Overview:

• Strap in and get ready for an exhilarating driving experience. This twisting, cliff-hugging, 123-mile route along the central California coast takes about five (5) hours to complete.

• The route starts in historic Monterey and visits the art colony of Carmel.

• Farther south, the route runs through Big Sur, where mountains plunge into the Pacific and continues to Morro Bay.

Point Lobos State Reserve:

• From Carmel drive 3.5 miles south to Point Lobos State Reserve. www.pointlobos.org.

• Park encompassing coves, headlands, meadows, tide pools, and the nation's first undersea ecological reserve.

• Trails lead past Monterey cypresses, which grow naturally only here and in Pebble Beach.

• The park's 250 species of birds and mammals include black-tailed deer, gray foxes, sea otters, and sea lions.

• Migrating gray whales pass by from December through April.

Big Sur:

• Big Sur extends 90 miles south to San Simeon. On this well-known coastline, redwood groves reach skyward, and waves crash the rocky coastline.

Bixby Bridge:

• Much photographed Bixby Bridge is a single-span concrete arch more than 260 feet (80 m) high and 700 feet (200 m) long.

• Park at turnouts to gawk or take pictures. Ahead, the highway passes Hurricane Point, a place of big winds and big views.

San Simeon:

• Next the road reaches the town of San Simeon, a staging area for the five (5)-mile (eight-kilometer) bus ride to Hearst Castle. tel. 1-805-927 2020 or 800-444 4445; www.hearstcastle.org; tours only, call for reservations; fee).

• Begun in 1919 by newspaperman William Randolph Hearst, the 127-acre (51-hectare) estate features the 115-room main house and guesthouses, which mix classical and Mediterranean Revival styles, using European architectural elements and artwork.

End in Morro Bay:

• The end of your route is Morro Bay easily identified by its landmark Morro Rock. A turban-shaped, extinct volcanic cone about 23 million years old, it is 576 feet (176 meters) high and sits on the bay.