scagly

Hello fodorites. I've read many many posts (it's amazing how many hours and hours i can spend on this site!) -- but I still can't seem to grasp how long some of the driving takes!

We will be leaving Fish Camp, Ca, early morning on Wednesday May, 2nd to head across to the coast/Cambria and then begin to drive up PCH. If we have a hotel reservation that night in Monterey, will we make it in time? or is this too rushed? On the day we leave fish camp going to monterey, we hope to stop on the coast to see the sealions/elephant seals, maybe make a quick scenic-beach-stop, have lunch, hike up the short hike to see the falls in julia pfeiffer, and drive through big sur before arriving to our hotel in Monterey. Will we make it to monterey from fish camp in the same day if we sitesee along the way (as outlined above)? Do we need to take out some of our site-seeing to make it to the hotel before 7 pm or so? If this is too rushed/hectic, does anyone have any thoughts about what area to stay? it appears there's not much for accomodations, along the coast between cambria and big sur... so within our budget it seems that carmel/monterey are the first places to stop... am i wrong?? Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated!

We will be in Monterey area for two nights and hope to also drive 17-mile/pebble beach, explore Carmel beach and shops, and have a nice seafood dinner the next day. We've chosen to stay in Monterey because we were finding better hotel rates there, I just hope it works out okay!

youngtom2910

i have driven from carmel to yosemite. I think it took about 4 hours. it depends to soem extent which park entrance you are talking about. but I think you will have enough time if you leave erly in te morning to get to the coast and sight see

StuDudley

Note sure where Fish Camp is, but I'll assume it's in the Yosemite area. I certainly would not recommend that drive in 1 day - especially if you plan to explore on foot. Almost all of the beaches along the Big Sur coast are a little difficult to access. I would stay in Big Sur or Cambria and enjoy this lovely section of coast at a leisurely pace. Don't miss Pt Lobos - I think you will enjoy that a lot more than the 17 mile drive. Even 1 day from Cambria to Monterey with hikes, lunch, lookouts, Pfeiffer Falls, seals, etc is a pretty fast pace.

Also, It's not called PCH - it's the Cabrillo Highway. PCH is in the LA area.

Stu Dudley

MichelleY

I agree with Stu. In order to enjoy this trip, you should spend your first night in the Cambria area. Maybe check out Hearst Castle. The next day you could head up to Monterey. The drive from Cambria to Carmel is tedious and tiring.

If you want to skip Cambria/coast drive, you could just head from Fish Camp thru Madera and cut west on Hwy 152/156 to Monterey.

Good luck, and most of all, have fun.

MY

J_Correa

I agree, that is a long drive. Fish Camp (Stu - it is just outside the south entrance to Yosemite) to Cambria is about 4 hours or so. The drive from Cambria to Monterey, while only 90 miles, takes about 3 hours. The road is curvey and there are sections where you will be driving 25 mph. Your top speed will probably be 45 or 50 mph on that stretch. So you are talking about 7 hours of driving, not including stops.

I would either head straight to Monterey or I would spend the first night around Cambria and then the next night in Monterey.

curmudgeon

Fish Camp to Fresno has some slower sections of road (35-45 mph), about an hour. From Fresno across to Cambria is two-lane road, but you can generally manage 55-65 mph unless you get stuck behind some slow trucks or RVs, about 2.5 hours. Not much reason to stop along this part of the route. Cambria to Monterey is slow and quite scenic; with no stops you might make it in 2.5-3 hours, but that kind of defeats the point. It's possible to do it in one day, but it makes for a lot of time sitting in the car.

My suggestion would be to stay in Cambria, Morro Bay, or San Luis Obispo. These are within 30 minutes of each other, and there are nice spots to visit (Moonstone Beach in Cambria, small fishing harbor and Montana De Oro state park in Morro Bay, and a nice shopping downtown in San Luis). Alternately, you could just drive more directly to Monterey from Fish Camp, and go to Point Lobos (just south of Carmel) for a very scenic coastal location.

bear900

I’m guessing that if you are starting from Fish Camp you probably are originating or starting from Southern Ca.?

There are two good options presented here already (rather then trying to do it all in one day – can’t).

Third option is to head straight to Monterey, and come back south on the 1.

Stu – lol, PCH, Cabrillo Highay, Shoreline Hiway, El Camino Real, it’s all good. =) 8-)

I’m still trying to figure out what a sig-alert is. :-?

StuDudley

>>> El Camino Real, it’s all good<<

Not up here in Northern California - unless you like strip malls, Mc Donalds, car dealerships, large banks, office buildings, etc.

Stu Dudley

bear900

I much prefer stairways to hiways.

You’re right, route 1 can take you through some places that would have made the padres donkey-sick.

Don’t you love it when you’re on the same highway and it changes names every so many miles? Do I really need to know that?

No doubt it makes some difference to somebody.

Route 1 changes names as you travel trough different counties. SB County it’s Cabrillo Highway, SLO County it’s North Coast Scenic Byway, Monterey County it’s Big Sur Coast Hiway, San Mateo County it reverts back to Cabrillo Hiway. Huh? :-<

I vote they should change it to “Coastal Hiway”. Or we can just point and say “over yonder alongside the coast”. >-

J_Correa

Oooooorrrrr, we could just call it Hwy 1 (or 101 if you are south of SLO)

bear900

Naw J_C …that’s way too easy. We need a challenge!

Speak of which,

Hey Fish Camper…..What Hiway did you decide to take after all?

Poor soul. Probably stuck in a sig-alert. :->

sequoia370

Highway One is the Cabrillo Highway all the way from somewhere near Santa Maria all the way to San Francisco, including all the way through SLO and Big Sur. The other names are additional names given by local governments.

The Big Sur section is often referred to as "Pacific Coast Highway" by people wanting to visit there, so it is usually understood even though this name is not used locally. Calling it just "PCH" is apt to be more confusing, though.

El Camino Real is Highway 101 through the Salinas Valley, and Hwy 82 through Silicon Valley. The 1/101 freeway from Ventura to Gaviota is also El Camino Real, but it would be very confusing if you referred to Hwy One north of there as El Camino Real.

bear900

Shiver me timbers! Juan boy would me might proud of that.

I would never disagree. After all, Juan died from complications of a broken leg during a brief skirmish with the natives.

By the way, do you know where he is believed to be buried? hint…

“Just 26 miles across the sea…”

scagly is getting a historical, geographical lesson out of us. ><

Next question: where is the only remaining dirt stretch of the El Camino Real located? :-?

tick-tock....

scagly

Thanks for all the insights folks!!

So, do you think If we stayed for the first night (after leaving fish camp, on the way to drive up the coast from cambria to monterey) at the ragged point inn (25 MILES/35 MIN SOUTH OF CAMBRIA), that perhaps that would work out BETTER? Then the next day we can drive up to monterey, stopping along the way, etc?

bear900

naw...Ragged Point is North of Cambria...

J_Correa

Yes - the Ragged Point Inn is a good location to stop for the night. It is a beautiful location. You could leave Fish Camp early, have lunch in Cambria, wander around a bit there, and then head up to Ragged Point. If Hearst Castle interests you, there would be time for a tour there as well - it is north of Cambria a little bit.

bear900

Or you could take the Cabrrriillo Hwy to Cambria and head north the next day if you wish to see Hearst Castle. It’s on the way to Ragged Point. Be careful for the poison oak there.

http://www.raggedpointinn.com/directions.htm