Things To DO in morro bay
TOUR HEARST CASTLE
Tour this legendary estate, complete with its twenty-five thousand artifacts! Hearst Castle’s history goes back to 1865, when George Hearst purchased 40,000 acres of ranchland. After his mother’s death in 1919, William Randolph Hearst inherited thousands of acres around San Simeon, and over time, he purchased more. The spread eventually encompassed about 250,000 acres. With architect, Julia Morgan, Hearst conceived his retreat, which ended up consisting of 165 rooms and 123 acres of gardens, terraces, pools and walkways—all built to Hearst’s specifications and showcasing a legendary art collection. From experiencing what life was like as a guest of W. R. Hearst to exploring his personal collection of rare and ancient works of art, encounter the majesty and beauty of this historical treasure first-hand with a guided Hearst Castle tour.
SURFS UP IN MORRO BAY
“Grab a surfboard, don a wetsuit and catch a wave. Surfers flock to “The Rock” in Morro Bay to catch waves in the shadow of the 500-foot tall, 23-million-year-old volcanic plug. Nearby is the Cayucos Pier, a good place for a beginner to intermediate surfers, and depending on the day, the waves can be big and barreling or small and mushy. The waves tend to be the best during the fall and winter when the sea swell picks up. In these months, it’s not uncommon to find waves that surge above surfer’s heads. The water stays cool year-round on the SLO CAL coast, so make sure to pack or rent a wet suit. Seawater temperatures range seasonally from 55 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
VISIT MONTANA DE ORO STATE PARK
This park features rugged cliffs, secluded sandy beaches, coastal plains, streams, canyons, and hills, including 1,347-foot Valencia Peak. Naturalists and backpackers enjoy the solitude and freedom found along the park’s trails. There are also mountain biking and equestrian trails. The best-known beach is Spooner’s Cove, across from the campground. The park’s name, “Mountain of Gold,” comes from the golden wildflowers that bloom in spring. Wildlife in the park includes black tailed deer and the black oystercatcher. The park includes primitive and equestrian campsites.
GOLF AT MORRO BAY GOLF COURSE
Morro Bay Golf Course is affordable golf at its finest! This player friendly course offers a gracious layout featuring stunning panoramic ocean views from every hole. The scenic property overlooks the quaint beach town of Morro Bay while the Pacific Ocean provides the backdrop. A round of golf played at this Central Coast icon will forever solidify your love with the game that stole your heart years ago.
GO WINE TASTING IN PASO ROBLES
Paso Robles Wine Country is being touted as California’s hot wine region hailing a collection of over 300 wineries, breweries, distilleries and eateries set in our quaint historic town and pristine landscapes, where flocks of wild turkeys mingle with cattle and lush groves of towering oaks border vineyards. A long growing season of warm days and cool evenings gives rise to vibrantly ripened fruit with dynamic flavor profiles that translate beautifully in your glass of Paso Robles wine. We have a little something for every wine and food connoisseur.
WHALE WATCHING TOURS IN MORRO BAY
Three species of whale are commonly spied from a boat’s deck or the San Luis Obispo County shoreline: California gray whales, blue whales and humpback whales. Depending on the species, these whales can be found breaching, blowing and lobtailing in SLO CAL year-round. Up to 20,000 gray whales migrate in pods twice annually between Mexico, where they breed and give birth, and Alaska, where they feed. Their migration―between 10,000 and 14,000 miles is thought to be the longest of any mammal, and they can be viewed heading south between December and February and north March to May. Less common, but no less visible, the blue whale and humpback whale arrive in April when the water warms each year.
HIKE EL MORO ELFIN FOREST
The El Moro Elfin Forest in Los Osos, adjacent to the Morro Bay estuary, is a 90-acre natural area belonging to San Luis Obispo County Parks and California State Parks. Its plant communities include coastal brackish marsh, riparian woodland fringe, pygmy oak woodland, maritime chaparral, coastal dune scrub, and oak and manzanita complex. The Elfin Forest supports more than 200 species of plants, as well as 110 kinds of birds, 22 species of mammals and 13 species of reptiles and amphibians. It is home to rare plants, butterflies, snails and birds. Chumash middens occur throughout the park.
SLO COUNTY FARMER’S MARKETS
“SLO County boasts a few of the best Farmer’s Markets in the state! You can check out Farmer’s Markets located in Central Coast cities throughout the county each week. The markets feature fresh produce, local consumer gifts and trinkets, entertainment and so much more!
