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Ordinary Traveler / Blog / California / The Forgotten Coast: Off The Beaten Path in California

The Forgotten Coast: Off The Beaten Path in California

By Christy Woodrow, Last Modified: March 27, 2019

The Forgotten Coast: Off The Beaten Path in California

I’ve lived in California all my life and for some reason I didn’t explore Central California until a few years ago. I feel like this is somewhat of the forgotten coast of California. Southern California has San Diego and Los Angeles, Northern California has Humboldt and San Francisco, but what is Central California known for?

Obviously there is more than enough beauty on this coast with Big Sur, Monterey and Santa Barbara, but what about the smaller areas of the Central California coast? Scott and I recently went on a trip to explore a few of these places and this is what we came up with.

 

The Forgotten Coast: Off The Beaten Path in California

 

Morro Bay, California

First we stopped in Morro Bay, a charming little town with great cafes, shops and outdoor sights. This place is most famous for its landmark called Morro Rock, a 581-foot volcanic plug which is considered to be sacred by a couple of local Indian tribes.

The Forgotten Coast: Off The Beaten Path in California

 

We stopped here to check the surf. There were a few people out catching waves, but after realizing we would freeze in our measly 3/2 wetsuits, we decided to watch the surfers instead of joining them. This right and left sandy, beach-break is also known as “The Rock.”

 

San Luis Obispo, California

When I was growing up in Northern California, San Luis Obispo seemed like heaven. Of course, when you are a kid you would rather be any place other than where you live, but I had friends with older siblings that headed off to college in San Luis Obispo so it seemed like the cool place to live. My parents even let me visit one weekend while I was still in high school. I won’t go into detail about that trip since it mostly involved drinking and I don’t remember much of the scenery.

On this particular trip with Scott, we took full advantage of the outdoors by staying at El Chorro campgrounds. Ideally we would have liked to stay at a campground on the beach, but most beach campgrounds are booked in the summer. Sometimes up to a year in advance.

The Forgotten Coast: Off The Beaten Path in California

 

El Chorro is somewhat remote and only about half of the 63 sites were taken. The best part was waking up and realizing the campground shower requires quarters and we only had a couple of them. Before this, I had no idea how quick I could be at taking a shower. My advice is to bring quarters if you want to get clean and avoid an extremely quick shower.

Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to check out any of the beautiful hiking spots in the San Luis Obispo area. We really wanted to hike the “Big Falls” trail.

 

Pismo Beach, California

If you have 4wd and you want to camp on the beach, there is usually availability year round at the Oceano Dunes in Pismo Beach. This is one of the only places you can find last minute camping on the beach because you can’t camp unless you have 4WD.

If you just want to drive through the park and you don’t have 4wd, they will let you only at low tide. Just make sure to drive as close to the water as possible and don’t make any sudden stops or you will get stuck. Just so you know, Scott and I did get stuck in my 2WD 4Runner. It was not our finest hour, but everything ended up fine and we were able to get out before the tide came up.

ATV rentals are available at the park entrance for about $55-$60 for 2 hours. The dunes are amazing and camping right on the beach is a must.

The Forgotten Coast: Off The Beaten Path in California

 

Pismo has some surf spots such as Pismo Pier and the dunes. We headed out for a two hour surf session at Pismo Pier. This sand bottom beach-break was fun, but the waves were a little mushy that day which is fairly common in summertime.

You cannot visit Pismo Beach without eating at Splash Cafรฉ! They make award winning clam chowder. If you order the clam chowder in a bread bowl it’s probably enough for two people since it’s a heavy cream dish. We also tried the steamed clams which were very tasty. I find it odd that I liked both of these dishes so much since I’m usually not a big fan of clams.

 

Jalama State Beach, California

About 2 hours South of Pismo, off Hwy 1, is a little gem of a place called Jalama State Beach. We love this place so much that we almost want to keep it a secret. If you plan on camping here, they don’t take reservations so it is nearly impossible to get a spot in the summer unless you go on a weekday and are willing to show up at 7 am to wait in line until they open at 8. Even then, you may be turned around only to drive the 14.5-mile windy road back to Hwy 1 and find other accommodation. I would suggest going on the off-season.

Jalama is off the beaten path and it takes about a half hour to drive the 14.5-mile road since it is very windy at times, but well worth the drive. Once you get there, you will find a beautiful, uncrowded stretch of beach. The surf was good and the crowd in the water was fairly small too. Please know your limits because the waves at Jalama can get heavy in the winter.

The Forgotten Coast: Off The Beaten Path in California

 

While you are here, stop by the Jalama Beach Store and Grill and have a “World Famous Jalama Burger.”

