Where In The Central Coast Is This? W. R. Hearst Memorial State Beach

Yesterday the Central Coast Traveler asked you to guess where this picture was taken.

Alert reader Bill correctly identified it as W.R. Hearst Memorial State Beach, directly across Highway 1 from Hearst Castle. With an 800 foot (244 meter) pier, sandy shores, and the excellent sandwich shop Sebastian’s General Store nearby, it’s a perfect place to while away an afternoon.

Watching the Seals Watching Us: Piedras Blancas Seal Rookery

There’s a place on the Central Coast that draws people from all over the world for an astonishing sight: thousands of seals congregating on a beach at the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, 12 miles (19 km) north of Cambria on Highway 1. After the jump, you can see more pictures from the Central Coast Traveler’s visit.

5 Central Coast Scenes

The Central Coast Traveler’s series of posts about last month’s trip concludes tomorrow. Here are 5 pictures from the trip that show the beauty and diversity of this wonderful place.

A Trip Along the Central Coast: Day 3, Big Sur

Part 12 in a series.

Leaving San Simeon and Hearst Castle behind, the Central Coast Traveler began the next leg of his trip: Big Sur. It’s one of the most breathtaking places in the world. Unlike many scenic, wild, almost untouched places, it’s easily accessible by car. Big Sur is the 90 miles (145 km) of coast between Cambria and Carmel, where the Santa Lucia mountains rise nearly a mile (1.6 km) directly out of the Pacific. It’s a land of fierce beauty, with waves crashing against redwood-forested cliffs, and new jaw-dropping vistas appear around every turn in the road. There’s something raw and primal about the place, yet Big Sur is only a three-hour drive from San Francisco.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur

As we left San Simeon behind, the signs of human habitation grew fainter and fainter. While the road wound through flat coastal grassland studded with cows, the foothills of the Santa Lucias loomed ever closer. The clouds grew denser too, as the forecasted rain was sure to fall soon. Finally the road passed over the San Carpoforo Creek bridge; the place many call the southern border of Big Sur. Suddenly the cliffs rose higher, and we crossed the rocky walls of the Big Sur coastal ridge.

5 Reasons to Visit Hearst Castle

Part 11 in a series.

Hearst Castle is probably the single biggest tourist attraction in California between Los Angeles and San Francisco; their website says over 635,000 people visited last year. It’s a gargantuan estate built by media baron William Randolph Hearst in the early 20th century, set on a dramatic hilltop with panoramic ocean and mountain views.

Hearst Castle courtyard and Neptune Pool

The place is often called the Cuesta Encantada, or “Enchanted Hill.” “So what’s the big deal?” you ask. “Why should I go?” Here are the Central Coast Traveler’s top 5 reasons:

A Trip Along the Central Coast: Day 3, San Simeon

Part 10 in a series.

In the early afternoon after leaving Cambria, the Central Coast Traveler drove a few short miles up Highway 1 to San Simeon, most commonly known as the home of Hearst Castle. The clouds thickened and the light dimmed, but the temperatures still hovered a little below 60°F (15°F); much warmer than many other places in the US in early December. San Simeon consists of two sections: the “old” mid-19th century town sprang up during the height of the whaling industry, and today consists of a tiny collection of vintage structures around the port.

Sebastian's General Store

The whalers left long ago, while the “new” section rose a century later to support the tourist industry, and primarily consists of a strip of motels along Highway 1. The most heavily trafficked place in old San Simeon is Sebastian’s General Store. This improbably remote locale has some of the best sandwiches on the Central Coast, a rustically elegant Hearst Ranch Winery tasting room, and a quaint post office.