VISIT THE SAN SIMEON ELEPHANT SEALS
The Piedras Blancas Rookery is the only elephant seal rookery in the world that is easily accessible, free, and open to the public every day of the year. No reservations are needed. The rookery is located seven miles north of San Simeon on Highway 1. Elephant Seals haul out on beaches near San Simeon year-round, as they go through different phases in their life cycle. In peak times, there are up to 17,000 animals on the San Simeon shores. There are three peak times of the year that have large populations of seals – January, April, and October.
HORSEBACK RIDING
“For animal lovers and adventure seekers alike, travel on horseback through the beautiful scenery of the Central Coast! Gain a unique perspective on our scenic landscapes all around San Luis Obispo County by embarking on a guided horseback riding tour along the beach or setting off on a horse-friendly trail.
VISIT THE PIEDRAS BLANCAS LIGHT STATION
Located about 35 miles north of Morro Bay, Piedras Blancas Light Station provides a glimpse into our nation’s past when lighthouses served a vital role in maritime navigation. Today it is managed as a historic park and wildlife sanctuary. The light station is part of the federally designated Piedras Blancas Light Station Outstanding Natural Area and the California Coastal National Monument. The tower and some support buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
VISIT POINT SAN LUIS LIGHT STATION
“Come visit the lighthouse and experience what it was like to live 127 years ago. Founded in 1890, the Point San Luis Light Station has served as the beacon over San Luis Bay for 127 years. From it induction under the United States Lighthouse Board, then the Lighthouse Service, and lastly as being under the auspice of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Point SLO Light Station has had a varied and exciting past. The two-story main keeper’s structure is sometimes considered prairie Victorian in its design, as well as considered prairie Gothic. The architect was Paul J. Pelz who designed many lighthouses in the late 1800’s. There were two other identical lighthouses in California, one at Table Bluff near Humboldt and the other at Ballast Point near San Diego. Of the three, Point SLO is the only remaining lighthouse of its design.
COASTAL TOUR
COASTAL TOUR
Morro Bay to Monterey.
“An exhilarating driving experience, this twisting, cliff-hugging, 123-mile (198-kilometer) route along the central California coast takes about five hours to complete at a leisurely pace. Designated an All-American Road—among the nation’s most scenic—the drive encompasses both the Big Sur Coast Highway and the San Luis Obispo North Coast Byway.”Overview
The route starts in historic Monterey, visits the art colony of Carmel, and threads through Big Sur, where mountains plunge into the Pacific. Farther south, the landscape mellows to oak-studded hills as the road passes Hearst Castle on its way to Morro Bay. In places, the road has narrow shoulders and sharp drop-offs, so stay alert. This route can be tricky for RVs or other oversize vehicles.Start in Monterey
Join California Route 1 in Monterey (Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau. tel. 1 831 649 1770. www.montereyinfo.org.). The town served as California’s capital under Spanish, Mexican, and American flags, and by the early 1900s boasted an important sardine industry. Surviving sites include the Royal Presidio Chapel, Monterey State Historic Park, Custom House, Casa Soberanes, Larkin House, and other adobe buildings, as well as touristy Fisherman’s Wharf and Cannery Row, home of the celebrated Monterey Bay Aquarium (www.montereybayaquarium.org).Carmel-by-the-Sea
After enjoying Monterey, drive 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south on Highway 1 to Carmel-by-the-Sea (Visitors Center: San Carlos St.; tel. 1 831 624 2522 or 800 550 4333; www.carmelcalifornia.org), an upscale village of quaint colorful cottages, restaurants, inns, shops, and art galleries fronted by a broad beach fringed with Monterey pines. Among the highlights are Mission San Carlos Borroméo del Río Carmelo, second of the California missions, founded by Padre Junípero Serra in 1770; Tor House, the 1919 home of poet Robinson Jeffers; and mile-long Carmel River State Beach (tel. 1 831 649 2836), with its pelicans and kingfishers.Point Lobos State Reserve
From Carmel drive 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) south to Point Lobos State Reserve (tel. 1 831 624 4909; www.pointlobos.org; $10 fee for car), a 550-acre (220-hectare) park encompassing coves, headlands, meadows, tide pools, and the nation’s first undersea ecological reserve, covering an additional 750 acres (300 hectares), with kelp forests 70 feet (20 meters) high. Trails lead past Monterey cypresses, which grow naturally only here and in Pebble Beach. The park’s 250 species of birds and mammals include black-tailed deer, gray foxes, sea otters, and sea lions. Migrating gray whales pass by from December through April.Big Sur
