Need Highway 1 advice please

[danacath]

Well, this is the 7th summer in a row that DH has brought a group of 50 youth/adult leaders out to CA for a mission trip. After we're done working on June 23, we plan to bus the group from Dinuba to Monterey for 2 nights at Asilomar before flying home. We want to fit in a drive down Highway 1 to Carmel, Big Sur, etc. for the entire group to enjoy. We could really use the help of someone familiar with the drive to advise us on a couple of good places to stop for photo ops, etc. along the way. Some of the kids have never even seen the ocean before. We'll be riding in a 56-passenger bus, if that makes a difference. Also, when would be the least congested time to do the drive? Our options will be Sat. suppertime/early evening, or Sunday afternoon or evening. Thanks!

 

[GrandBob]

Well, this is the 7th summer in a row that DH has brought a group of 50 youth/adult leaders out to CA for a mission trip. After we're done working on June 23, we plan to bus the group from Dinuba to Monterey for 2 nights at Asilomar before flying home. We want to fit in a drive down Highway 1 to Carmel, Big Sur, etc. for the entire group to enjoy. We could really use the help of someone familiar with the drive to advise us on a couple of good places to stop for photo ops, etc. along the way. Some of the kids have never even seen the ocean before. We'll be riding in a 56-passenger bus, if that makes a difference. Also, when would be the least congested time to do the drive? Our options will be Sat. suppertime/early evening, or Sunday afternoon or evening. Thanks!

Wow. Let me try to respond without being too negative, but realistic.

A big bus is not the ideal way to experience Highway 1. Is there any way you can rent a few smaller vehicles, e.g. vans? I don't know whether I'd want to go down Hwy 1 on a big bus, and I love Hwy 1.

As far as time, any time on the weekend is going to be busy. And you'll have a lot of frustrated drivers behind you. That said, between the two options you gave, I'd pick Sat early evening. Sunday afternoon is prime time for many, many drivers to take a leisurely drive down the Big Sur coast. But better still will be a weekday, if you can swing it.

OK, stops. There are lots and lots of little turnouts down Hwy 1 with breathtaking views. Unfortunately, very few of them will accommodate a big bus. You'll probably have to pick your spots. The definitive place to stop is Bixby Creek Bridge, which is considered the unofficial start of "Big Sur". There is a bit more room there to park, and if it's not too busy, you might get a bus in there. But on a weekend, it very well may be already full of cars.

Shortly after Bixby Bridge, Hurricane Point has a couple of larger turnouts too. IIRC, you may be able to get a bus in there, again if there aren't too many cars already present.

Other than that, you may want to just go down to the town of Big Sur. There's lots of parking around River Inn and surroundings. And it's fun to see the artists and shops; but that's not an area that's on a high cliff or has an ocean view.

South of town, a place I love to stop at for lunch is Nepenthe's. But the food is pricey, and if you're not getting food, you can't really just mill around the restaurant balcony. Still, if the Cafe Kevah level is open, that's a great alternative, and you can pick up snacks and such at prices that aren't quite so stratospheric. Parking is also a concern there. You won't get a bus into the main lot, but they do have an overflow lot. I'd suggest calling ahead there to see if they can accommodate you.

There's also Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Great place for hiking and stretching your legs. There's redwood trees and waterfalls. Being a state park, there is an admission fee and parking fee, though.

Hope that helps somewhat.

-Bob

 

[GrandBob]

Oh, a couple of alternatives.

First, Asilomar itself is a beautiful area, right along the beach. Your group will get fantastic views of the ocean right there. I love to walk the beach areas around Sunset Drive in that area; almost as much as I love to drive down the Big Sur coast. So you'll have the "see the ocean" thing already covered. Encourage them to wander down Sunset Dr during their off times. (Hint - the Fishwife restaurant right across from Asilomar is my favorite seafood restaurant on the Monterey Peninsula).

Second, there's 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach. Yes, there's a fee for that, but it should be reasonable if you're all in a bus. And that drive is much more developed; i.e., the turnouts are much more accommodating to a large bus. Beautiful drive too; though it will look a lot like Sunset Dr near Asilomar. I would stop for a photo op at one of the big scenic points listed in the brochure you get at the gate. Bird Rock comes to mind as a good spot.

Also, have you considered taking the crowd to Point Lobos? Again, an area that I love to go to nearly as much as Big Sur. Beautiful cliffs over the ocean. Not sure about bus parking. You should call ahead and make arrangements to get your bus in. On weekends, the lots get so full that they don't even let in cars until someone pulls out. But if you make advance arrangements, I'll bet they could accommodate you.

Just a few thoughts...

-Bob

 

[danacath]

Bob-- Thanks so much for all of your helpful input and great information! DH and I really appreciate it, and we especially appreciate the realistic viewpoint of a local.

Yeah, we kinda had a hunch that a charter bus on Highway 1 probably isn't the most desirable mode of transportation to be in... or stuck behind. Unfortunately, that's what we've got reserved for Saturday-Monday to get us from Dinuba (our farm work location) to Monterey on Sat., and then up to SFO for our flight home on Monday morning. Renting vans on top of that just isn't in the budget.

We really like what the Julie Pfeiffer Burns State Park has to offer, but now we're questioning whether that would be a bit too far to go, since our time in the Monterey area will be so short. You make a good point that we'll get plenty of nice beach time right there at Asilomar, too. Besides the ocean, the only other thing we really wanted to show the kids was some Redwoods. Is there anywhere closer to Monterey that would have these or would Pfeiffer be our best bet?

Any other tips you (or anyone else!) have for our Monterey stay would be most welcome! I'm sure the teens will want to know where to find cheap eats and shops to go to in their free time, but maybe I should save that for another thread....

