Which section of the PCH

[..]

between Los Angeles and San Jose is the most scenic / least congested?

[fon1961]

la to santa barbara is pretty congested depending on the time of the day.  i think it's very scenic tho.  i always stop at neptunes net on the far side of malibu.  it's been years since i've been very far north of goleta so i cant comment much.  very rural and very scenic as i remmember it.  i go to lompoc a couple of times a year and i always see folks with bikes that look like they are making it a home base.  hopefully some other folks will weigh in and comment.

[sheets]

Been a few years since I've seen the SoCal portion of Hwy 1. Most scenic/least traffic . . . probably Morro Bay to Santa Cruz. If you go that far you may as well go all the way to San Fransisco via Hwy 1 just to say you did. Swing through the city long enough to do Lombard street, just to say you did. Yrmv, 

[donaldcc]

Most scenic/least traffic . . . probably Morro Bay to Santa Cruz. . . .

+1 

   The Big Sur area is really nice with good weather.  Stop at Napenthe restaurant for lunch on the deck.  Take a little hike to see the falls at Julia Pfeiffer State Park.  Maybe then cut up into mtns to Carmel Valley Road, nice twisting ride through mtns.

Napenthe



Falls

[LandElephant]

I would think the section between Morro Bay and Monterey would be the best area.  Most of the rest of the PCH south of Pismo Beach goes through towns and agricultural areas.  once in LA and south it's mostly ocean roadway with houses.  although many of the beach accesses give you some great female scenery in the summer.

North of Morro Bay you have Cambria and Hearst castle which is alway a great place to stop.  A side trip off the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) is the Pasa Robles area and the great wineries and inns.

North of the PCH at Gorda is a small Cafe on the eastside that you can sit outside just about anytime of the year (except rain) and enjoy a leisurely meal and the ocean.  In the spring time after a lot of rain there are great waterfalls coming off the sides as well a the sea lions playing in the kelp.

There is also a great backroad through Fort Hunter Liggett Military Reservation and backside of Big sur.

Weekdays are the best time to travel this road to stay away from the rubberneckers and tourist.

Land Elephant