. Your lane choice matters more than the turn itself.
Keep slight right at fork onto I 580 / John T. Knox Freeway toward I 580: Richmond Bridge, Oakland
Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one
Keep slight left at fork onto I 580 / Interstate Highway 80 toward I 580 East, I 880 South: Downtown Oakland, Hayward, Stockton, Alameda, San Jose
Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one
Keep slight left at fork onto I 580 / MacArthur Freeway toward I 580: Downtown Oakland, Hayward, Stockton
Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one
Keep slight right at fork onto I 5 Truck toward I 405 South
Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here
Take the exit toward Downtown Long Beach, Convention Center, Aquarium
Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one
Regular Gas
$130.60 one way
$261.19 round trip
| Fuel Type | $/gal | One Way | Round Trip |
|---|---|---|---|
| midgrade | $6.02 | $134.58 | $269.16 |
| premium | $6.18 | $138.18 | $276.36 |
| diesel | $5.61 | $125.45 | $250.90 |
No toll roads detected on this route.
Estimated Trip Cost (one way, 1 person)
Fuel
$131
Hotel (1n)
$80–$140
Meals
$50–$100
Total
$261–$371
Rough estimate based on US averages. Hotel $80–$140/night, meals $25–$50/day.
Estimated CO2 emission: 198.8 kg one way. Prices: EIA weekly data, 2026-04-13.
Driving Electric?
About $60 in charging · 2 stops · 67% less CO2
| Vehicle Type | kWh | Stops | DC Fast | Home Charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average EV | 170.5 | 2 | $59.66 | $27.27 |
| Efficient EV | 142.1 | 1 | $49.72 | $22.73 |
| EV Truck/SUV | 227.3 | 2 | $79.55 | $36.36 |
Gas CO2
199 kg
EV CO2
66 kg (67% less)
Plan for 2 charging stops, roughly every 270 miles. Allow 25-40 minutes per stop at a DC fast charger.
DC fast charging avg $0.35/kWh. Home charging avg $0.16/kWh. US grid CO2: 0.39 kg/kWh.
Current conditions at both ends of the drive.
Origin
Afternoon in Fort Bragg on Saturday
Local time
1:00 PM
PDT
Current temp
57°F
Patchy Fog then Mostly Sunny
Destination
Afternoon in Long Beach on Saturday
Local time
1:00 PM
PDT
Current temp
56°F
Unavailable
Seasonal Notes
Summer travel usually means heavier construction, hotter rest stops, and busier weekend traffic around major cities.
Winter travel shortens daylight, so a route that looks manageable on paper can feel much longer after dark.
Holiday weekends tend to make both departure and arrival windows slower than the raw route time suggests.
For long drives, weather on day two can matter just as much as conditions at departure, so check the whole travel window rather than only the first day.
Time zone
Origin and destination are on the same clock, so arrival timing is easier to judge at a glance.
Temperature spread
A meaningful temperature swing is a good cue to rethink layers, water, and how soon you want to arrive.
Road read
This is long enough that the arrival forecast matters almost as much as departure conditions. Recheck both ends before you roll.
Weather data from the National Weather Service. Conditions may change; check closer to your travel date.
Worth a detour if your schedule allows.
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Park data from the National Park Service API. Alerts update every 2 hours.
At 568.2 miles and 10h 59m of driving, this is a route where fuel stops, weather, and timing matter more than any single turn. The main roads are Westside Freeway and CA 20.
This is a straightforward highway drive that stays mostly on Westside Freeway and CA 20. This route has several spots where lane changes, forks, or exits need your full attention. The trickiest moment comes around 154.2 miles in near I 580 / John T. Knox Freeway.
High effort - long or complex enough to need steady focus all day
Balances navigation complexity with total wheel time.
This is a demanding drive. With 28 significant decision points across 568.2 miles, you will need to stay alert - especially through interchange areas and urban stretches. Consider splitting it into segments if you are not comfortable with fast highway navigation.
Where does it get tricky?
The main spots that need attention: at 154.2 miles (I 580 / John T. Knox Freeway): Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one; at 171.5 miles (I 580 / Interstate Highway 80): Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one; at 171.8 miles (I 580 / MacArthur Freeway): Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one.
Based on OSRM destination-sign hints, not a full list of every settlement the road passes.
Between Fort Bragg, CA and Long Beach, CA, road signs point toward Oakland, Hayward, Stockton, Alameda and San Jose.
Oakland
Hayward
Stockton
Alameda
San Jose
For the fort in North Carolina, see Fayetteville (North Carolina). Fort Bragg is an isolated town of 7,000 people (2020) on California's North Coast. It serves as the economic hub of the area despite the demise of its historic logging and fishing industries at the end of the 20th century. Long regarded as the "Beast" to the neighboring village of Mendocino's "Belle," it has slowly been shedding its inhospitable, blue-collar reputation and begun to warm to the new reality of a tourism-based economy with art galleries, microbreweries and gastropubs of its own.
Top landmarks
Founded 1888
Long Beach is a large port city in Los Angeles County in Southern California. Long Beach has some nice people-gathering amenities and genuine tourist attractions, such as a world-class aquarium and the Queen Mary floating museum/hotel. Special events are also held in the city like the annual Long Beach Grand Prix (a premier racing event held on city streets) and the annual Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride event. When compared to other areas like Hollywood, West Hollywood, Santa Monica and West L.A., Long Beach may not always be at the top of someone's tourist visit to the Los Angeles area, but the city draws its fair share of visitors and has proven it can definitely hold its own.
Top landmarks
City content from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0).
Compiled by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy from open government datasets — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for geometry, EIA for fuel prices, and NPS for national parks. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.
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