Legendary Drives: Big Sur's Shimmering Sea and Towering Mountains

Hugging the rubbly edge of the continent, this road runs between California mountains and shimmering sea, then dips and weaves among stands of redwoods. Initially inspired by the difficulty in rendering aid to a 1894 steamer shipwreck, it’s been called the most famous road in America—an exalting, at times nerve-wracking, route. South of Monterey and Carmel-By-The-Sea, Highway 1 is a pilgrimage, an epiphany, a panorama, an achievement. It is a tops-down joyride, a warning to tread carefully along our precarious earth and an invitation to awe.

John Steinbeck is the area’s most famous literary son, but Henry Miller also spurred Beat Generation interest from the likes of Kerouac and Ferlinghetti. Miller was hooked by the wide-open space and the “grandeur and eloquent silence.” He found inspiration in “skies of pure azure and walls of fog,” a description in his 1957 memoir, Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch. The Henry Miller Memorial Library, “Where Nothing Happens,” is a bookshop and home to collections of Miller’s work. It also hosts an eclectic variety of music performances and events.

Perched on a ridge overlooking the sea, Nepenthe is a family restaurant, a bastion, landmark and a symbol of pure Big Surness. Have an ambrosia-sauced burger while spotting busy Steller’s jays in the trees as a fog lifts over the Pacific.

At Fernwood Resort, old-time motel rooms flank a creaky-floored general store with a coffee-and-ice-cream stop for locals. The restaurant and bar draws a local crowd too, for live music or a bite and beer around the firepits. Out back, a path curls through redwoods to RV-friendly campsites and cozy cabins.