Pacific Coast Highway | San Francisco to Los Angeles

I could spend forever driving down the Pacific coast, the views of the water, trees, and mountains surrounding were beautiful. There is a path stretching from Washington all the way down the coast of California. We unfortunately only had a few days to do this, so we kept the distance shorter (from San Francisco to Los Angeles). Here are all the stops we made and wish we did.

The Stops:

• San Francisco

• Ghost Stop: Point Reyes National Seashore

• Somewhere down the coast, Pumpkin Patch

• Half Moon Bay

• Santa Cruz

• Monterey Bay

• Ghost Stop: Carmel by the Sea

• Big Sur (Julia Pfieffer State Park - Mcway Falls)

• Ghost Stop: Ragged Point Inn with water views

• Morro Bay

• Ghost Stop: Montana De Oro State Park

• Pismo Beach

• Ghost Stop: Santa Barbara

• Los Angeles

Stop 1: San Francisco

San Francisco needs its own trip, this wasn't that trip. I visited one of my best college friends and we spent a night on the town, it was fun! The next morning we hit up Hertz Rental near Fisherman's Wharf to get our car (A good place to rent cars if you're under 25)!

Ghost Stop: Point Reyes National Seashore

We didn't end up going here due to time limits and frankly, not hearing about it until later. This is a beautiful protected seashore with a beach, views of Alamere Falls, and if you go in December and January or April through May, a great spot to go whale watching near the lighthouse.

Stop 2: Pumpkin Patch

Between SF and Half Moon Bay in early October, we came across a cute pumpkin patch and a small farmer's market.

Stop 3: Half Moon Bay

We came. The weather was gray, the water was cold, and the waves were unreal. It was a great way to start off the trip, even the part where we forgot towels and were shivering on the way back to the car with sand sticking to our feet and legs. We used a few water bottles to rinse off and changed into our dryer clothes before driving off to catch a few more hours of sunlight in Santa Cruz!

Stop 4: Santa Cruz

A tall palm tree-lined beach and a long wharf to walk alongside into the ocean. You could see a few sailboats in the distance making their way back as it continued to get darker. This was our last stop for the day and we were pretty tired, but the picturesque town was a perfect spot to wind down before making our way to our last stop to spend the night.

Stop 5: Monterey Bay

After a good night's sleep, we picked up pizza and enjoyed breakfast along the coast at the closest beach we could find. The waves were a lot calmer in the morning.

The most famous attraction here is the famous Monterey Aquarium right along the ocean! Parking is near impossible in this area so just be ready to walk or jump in when someone is leaving. We saw otters, starfish, glow-in-the-dark fish, and much more. It felt like we were on another planet at times.

After the aquarium, we went driving down the coast stopping along the way at tide pool spots. You can see mini ecosystems of snails, little fish, sea sponges, and more if you're lucky.

Ghost Stop: Carmel by the Sea

If you're interested in scenery and history, then Carmel-by-the-Sea is a great beachside town to visit! Check out the village-like town and see some pretty cottages and enjoy some beautiful waves along The Scenic Bluff Path. If you're interested in catching waves or scuba diving, there is a place here for you!

Stop 7: Somewhere in between

We stopped a lot of times down the coast, but this had to be one of my favorite random stops. The view started out filled with lush green grass and shrubbery and became even more colorful with yellow and red shrubs the closer you got to the beach. There was a nice rock on the beach that I had a little mermaid moment with too.

Stop 6: Big Sur (Julia Pfieffer State Park - Mcway Falls)

Between Monterrey and Big Sur, we started to see a change in weather. The clouds parted a bit and it started to feel a little warmer. We came in just before sunset to walk the trail to Mcway Falls and catch this breathtaking view of the waterfall flowing from a cliff onto a beach with jagged waves. This was by far my favorite stop on this trip and one of the prettiest scenes I have ever seen.

Ghost Stop: Ragged Point Inn with water views

Sometimes known as the Million Dollar View, this Inn is a stop entering Big Sur with can't-beat views. If you're lucky you might catch a wedding take place here (or anywhere along the coast really).

Stop 7: Morro Bay

You see this huge rock in photos for this one that often seems pretty underwhelming, seeing it in person though is something else. We approached Morro Bay from two different sides. On one side we saw mini sand dunes leading towards the rock and plenty of sand dollars found along the coast. On the other side, there was a trail with rock views and people kayaking towards the rocks. Sea otters of some sort were also near the rock.

Ghost Stop: Montana De Oro State Park

This was another spot down the coast we didn't stop at. A beautiful beachside state park with rugged terrains + trails, breathtaking cliffs, beaches with jagged rocks in the water, and beautiful trails to explore.

Stop 8: Pismo Beach

Pismo Beach is beautiful, but the reason we stopped here was for the sole purpose of riding the sand dunes with Steve's ATV Rentals. A van picked us up from the start point and took us further down the beach where the dunes were. There was a smaller practice course to get the hang of riding before we could race down.

Ghost Stop: Santa Barbara

We caught night views of city lights between mountains. Even at night seemed like quite something else, I can't wait to see it in the day sometime.

Stop 9: Los Angeles

As if we didn't get enough beach time we still booked it to Santa Monica, and yes we had to take the public scooters. April crashed us into a parked car, don't worry no damage was done. to the car.

When we finally caught up with Lexie we walked down the beach towards the pier. From there we stopped at Rodeo Drive and Lexie got herself her first big girl purchase, a Dior purse!