Over the Mountain... (Part 6 of 7): Driving above the sea layer in the Santa Lucia Mountains

by Steve Reiss (Dalmdad Landscape Photography - www.dalmdad.com and https://www.facebook.com/Dalmdad.)

Nacimiento-Fergguson Road (NFR), high in Los Padres National Forest: After driving the dark, damp, forest floor, NFR begins its climb towards its summit at 2780 feet.  NFR is well paved and maintained, but is very winding and has precipitous drops at almost every turns.  There are no guard rails. The turn-off for Cone Peak Road, leads to some fantastic ocean sunsets.  However, Cone Peak Road may be closed due to weather from November to May.  The turn-off for Coast Ridge Trail, near the turn-off for Cone Peak Road, leads substantially parallel to the Pacific Ocean (i.e., north-south), along the crest of the range.

In October, 2009, the Mano Seca Group installed a bench near the top of the western slope of Nacimiento-Fergusson Road. A large turnout on the road provides easy parking; an opening in the roadside fence provides a path down to the bench.  The Mano Seca Group has a guerrilla reputation, as federal and state park services do not take kindly to the construction of unauthorized structures on park grounds.

Looking down one of the canyons from above the sea layer on NFR

Road cut for NFR clearly visible.

Road cut for NFR clearly visible.

Road cut for NFR clearly visible.

Road cut for NFR clearly visible as it circles the knob above the sea layer.

Burnt out trees contrasting with the high elevation greenery.

View across the Santa Lucia Range

Another view across the Santa Lucia Range

Road cut for NFR clearly visible along with the Pacific Ocean.

Over the Mountains... (Part 5 of 7): Exiting Fort Hunter Liggett's back Entrance

by Steve Reiss (Dalmdad Landscape Photography - www.dalmdad.com and https://www.facebook.com/Dalmdad.)

Compared to the wide open space of FHL's Jolon gate,FHL's NFR gate is remote and tucked into the forest.  You may even--for a moment--feel bad for the guard posted here in the middle of no where.

This photo is courtesy Doctor Love 415

Nacimiento-Fergusson Road (NFR) is a popular highly-scenic, but tough to drive, Monterey County road.  As mentioned in an earlier post in this series, NFR begins at Mission Road in Fort Hunter Liggett near the truss bridge over the San Antonio River.  The Road ends 14 miles later at the Pacific Ocean, after twisting its way through the Los Padres National Forest and up and down the Santa Lucia Mountains.  Coast Road, which runs parallel to the Santa Lucia Range and the Pacific Ocean, crosses NFR about 9 miles from the NFR Gate of Fort Hunter Liggett. NFR is the only road that crosses the SL Range.

After the NFR gate, you are in pure forest country; trees, trees, and even more trees.  If you want to see fall in California, this is a good place to look.  A lot of visitors to California comment that we do not have a fall season.  That is not true, you just need to know where to look for it.  You won't find fall standing on the Newport Pier, where bikinis are worn year round or at the beach in San Clemente.

Scenes from fall in the Los Padres National Forest....

What people say about Nacimiento-Fergusson Road:

one of those roads that requires some serious planning to actually get to for most people.

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If I never see Nacimiento-Fergusson road again, it will be too soon. Let me explain.,,,For the first few miles, the Nacimiento-Fergusson road was very nice. It took us through some fields, then we wound our way through the woods. But then, all of the sudden, we were climbing a cliff, the road got more narrow, and I lost my mind. I was shaking, driving 10 mile per hour, and basically behaving like a lunatic. They don't have mountains like that in Detroit! Fortunately, Margaret is a little cooler than I am and she ordered me to stop at a scenic viewing spot and she took over. We got a few pictures from this drive, but mostly, we were both completely freaked out. The road was too narrow for us to turn around, and it just kept getting scarier ahead. Eventually, however, we made it to the coast without Nacimientoing and we had one of the best breakfasts I've ever had.

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Want to admire the tremendous scenery of these mountains crashing down into the Pacific? Then it’s best to stop. This byway leaves very little margin of error before one might disappear into spectacular oblivion. Did I mention there are no guardrails?

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The steep coastal mountains mean there are loads of tight switchbacks more suited to super-moto than ZX-10. Anyway the route takes you through Fort Hunter-Ligget Military base so besides the heinous 200-foot cliffs at every turn, you should also watch our for MP who don't take kindly to stand up wheelies on the base.

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Over the Mountains and Through the Woods, to the Pacific Ocean we go...

 by Steve Reiss (Dalmdad Landscape Photography - www.dalmdad.com and https://www.facebook.com/Dalmdad.)

There are approximately 33 "road miles" between the inland Monterey County, CA, near ghost-town of Jolon and the Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1).  Those 33 road miles twist and turn and cover a mere 20 "as the crow fly" miles.

The 33 road miles are in no way an easy drive.  The switch-backs and alternating gas and brake pedalling will tire you...and then you will still have the strenuous drive north along the Big Sur coast to wherever you are going to call it a day.  However, it is all worth it.

Included in the 33 miles are:

1) visiting the remnants of Jolon, once a thriving community.  Now, not so much;

2) visiting Fort Hunter Ligget, known for the herd of free-range tule elk that roam the fort grounds;

3) visiting Mission San Antonio and its parish desert tortoise, also on the fort grounds;

4) driving through the fort's live fire practice range;

5) exiting Fort Hunter Liggett's back entrance, deep in the tree canopy of the Los Padres National Forest and beginning the trip over the Santa Lucia Range on Nacimiento-Fergguson Road, a road notorious for its driving challenges and views;

6) driving along the peak ridge of the Santa Lucia Mountains;

7) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the cloud cover before coming down and merging with the Pacific Coast Highway.

This is pretty much an all day trip, but as I mentioned, well worth the time.

Over the next 7 weeks, we will be describing for you each of these segments.  We hope you enjoy and can take the drive some time.

The Drive Profile