After driving through Carmel Highlands, where impressive houses perch on granite cliffs above the sea, you reach the start of Big Sur, which extends 90 miles (145 kilometers) south to San Simeon. On this fabled coastline, redwood groves reach skyward, the Santa Lucia Range plunges into the sea, and waves are beaten to froth on ragged rocks. It’s a place of elemental power that can make human affairs seem inconsequential.Garrapata State Park
Route 1, opened in 1937, climbs higher than 1,000 feet (300 meters) above the sea. One of the few easy-to-reach beaches is at Garrapata State Park (tel. 1 831 667 2315; www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=579), about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) south of Carmel Highlands. From Soberanes Point watch for sea otters, which are protected under California state law.Old Coast Road
En route to Bixby Bridge, six miles (ten kilometers) farther, you can choose to leave Calif. 1 and drive the 11-mile (18-kilometer) Old Coast Road, which climbs through remote forests and canyons and offers silent ocean views before ending at Andrew Molera State Park (tel. 1 831 667 2315, www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=582). The unpaved road is tortuous and impassable when it rains.Bixby Bridge
Much photographed Bixby Bridge is a single-span concrete arch more than 260 feet (80 meters) high and 700 feet (200 meters) long. Park at turnouts near either end to gawk or take pictures. Ahead, the highway passes Hurricane Point, a place of big winds and big views, and then descends to the mouth of the Little Sur River. Looking inland, you’ll see 3,709-foot-high (1,131-meter-high) Pico Blanco, distinguishable by its lime deposits. Toward the sea, sand dunes soon appear, rolling toward the 1889 Point Sur Lighthouse (tel. tel. 1 831 625 4419; tours Saturdays and Sundays, call for additional days April through October; $8; www.pointsur.org), a state historic park. In a few miles you reach Andrew Molera State Park (tel. 1 831 667 2315; www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=582; fee), whose broad beach, oak and redwood forests, and stretch of the Big Sur River are accessible only by foot.Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
Pass through the settlement of Big Sur, which offers food and lodging, and head for Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park (tel. 1 831 667 2315; www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=570; fee), where the Big Sur River runs through 964 acres (390 hectares) of redwoods, sycamores, and ferns. Then go 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) south and turn right on the 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) road down Sycamore Canyon Road to the white sands of Pfeiffer Beach, where the surf roars through arched rocks.Nepenthe
Less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) farther on the highway you come to Nepenthe (tel. 1 831 667 2345; www.nepenthebigsur.com), an indoor-outdoor restaurant perched 800 feet (245 meters) above the sea and famous for its views. About half a mile (0.8 kilometers) south, on the left, look for the Henry Miller Memorial Library (tel. 1 831 667 2574; www.henrymiller.org; closed Tuesdays), perched among towering redwoods. It displays books and memorabilia of the novelist who spent 18 years in Big Sur. Also stop 8 miles (12.8 kilometers) farther at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (tel. 1 831 667 2315; www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=578 Fee), whose terrain ranges from 3,000-foot-high (914-meter-high) ridges to an underwater preserve. Do walk the short trail along the seaside bluff to see McWay Falls pour 100 feet (30 meters) into a picturesque cove.Lucia, Plaskett, Gorda, and Ragged Point
Ahead of you lies the southern stretch of Big Sur. The road clings to a precipitous coastline, and the only settlements in the next 40 miles (64 kilometers) are Lucia, Plaskett, Gorda, and Ragged Point. From here onward are hills and pastureland. You’ll spy the Piedras Blancas Light Station on a point supposedly named in 1542 by Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for its white rocks (stained with bird droppings).San Simeon
After a spell away from the Pacific, the road reaches the town of San Simeon, a staging area for the five-mile (eight-kilometer) bus ride to Hearst Castle (tel. 1 805 927 2020 or 800 444 4445; www.hearstcastle.org; tours only, call for reservations; fee), begun in 1919 by newspaperman William Randolph Hearst. Perched in the Santa Lucia Range, the 127-acre (51-hectare) estate features the 115-room main house and guesthouses, which mix classical and Mediterranean Revival styles, using European architectural elements, antiques, and artwork collected by Hearst.Morro Bay
The end of your route is Morro Bay (Chamber of Commerce: tel. 1 805 772 4467; www.morrobay.org), easily identified by its landmark Morro Rock. A turban-shaped, extinct volcanic cone about 23 million years old, it is 576 feet (176 meters) high and sits on the bay. Peregrine falcons live here. To learn about local wildlife, visit the Morro Bay State Park Museum of Natural History (tel. 1 805 772 2694; www.morrobaymuseum.org; $2). Around Morro Bay you’ll see great blue herons and, from October to March, monarch butterflies in eucalyptus trees.—Adapted from National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways & Byways (Fourth Edition)