Pacific Coast Highway

[sandy]

Photos taken from the air. Started at Hearst Castle to Monterey.

https://cyclerides.smugmug.com/Pacific-Coast-Highway-Aerial/

[The emperor has no clothes]

  I've always felt it's one of the coolest part of the country.

[Wizzard]

Rode it 8 years ago. Loved it and visited the  Castle too

[The emperor has no clothes]

Rode it 8 years ago. Loved it and visited the  Castle too

I think I've been up and down that road 8 or 9 times and have yet to go on the tour. Every time I think I will and then we are short on time. Gonna have to just go and make it the destination.

[DirtyDan]

Never heard of it

 

Dan

[3fan4life]

A road that is DEFINITELY on the bucket list! 

[sheets]

Was going to make that trek last summer, but a large slide came in and buried the road. Road has been closed for a year. Might be open by now.

[F6Dave]

I was in the area in April when the road was closed near Big Sur due to the landslide.  Actually it was more of a mountain-slide.  I only had a rental car, but decided to drive north from the Morro Bay area as far as I could go, then turn around.  After the Hearst Castle the road was practically deserted.  About the only vehicles were trucks hauling boulders the size of cars to rebuild the washed out road.  It would have been great if I'd had a motorcycle, but was still thoroughly enjoyable.  That road is about as good as it gets.

[J.Mencalice]

Rode it 8 years ago. Loved it and visited the  Castle too

I think I've been up and down that road 8 or 9 times and have yet to go on the tour. Every time I think I will and then we are short on time. Gonna have to just go and make it the destination.

My first thought as I was standing outside the entrance to Hearst Castle on the expansive "porch":
"No one can tell me that there is no such thing as royalty in America."  I believe that is what I'd repeat if I shall ever visit The Biltmore.
The tour guide said that if you looked in all directions from there, Hearst owned all the land as far as you could see.  I believed it.   The basic tour is worth the price of admission if you want to be overwhelmed by his extravagance in owning anything from the "old world".  I'd take the tour again just to see the reaction of my wife, who's never been there; I believe it is reasonably priced given the uniqueness of it.

[Savago]

First rode it in 2014 in my Weestrom with a friend from Finland.

Then rode it last month with 2 former co-workers just after being opened (traffic was pretty busy):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APCUJX8hIGA

One of the top 10 rides in the USA, no doubt!

[gordonv]

Rode it 8 years ago. Loved it and visited the  Castle too

I think I've been up and down that road 8 or 9 times and have yet to go on the tour. Every time I think I will and then we are short on time. Gonna have to just go and make it the destination.

There was a great Doc on TV about it. Said there was something like 3 or 5 Tour, so I take it that it would take 2-3 days to see it all.

I liked the Doc because of the narration and the how and why to it all. The wood work is truly wonderful, from another time. I would most likely only be in the area on a MC driving, so wouldn't have a day or three to look it over in person.

[F6Dave]

I was in the Central Coast area in April, just at the end of the rainy season.  It only stays green along the coast for a few weeks, making April a great time to visit.  Crowds tend to be lighter too, and the weather is very nice.  It was my second time to the Castle so I took a different tour.  I think it was called the 'cottages and kitchens' tour.

Here's a view from the Hearst Castle:


Here's a view from CA Route 46, just a few miles from the intersection with Highway 1 and near the Castle.  Looks like Ireland!


Here's the coast at Ragged Point, just south of the PCH closure:


The end of the road for northbound PCH travelers last April: