17-Mile Drive, Carmel

The famed 17-Mile Drive meanders past mansions, the golf courses of Pebble Beach and Spanish Bay, and dramatic cliffside ocean views. The drive offers a number of scenic turn-off points with picnic tables. This is a toll road ($9 per car, including a map—but if you spend over $25 in one of the Pebble Beach Co.’s restaurants, they’ll deduct the fee).  Entering from the Carmel gate, the drive weaves through Pebble Beach and the Del Monte Forest, with views of the famous emerald fairways, rocky coastline and churning ocean. Go slowly and stop often to enjoy the natural beauty of the area, and try to spot birds, deer and the sea otters and harbor seals that hunt in the offshore kelp forests. Don’t miss a look at The Lone Cypress, perched on its rocky outcrop above the ocean for more than 250 years. The drive is a must to avoid if the U.S. Open is in town or during the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, when it’s too crowded to even contemplate.

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