Pacific Coastal Highway: LA to SF

Pacific Coastal Highway: LA to SF

California State Route 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway) covers 1,056km between Dana, just south of Los Angeles, to Leggett in northern California. It is renowned for breathtaking coastal views, particularly through Big Sur just south of San Francisco. We joined it at Los Angeles and followed this very scenic road all the way to San Francisco. We were fortunate! The PCH in the Big Sur area reopened in January 2026, following a three year closure caused by major landslides. Along the way we visited Santa Barbara, Solvang, Morro Bay, Cambria, Monterrey and Half Moon Bay. Weather-wise it was blue skies the whole way, bar a little rain in Solvang.

Santa Barbara

Anticipating having trouble finding somewhere to park in Santa Barbara, we camped at a state park in Carpinteria and took the train in the next day. Even the train journey is scenic, well worth the $8 fare! In Santa Barbara we visited the pier, the shopping centre and the old Courthouse. The latter was very interesting being a historic building that is still being used for its intended purpose with courtrooms in session during our visit. It was worth visiting Santa Barbara for this building alone, with its Spanish-Moorish influence. We climbed its clock tower for 360 degree views over the town. The pier was cute, smaller than Santa Monica’s and a bit more elegant. We caught the bus back to Carpinteria and walked up the coast to an overlook over a seal sanctuary. They were out in force with some young pups being nursed.

Solvang

Solvang is a small town with a big Danish influence and its unique selling point is it’s plentiful bakeries and fake windmills. The town is RV friendly and we found parking for Big Bertha very near the centre. It was raining when we arrived and left, but in between the skies cleared and we had some blue sky. Francine bought an apple turnover to have with a cup of tea before we left for Pismo Bay.

Pismo Bay and Morro Bay

We stopped at Pismo Bay specifically to frequent the ‘Old West Cinnamon Rolls’ emporium where we relieved them of two of their offerings. They were well worth the deviation! To aid digestion, we explored Pismo’s pier before setting off for Morro Bay.

We visited Morro Bay hoping to see the sea otter population we had been told was there. With our binoculars ready we headed to the harbour. No need for binoculars – the otters were very close and nursing pups. The mothers and pups were floating around on their backs with the mothers supporting their pups heads on their chests. So cute! Every now and then, the mother would propel them with her tail to compensate for the water flow. Later, they seemed to wake up a little and have a ‘wash’. More in the video below.

The tiny maritime museum (a garden shed) was very interesting , but took only five minutes to tour. It even had a “cinema” in one corner – a small TV with two rows of two chairs in front, where we watched a short film about the town’s maritime history. The whole thing is dwarfed by the submarine on display outside. The Avalon was built to rescue a crew from a another submarine and featured in the book David had just read – The Hunt for Red October.

We treated ourselves to a portion of Fish’n’Chips and shared them overlooking the harbour. A big thumbs up for Morro Bay!

Cambria

Wild Camping (no fee) is limited on the PCH. But the state campsites are very good and not exorbitantly expensive (typically $35-$45). We stayed for two nights at the San Simeon Creek campground and walked Moonstone Beach Boardwalk for 11km along the Cambria seafront. We then drove a short way and explored Donnay Point, sitting below Hearst Castle. A little further up the PCH is an elephant seal colony and, after viewing said animals, we bumped into a Dutch overlanding couple in another MAN truck and German overlanders in a Mercedes Van.

Big Sur

Leaving the seal colony, we drove further up the coast hoping to find somewhere to camp overnight and break the journey. Luckily we bagged one of the last camp spots at the Kirk Creek campground that overlooks the ocean. We had a wonderful sunset there and the next morning we continued our journey towards Monterrey, crossing the famous Bixby bridge.

Monterey

Francine arranged for us to dance in Monterey with the local Scottish Country Dancing Group. We had a great evening and we were offered complimentary tickets to the world famous Aquarium which we enjoyed the next day. The day after we drove the ’17 mile drive’ around Pebble Beach which was well worth the $12 toll. The glorious weather continued and so the next day we explored the Lobos Peninsula with its stunning views over the shoreline and the ocean beyond. David took the bus into Carmel on Sea in the afternoon to look at the chocolate box houses. The next day we took Big Bertha for an engine oil change at a nearby Love’s Travel Stop, stopping in a not ideal Walmart carpark that night.

Leaving Walmart early the next day we stopped to have our breakfast next to a nearby harbour. Before we knew what was happening, we were out on a boat with Rudi retrieving his crab pots! Breakfast turned into brunch upon our return, alas with only a single Dungeness crab. We then continued our journey to Half Moon Bay where we camped in a back street before heading to San Francisco.