Pacific Coast Highway

# Pacific Coast Highway: California's Greatest Road Trip

The Pacific Coast Highway (California State Route 1) is basically the ultimate coastal drive, stretching a jaw-dropping 1,055 kilometers along California's edge. If you're looking for one of the most stunning road trips on the planet, this is it.

The real star of the show? Big Sur. This absolutely breathtaking 145-kilometer section between Carmel and San Simeon is where the Santa Lucia Mountains practically tumble straight into the Pacific Ocean. It's dramatic, it's rugged, and it's endlessly photogenic. You've probably seen pictures of the Bixby Creek Bridge—that stunning concrete arch spanning a deep coastal canyon—because it's basically the most Instagrammed bridge in California for good reason.

Here's a fun fact: construction on this road started in the 1920s, but it took decades to finish, with the Big Sur section alone taking eighteen years (completed in 1937, using prison labor no less). Building a road along crumbling cliffs and over deep canyons in an area that's literally always shifting and eroding? Yeah, that's not easy. Landslides still regularly force closures that can last months, so check conditions before you go.

Beyond Big Sur, the highway transforms as it rolls past some seriously iconic California spots. Starting down south near Dana Point, you'll cruise through legendary surf towns like Huntington Beach and Malibu, past dramatic Santa Barbara sea cliffs, through the agricultural Central Coast, and up into the misty redwood forests north of San Francisco. There are endless opportunities to stop at beaches, tide pools, lighthouses, and charming little coastal towns.

You could technically drive the whole thing in two or three days, but honestly? Plan for at least a week. You'll want the time to actually soak it all in.