Back roads are often the best.
Given the choice I will always take the byway, not the highway.
And so it was on our California road trip. We planned to drive south from Monterey to San Simeon and then explore the scenic Big Sur stretch of coast line. My mother-in-law was not keen on taking the hairpin turns of Highway 1 going south, on the ocean side of the road, so the plan was to get to San Simeon and then tackle this northbound.
We could have driven into Salinas and taken Highway 101, a huge multi-lane juggernaut of a road, down to San Simeon in no time at all. But what’s the fun in that?
Instead we drove to Carmel and then along the rural Carmel Valley Road. This long and winding road eventually hooked us up with Highway 101 but not before we had passed through some of the prettiest countryside I have ever seen. The Carmel Valley is narrow and curving with mountains all around. The sun came out and the sky shone blue and the trees put on on their best autumn garb.
No wonder John Steinbeck was a fan.
“The Carmel is a lovely little river. It isn’t very long but in its course it has everything a river should have. It rises in the mountains, and tumbles down a while, runs through shallows, is dammed to make a lake, spills over the dam, crackles among round boulders, wanders lazily among sycamores, spills into pools where trout live, drops in against banks where crayfish live. In the winter it becomes a torrent, a mean little fierce river, and in the summer it is a place for children to wade in and for fishermen to wander in. Frogs blink from its banks and the deep ferns grow beside it. Deer and foxes come to drink from it, secretly in the morning and evening, and now and then a mountain lion crouched flat laps its water. The farms of the rich little valley back up into the river and take in its water for the orchards and the vegetables. The quail call beside it and the wild doves come whistling in at dusk. Raccoons pace its edges looking for frogs. It’s everything a river should be.” - John Steinbeck, Cannery Row.
Oh, I love Carmel Valley Road! It is one of the most beautiful roads in the state, after Highway 1 of course! The first time I drove on it I was going back down to SLO from the Bay Area. I had reached Carmel and there was a thick winter fog hugging the coast going south, so instead of taking my life in my hands, I took Carmel Valley Road, thinking it was a direct cut over to 101. Well, it does come out at 101 – around King City! But even on that day, I had taken a turn off and didn’t reach 101 until just around Camp Roberts.
The drive was beautiful and because it was winter it was green and wet and just incredible.
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King City… not the world’s most cosmopolitan city and not exactly thriving in this economy. But we actually stopped there for lunch. Our choices were a Mexican restaurant or Burger King so we went with Mexican. It wasn’t bad but the quantities were enormous! – Caitlin.
Aaah, I have driven the 101 stretch of highway a few times working in Silicon Valley and looking for weekend activities. I wish I’d read your post earlier and discovered this wonderful back-way. I agree that they are among the best of drives and more interesting than the highways.
.-= Mark H´s last blog ..Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel (Canada) =-.
It’s a bit of a detour but a lovely drive. – Caitlin.