 

[PrincessInOz]

We really like what the Julie Pfeiffer Burns State Park has to offer, but now we're questioning whether that would be a bit too far to go, since our time in the Monterey area will be so short. You make a good point that we'll get plenty of nice beach time right there at Asilomar, too. Besides the ocean, the only other thing we really wanted to show the kids was some Redwoods. Is there anywhere closer to Monterey that would have these or would Pfeiffer be our best bet?

The waterfall directly on to the beach is one of the drawcards for me at Julia Pfeiffer Burns. It will depend on what your teens like to see.

Redwoods can also be found around Santa Cruz, at the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. The alternative is Big Basin Redwoods.
Depending on your budget, there is a steam train place at Felton...the Roaring Camp Steam Train. I think they run school programs at Roaring Camp so it may be worth taking a look at the website. There will be a fee associated with Roaring Camp. They run steam trains out through the Redwoods and also to Santa Cruz. I did the steam train out to Santa Cruz and caught some (but not a lot) of redwoods in the area.

Both Henry Cowell and Big Basin are in the opposite direction from Asilomar to Julia Pfeiffer. It is a little bit more inland. Maybe GrandBob will have additional input and more detailed insight than my sightseer's perspective.

 

[GrandBob]

Yep, the redwoods at Henry Cowell and those at Julia Pfeiffer Burns are equidistant from Pacific Grove, and in opposite directions. Google maps shows 1 hour 4 minutes to Henry Cowell, 1 hour 3 minutes to Pfeiffer. Pretty close.

Those two places are the closest redwoods to here, so take your pick. Although I love Big Basin too, I wouldn't go there in a bus. Even farther than the other two, and the road is twistier than the Big Sur coast. If I were on that bus, I'd get motion sickness.

Roaring Camp is an interesting alternative. We've taken our granddaughter for the round-trip ride through the redwood forest there several times. Very nice trip. And interesting, because it's directly adjacent to Henry Cowell Redwoods. Indeed, the northern most parking lot at Henry Cowell is just as convenient to taking that train as is the parking at Roaring Camp itself. Same price for parking, too. There's a little path between the state park and the railroad. You can see it here. The blacktop parking lot at the bottom left is in the state park, but it's directly adjacent to the train station to its right. The parking lot for Roaring Camp is the large tan one at the top. So you can park in the state park, and take the railroad ride. The more interesting hikes in the state park are a little farther south, though. But once you pay to park at this lot, you could take the train ride, then pick up your passengers and go a little further south to better hiking.

I've only taken the round-trip ride through the redwoods, not the one-way to the beach. The round-trip ride was lovely. An interesting alternative may be to drop off your passengers at Roaring Camp, and take the one-way train ride through the redwoods to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. They can then spend whatever time you'd like at the beach, or ride the rides of the boardwalk. There's a wonderful, classic wooden roller coaster there, as well as lots of other rides. They can buy one-day passes for $30 or so. Then the bus can go down to Santa Cruz to pick everyone up and take them back to Asilomar.

I think the train ride through the redwoods followed by a 1/2 day at the beach boardwalk would be great. I do think, though, that the redwoods are a bit better at Pfeiffer Big Sur. Your choice.

HTH,
Bob

 

[GrandBob]

I've now taken a look at the web site for Roaring Camp. I've noticed that the train to the beach doesn't take the cool switchbacks and curly-q's to the higher elevation redwood forest. It just follows Highway 9 back through Henry Cowell Redwoods to the beach. While I'm sure it's a nice ride, and goes over some cool old trestles and through tunnels, I'm not sure that the train to the beach is the way to go. As I said, I love the round-trip train to the upper redwood forest; and it has great views out to the ocean. But if you want to do the beach boardwalk, perhaps you should just take the bus to Henry Cowell, hike an hour or two, then bus it back to the boardwalk.

I'm also not clear on whether perhaps you're taking disadvantaged youths. If so, they may not have the means to get $30 all-day wristbands for the boardwalk. If the money is a concern, perhaps Julia Pfeiffer Burns is a better idea after all. But if the money doesn't pose a big burden, I think that teenagers would have a great day at the boardwalk, after an hour or so hike through the redwoods.

-Bob

 

[danacath]

Thanks for more great tips! On past trips, we've taken the group to Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Anaheim, San Francisco, Sequoia and Yosemite; so this time around we're hoping to enjoy the Monterey/Big Sur area since we've never done that.

The youth are all teens from our church-- not necessarily disadvantaged, but they've already made their final payments on the trip and we leave this Saturday. Kinda hate to ask them for more money at this point, especially since they already have other out-of-pocket expenses they need to budget for.

So, we may just wait to see how the overall trip is going before we decide if we're going to tack on another couple of hours in the bus going down Highway 1 and then back to Asilomar. Maybe we could make the side trip optional, if some of the leaders are willing to stay back at Asilomar with part of the group...

Still trying to figure out lunch and supper places in the Monterey area too. Either we need one place that can handle a group of 50, or we need to have the group split up to several affordable places near each other. Any ideas?

 

[hilarys]

Try Gianni's Pizza in Monterey. They have a large party room that you could probably reserve. Best pizza - we always go there when we head down to visit family. Very close to the aquarium and a short drive to Asilomar. You may also want to consider having a beach picnic - could order lots of sandwiches and salads from a local deli and take them out to the beach.

Hilary

Still trying to figure out lunch and supper places in the Monterey area too. Either we need one place that can handle a group of 50, or we need to have the group split up to several affordable places near each other. Any ideas?[/QUOTE]