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Road trip guide

The Pacific Coast Highway: map, detours & the stops that are actually worth it

California's Highway 1 runs about 470 miles from San Francisco to Santa Monica. Driven straight it's roughly 10 hours — but the whole point is to not drive it straight. Here's the route, the detours we keep coming back to, and how to plan them without losing a day to traffic.

The route at a glance

North-to-south is the classic direction: you drive in the coast-side lane, so every pull-out is a right turn and every viewpoint is on your side of the road. Give it 3 days minimum, 5 days if you want to actually stop.

San Francisco → Half Moon Bay → Santa Cruz → Monterey → Big Sur → Hearst Castle → Morro Bay → Santa Barbara → Malibu → Santa Monica

Detours, in order

  1. 1. San Francisco → Half Moon Bay

    30 mi · ~45 min

    Detour: Devil's Slide Trail

    A short clifftop walk on a closed stretch of the original Hwy 1 — the easiest postcard photo of the day.

  2. 2. Santa Cruz

    75 mi · ~1h 30m

    Detour: West Cliff Drive & the Boardwalk

    Surf break views from West Cliff, then funnel cake and the wooden Giant Dipper coaster.

  3. 3. Monterey & 17-Mile Drive

    120 mi · ~2h 30m

    Detour: Cannery Row + Pebble Beach loop

    Aquarium, sea otters, and the most photographed cypress on the planet (the Lone Cypress).

  4. 4. Carmel-by-the-Sea

    125 mi · ~2h 45m

    Detour: Point Lobos State Reserve

    Tidepools, sea lions and the trailhead Robert Louis Stevenson used as Treasure Island.

  5. 5. Big Sur

    150 mi · ~3h 30m

    Detour: Bixby Bridge + McWay Falls

    The two shots everyone associates with the PCH. Pull-outs are tiny — arrive early.

  6. 6. Hearst Castle (San Simeon)

    245 mi · ~5h 30m

    Detour: Elephant Seal Vista Point

    Tour William Randolph Hearst's hilltop estate, then watch a few hundred elephant seals nap on the beach 5 miles north.

  7. 7. Morro Bay → San Luis Obispo

    290 mi · ~6h 30m

    Detour: Morro Rock at sunset

    A 581-ft volcanic plug rising out of the harbor — the unofficial halfway marker.

  8. 8. Santa Barbara

    380 mi · ~8h

    Detour: Stearns Wharf + State Street

    Spanish-revival downtown, easy walkable wine tasting, and the last calm beach before LA.

  9. 9. Malibu → Santa Monica

    470 mi · ~10h

    Detour: El Matador State Beach

    Sea arches and pocket coves — the prettiest stop in greater LA and the natural finish line.

Tips before you go

  • Check for closures. Big Sur slides close stretches of Hwy 1 every winter — Caltrans posts the current status.
  • Fuel up at Cambria. There's a long, expensive gap between Big Sur and San Simeon.
  • Book Hearst Castle ahead. Tours sell out in summer and you can't walk in.
  • Drive in daylight. The cliffs north of San Simeon are no fun in fog or dark.

Plan your own version in a minute

Drop in your start and end and Smart Trips suggests detours, drive times and weather so you don't have to stitch nine tabs together.

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