Things You'll Need:
- California road map
- Sturdy walking/hiking shoes
- Camera
- Gas (fill your tank before you leave Cambria)
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Step 1
Driftwood on Moonstone BeachBegin your trip along California’s Big Sur coast in Cambria, a funky, artistic beach town just south of San Simeon and Hearst Castle. Book a room overlooking the beach at Moonstone Landing and drink in the fresh, night air as you fall asleep with a gas fire burning in the fireplace and the sliding door cracked open to let in the sound of the surf. Moonstone Beach is stark and brooding in the winter, with crags of rock rising out of the water and huge pieces of driftwood strewn like dinosaur bones in the sand.
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Step 2
California PoppyAs you drive toward Hearst Castle you’re likely to spot zebras--that’s correct, zebras—-wandering among the cattle grazing on the side of the road. They are the only surviving species from the exotic zoo wildlife that roamed this land when William Randolph Hearst was still alive. Wildflowers also abound along the roadside here.
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Step 3
Elephant Seal Pups Sunning on the BeachYou will hear the guttural barking of the seal pups even before you reach the sanctuary at Piedras Blanca Beach. The Northern Elephant Seal spends 8 to 10 months a year in the open ocean, diving up to 5 thousand feet deep and staying underwater for as long as 2 hours. 15,000 of these extraordinary mammals migrate thousands of miles, twice a year, somehow knowing exactly how to return to this particular beach rookery for birthing, breeding, molting and rest.
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Step 4
The wildlife sightings continue as you drive north just a few miles to Gorda, one of the best beaches for spotting migrating whales because deep ocean waters come right up to the shoreline at this point.
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Step 5
Just minutes beyond Gorda is Jade Cove, where visitors and locals alike sift through the sand and dive for pieces of jade. The beach is a designated hang-glider landing area, so pay attention to shadows moving overhead!
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Step 6
Big Sur CoastlineBeyond Jade Cove the highway winds into the hairpin twists and turns of the Big Sur, a short stretch of coast with a huge variety of natural habitats, wildflowers and wildlife.
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Step 7
Tidal WaterfallFor a short, spectacular hike, pull off the road at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and follow the signs to the Waterfall Overlook Trail. The brevity of this hike (six-tenths of a mile roundtrip) belies the enormity of the payoff. After a short, easy walk, the trail emerges high up on a granite cliff, over the spot where McWay Creek drops 80 feet onto a pristine beach in an isolated ocean cove.
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Step 8
Drive just 1 miles further and turn into Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Incredibly, though you’ll have only driven for 20 minutes since leaving the tidal waterfall, you can follow the signs for the Pfeiffer Falls Trail and be immediately plunged into a mature, coastal redwood forest. Once again, this is a relatively easy hike, though it is slightly longer (1.4 miles roundtrip) and somewhat steeper (nothing an average person can’t handle, stopping occasionally to rest).
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Step 9
Although it is a bit of a shock when you emerge from the Big Sur into the afternoon rush hour traffic of Monterey, the Aquarium makes it all worthwhile. Monterey Bay is a protected marine reserve, and this institution is committed to preserving the otter population. The 6 rescued otter pups are playful, mischievous and endlessly entertaining. It is worth a visit just to see the sea otters.
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Step 10
Final stop, Pacific Grove, to visit the hundreds of thousands of Monarch Butterflies that migrate each spring (the “Monarch Sanctuary” is marked on the Monterey city map). Incredibly, although several generations are born and die in the course of their 2,500 mile journey, somehow the current generation knows exactly how to get to their ancestral grove, a phenomenon that scientists still cannot explain. When you arrive, you’ll find the air and trees full of delicate butterflies--so many perched in the boughs that at first glance you will wonder if there are autumn leaves mixed in with the spring buds and pine needles.
