Best American California Pacific Coast Highway: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Big Sur, Monterey, and California Deep Heritage Tour Destinations
Browse more guides: United States travel | Americas destinations Best American California PCH: Golden Gate Bridge (1937), Alcatraz (1934-1963), Bixby Bridge (1932), Hearst Castle (1919-1947), Disneyland (1955), with Yosemite NP (UNESCO 1984) and Redwood NP (UNESCO 1980) Anchoring the Wider State TL;DR I drove the full Pacific Coast Highway across 13 days in late September, and the verdict was simple: California Highway 1 is the most varied 1,055 km of road I have ever travelled, and it carries more measurable history per mile than any other American route I have tested. PCH runs from San Diego in the south to Leggett in Mendocino County in the north, and the section between San Francisco and Cambria delivers the renowned content most travellers come for: Bixby Creek Bridge (opened 1932, 218 m long, 80 m above the canyon), McWay Falls (24 m, one of two California waterfalls that drop straight onto a beach), the Monterey Bay Aquarium (opened 1984, around 200 displays, USD 60 advance...