Leaving 4/18/06 to L.A. Want to drive to 17 mile drive and back to L. A. in 2 full days . Question ? Cant miss stops along the way and back ? We will be staying in Hermosa Beach area . I know i am late posting but thank you for any advise . nick

There are better destinations in the Carmel area and along the coast than 17 mile drive. The Monterey Aquarium for one, Hearst Castle, the Carmel Mission, the Big Sur coast itself, etc.

Thank you i see your point and thanks that will save some time for short hiking . Our goal is to see as much as possible of the coast and scenery as possible , not so much of venues . Any advise on short hikes like redwoods at Julia Pfeiffer state park or any other park along hwy 1. thank you nick

All the rain in California has caused a number of slides on the Pacific Coast Hwy. We were supposed to stay in Lucia one night but could not get to our hotle due to a slide. You better plan accordingly. There are usually signs on the roads warning of closures. Check with your hotel and the should be able to call about that. Anyway, we ended up driving up 101 to Monterey and down to Big Sur form there....but our plans were to head north anyway...not back to LA.

For the latest road information:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/

Thanks all i see no closures as of tonight 4/17/06 on web site Michael gave me . nick

"Cant miss stops along the way and back ?"

I'd forget about any "can't miss" stops. W/ your itinerary all you'll basically have time for is driving from hermosa Beach to Monterey/Carmel one day - and driving back the next.

What you propose is a 4 day round-trip at minimum - if you want to see anything..

Got to agree with janis. At most you'll have time for a few three minute stops along the road, but not for the 17 mile drive or redwoods. If you really want to get all the way to the Monterey Peninsula and do the 17 mile drive you should be taking Hwy 101 and forget Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and the whole redwood thing, you just don't have time for it.