Soaring Gas Prices, Jam-Packed Freeways Predicted For July 4th Holiday

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Millions of Californians were expected to hit the roadways this week for the upcoming July 4th holiday, but travel won't come cheap as gas prices continue to soar at the pump.

Filomena Andre, the vice president of travel for Automobile Club of Southern California, said the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and penned up desires to travel will fill California freeways with travelers.

"Car and air travel each are showing growing strength this Fourth of July holiday weekend because many states have reduced or eliminated COVID-19 restrictions," Andre said. "We expect car travel to be the highest on record and air travel to be the third highest amount since AAA started tracking data in 2001."

Statewide, the Auto Club predicts 5.36 million people will travel for the holiday; 4.6 million will go by car and 669,314 via plane.

Among the most popular destinations will be Yosemite National Park.

But travelers will also be greeted by sticker shock at the gas pump. The San Francisco Bay Area has the highest gas prices at $4.33 per gallon of regular.

Those are just the averages. According to the Auto Club, the average price within San Francisco was $4.475 a gallon with Oakland and San Jose at $4.33 a gallon.

If Wine Country is your choice for a July 4th destination, plan on paying $4.44 a gallon or more to fill up the tank. In Tahoe, the prices ranged from $4.50 to nearly $5 a gallon on Sunday.

There are deals to be had. Check the cheapest gas prices in your town from gasbuddy.com