I find the Central California coast to be more rural than the other two coasts of California and this is one of the things I like most about it. We have since been back and visited Big Sur a few times, a place that I cannot say enough good things about.

 

Have you been to the Central California coast?

 

Read More:

15 Best Things to Do in San Diego, California

Womenโ€™s Packing Guide For Southern California

The Ultimate Road Trip Packing List

5 Unforgettable Road Trips to Take in Your Lifetime

How to Choose the Best Travel Camera

10 Best Free Campgrounds in Northern California

 

About Christy Woodrow

Christy Woodrow is a travel photographer and professional blogger based in San Diego. She has been traveling around the world with her partner, Scott, since 2006. Join them in their quest to find off-the-beaten-path destinations by signing up for weekly emails. You can read more about her on our about page.

Filed Under: California

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jillian says

    I have to stop reading your California posts, they make me wish I was living on the other coast!

    Reply
  2. Laura says

    This past fall I spent lots of time traveling to the Central Coast working on a project at the Diablo Canyon power plant (near SLO) and I really grew to love the place. The coastline is just so rugged and spectacular there and what amazed me the most was all the marine life in the water. I watched the otters playing in the kelp beds and dolphins swimming along the shore, saw a sea lion feeding frenzy and a whale (!!) from the Avila pier, and of course visited the elephant seals north of Morro.

    Thanks for bringing back these great memories – I agree the this area can be overlooked but I’m so glad I’ve had the opportunity to get to know it! Now I just need to take up surfing and get back out there…

    Reply
  3. jill - Jack and Jill Travel says

    We love Pismo Beach! Jack used to have a Jeep and he wooed me by taking me off roading on Pismo as one of our dates ๐Ÿ™‚ And it worked!

    Reply
  4. Roy | cruisesurfingz says

    Wow, taking an ATV through Pismo Beach sounds like fun ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  5. Scott @ Ordinary Traveler says

    yea it looked like fun to us too, util we found out it was about $100 an hour. So we decided it wasn’t that much fun. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Reply
  6. joshywashington says

    I love Jalama…we are so blessed to live on the West coast, from Vancouver BC to Seattle, SF and down through Southern Cali, this is my favorite stretch of land on gods green globe…

    Reply
  7. Scott - Ordinary Traveler says

    @Laura – Sometimes I’m glad that it’s over looked. I can’t imagine having to deal with a ton of traffic on the 1 not to mention it’s nice to get away.

    @joshywashington – Amen Brother

    Reply
  8. Christy @ Technosyncratic says

    When we started the RV trip we drove from SD to SF and stopped to camp at Pismo Beach. We were so excited because we had just gotten a Jeep and wanted to try it out on the sand! What I didn’t quite realize was that you had to take your 4WD vehicle OUT to camp… so it wasn’t much of an option for us in an RV, lol.

    I’d still love to visit there, though!

    Reply
  9. The NVR Guys says

    I saw on Oprah that SLO is the happiest place in the US. We haven’t been, but it looked VERY idyllic.

    Reply
  10. Scott @ Ordinary Traveler says

    @NVR Guys – I’m not sure how they determine that, but I sure was happy when I was there ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Reply
  11. Scott - Ordinary Traveler says

    @Grace – yea there is there is no straight way through there. It kinda out of the way so I think that helps keep people out too.

    Reply
  12. The GypsyNester says

    Our favorite part of the coast was the elephant seal beach by San Simeon. We spent enough time in the area to see the first baby born of the season, then the bull seals fighting for territory. Volunteers “man” the beach – to keep it safe and share their knowledge – a GREAT experience. -David and Veronica

    Reply
  13. Scott - Ordinary Traveler says

    @Gypsynester – Thats a pretty awesome experience. I didn’t realize that the seals bore their young on San Simeon.

    Reply
  14. Laura says

    I’ve never been to central California, only San Diego. Camping in San Luis Obispo sounds like something I would really enjoy! ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Reply
  15. Scott - Ordinary Traveler says

    @Ella – It’s a pretty amazing place. I’ve loved my time here. If you want to move, don’t think just do it! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  16. Ella says

    I have heard that all of California is beautiful! I would love to make it out there one day…your descriptions of central Cali make me want to move.

    Reply
  17. Grace says

    It’s true the central coast gets less love because everyone flocks way up north or way south. Still have not been to Pismo Beach!

    Reply
  18. Scott @ Ordinary Traveler says

    @Christy – Yea that’s a bummer. There are not many places that you can drive on the beach so it’s hard to know what you can and can’t do. We were just as clueless. As you heard us mention in the article we got stuck driving. Guess who was driving…. yep it was me. Ooops

    Reply

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