Three Days on the Pacific Coast Highway

Summer of 2024, we rode the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) from the official starting point in Dana Point and rode north to Leggett, California. Our ride took three days and was chock-full of memories, varying temperatures, and terrains. Our adventure began with an early morning start from Dana Point after spending two nights at the Laguna Cliffs Resort and Spa. As shared in my previous article, "Adventuresome Accommodations," I recommend another accommodation as it was far from biker-friendly.

PCH Start Point in Dana Point, California

Our day started out with breakfast in Malibu. We had to pay for parking, but eating breakfast on the sand while looking at and hearing the ocean at Pacific Cove Beach Café was worth the fee. As we left Malibu, we saw the Ghost Tires Memorial showing the deaths of road victims on the PCH. A definite reminder to be careful.

I was obsessed with seeing the Moreton Bay Fig Tree in Santa Barbara, but was a little underwhelmed as it is surrounded by a chain-link fence and not very welcoming. We did explore the Old Mission in Santa Barbara, and it I do recommend! The chalk art on the pavement was incredible.

Sea Elephant at the Rookery

We had a brief stop at Pismo Beach for lunch before continuing on to the Hearst Castle, where we attempted a tour. This was a research fail on my part, as advance tickets must be purchased. We were only able to view it from afar. However, it led to much more time at the Piedras Blancas Rookery, where we watched sea elephants for a good while. We continued up the PCH to the historic Piedras Blancas Motel, a vintage roadside motel. Although it is permanently closed, one can only imagine staying there and having great access to so much in San Simeon. This was our turnaround point, as we were unable to ride further north due to a big chunk of Highway 1 falling into the ocean in April of 2024 after heavy rains.

Our first night of the PCH trip, we spent at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. Initially, we were just going to make a pit stop to see the men’s restroom in the restaurant ("Adventuresome Accommodations"), but we were able to spend the night in a really cool rock room. We opted not to eat dinner and only ordered dessert. It was so large we ate it for breakfast as well.

Day two included Carmel, Bixby Bridge, and of course, Big Sur. Bixby Bridge stands 269 feet above the canyon below and is part of the Big Sur Scenic Drive. In addition to being filmed in several movies, the Bixby Bridge is also in Grand Theft Auto V!

Big Sur is an incredible experience. Every curve offers an incredible view of the Pacific Ocean and glimpses of white sandy beaches. We ate lunch at Nepenthe. I highly recommend both the food and the view. The hubs ordered me a Negroni while we waited for seating, and it wasn’t for me. We each ordered the Ambrosia Burger. I later found out the ingredients and probably would not have ordered it if I had known the sauce was a ketchup, mayonnaise, and salsa combination. That would have been a mistake on my part because it was divine! Again, due to a chunk of Highway 1 falling into the ocean, Nepenthe served as our turnaround spot, and we traveled back over the Bixby Bridge and continued north into San Francisco.

While we lived outside of San Francisco in our early 20s, this was our first time riding the Golden Gate Bridge on a motorcycle. Traffic wasn’t too bad, and in normal San Francisco style, it was foggy! Once on the north side of the bridge, we found lodging for the night. I definitely recommend a stop at the Golden Gate Bridge for a picture. It just wasn't possible for us with all the fog.

The next morning, we headed to the Muir Beach Overlook. The Muir Woods is a special place to us, as we hiked 12 miles there for our 30th anniversary. Fortunately, we had seen Muir Beach before because the fog prevented any hope of us seeing anything that morning. Please note, if you get off your bike to explore, warning signs are everywhere about securing personal items in your vehicle. We locked up everything even though we were only gone a few minutes.

We took a well-worth-it detour to see the Cypress Tree Tunnel. Although we couldn’t ride the bike through the tunnel, the walk was still very pleasant. As we left, we also spotted a coyote and rode through some beautiful terrain as we returned to the PCH.

Bodega Bay was also layered in fog, as was the rest of our ride until we reached Point Arena. With the sun out, the blue of the ocean leapt into sight. Our next stop was the Glass Beach in Fort Bragg. There we saw blue, green, red, and clear sea glass as we walked along the ocean. I will admit, I was expecting much larger sea glass, but it was still beautiful. This summer, we will check out the colorful pebbles of Lake McDonald In Glacier National Park. Fingers crossed it meets my expectations.

Leggett, California, is the official endpoint of the PCH when riding north. We rode to the Drive-Thru Tree Park and rode the bike through the Chandelier Tree. Beyond Leggett is the Avenue of the Giants. This ride was spectacular as we rode through a forest of giant redwoods! We actually preferred the Avenue of the Giants over the National Redwood Forest.

With the conclusion of our PCH ride, we continued on into Oregon and stayed in Eureka before heading to Crater Lake National Park.  If Crater Lake National Park is within striking distance, don’t bypass it as it is spectacular. Read "Bucket List Bonanza" for more information on Crater Lake National Park.

For us, the three days on the PCH were part of a 17-day trip to include Arizona, California, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico before returning home to Texas. I expected to have a beautiful oceanside ride. We did, but it was so much more and was one of the standouts of our trip.

The Blonde Backpack