17 Mile Drive Offers Rocks, Waves, and Photo Opportunities

On Christmas Day we drove to Pebble Beach and checked out the area of the Lodge and Visitor Center. That was as far as we got on what is known as the 17 Mile Drive. We returned Friday to finish the drive.

For some reason we ended up going the reverse of the guide to the 17 Mile Drive. In truth it doesn’t matter although I noted the parking angles were better for those driving the direction the guide indicated. However, I will be going in reverse of the provided guide.

After leaving the Visitor Center the next stop is the Ghost Trees of Pescadero Point. While there are a number of views of the water from here, That is not the focus. The stop features a number of dead Cyprus trees which have been bleached out by the sun leaving some unusual shapes. It can make for some interesting photographs.

The next stop is probably the most iconic stop which is the Lone Cypress. This tree stands on a point that juts out into the water and has endured the wind and weather for hundreds of years. The tree has actually become the symbol for Pebble Beach. There are wooden stairs that take visitors down near the tree. However, I think the better view is up above near the parking. From there the isolation of the tree is more apparent. However, the sun was shining from that direction making photos challenging.

Crocker Grove is the next stopping point on the 17 Mile Drive, but it’s not that exciting. It’s a grove of Monterey Cypress trees. There is no path to walk among them so we lost interest pretty quickly.

At this point the interest turns to the water. While we have already seen the water and the waves, most of the rest of the stopping points focus on the water. First up is Cypress Point Lookout. The unfortunate thing here is the parking area was surrounded by a chain link fence. This made taking photos a bit difficult. We saw a seal swimming near a large rock here. We could also see the waves crashing on the beach. But the fence….

On the other side of the point was Fanshell Beach Overlook. This was one of my favorite spots. Large waves came crashing in from different sides. It was fun to watch and try to catch them in a photo as they broke. We also saw some otters floating in the water and pelicans flying overhead. One seagull stood on a rock resolutely holding its own as various visitors came by. It was a fun place to photograph. I even took some videos here, but they aren’t as interesting as they seemed in the moment.

The next three stops on the 17 Mile Drive were all rock locations. First up was Seal Rock. In actuality this is more of a beach than a rock. In the distance one can see Bird Rock.  It doesn’t have its own viewing location, however. It also lives up to its name as a lot of birds are perched on the rocks although photos don’t reveal that well.

China Rock comes next. The guide says this was the location of a Chinese fishing village. However the location seems too small for any kind of village. The waves here were coming in tall and hitting the rocks. Young people were standing close to see if the splash would reach them.  In the meantime my son and daughter-in-law were working on their own photo shoot up high.

By this point in the trip the family was beginning to feel the stops on the 17 Mile Drive were all beginning to look alike with big waves crashing onto rocks and beaches. I was the only one to get out at Point Joe, another large rock on the edge of the coast. The interesting aspect here was a notice about protecting the black oystercatchers nesting area. (They are visible some in the third photo.)

We didn’t even stop at Spanish Bay Beach. Here surfers were actually out enjoying the high waves. We had seen enough, though, and kept driving.

The beach portion of the drive was now finished. The 17 Mile Drive then goes up into the hills to curve back around to create the loop for visitors. There is one more stop up above called Huckleberry Hill. However the view of the water was hindered by trees so we didn’t stop.

Having finished the 17 Mile Drive, it was time for our next stop, the town of Carmel By the Sea. It was a very short drive over to Carmel. We could see that the town was bustling with activity so we took the first parking spot we could find. As we began to walk around the town, we began to realize the truth. The town had no electricity. Apparently it went out Christmas Eve and was still out. Most of the stores were closed.

We were hungry and looked for some food. However, most restaurants were also closed. We finally found a small coffee shop which was running on generators. We waited in line a long time to finally get some ham and cheese croissants.

Somewhat fortified we decided to head down to the beach on Carmel Bay; and it was literally down hill. From the beach we looked out over gray skies with distant rain. By the time we got back to the car, the rain wasn’t so distant. With traffic lights out, it took forever to get out of town and back to our hotel..

Back in Monterey we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the movies. After the movie we went out to dinner as it was Andrea’s birthday. This was our final time together as a family as Aaron and Michelle were leaving the next day to return home.

With Andrea as our driver we are planning to do some hiking in the Big Sur area tomorrow. The weather forecast is for sunny skies. We are hoping that will hold true. Check back next week to see how our day went.

Has anyone else enjoyed driving the 17 Mile Drive or visited Carmel when it had electricity? Your thoughts and comments are always welcome.