McWay Falls Viewpoint (Big Sur)
USAscenic

Pacific Coast Highway (SR-1)

Big Sur cliffs, sea otters and fog, the definitive California coast drive

Distance
441 mi
709 km
Driving
9 hr 36 min
excl. stops
Suggested
5 days
balanced split
Stops
7
curated

Distance and driving time are measured along the mapped route through the 7 stops listed below. Officially signed versions of famous routes often quote a longer figure, since they include promoted detours this line doesn't take.

McWay Falls Viewpoint (Big Sur) · Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Opens the planner with every stop loaded. Free, no card needed.

Day by day

Distances are measured along the actual road geometry, not straight-line. Drive times exclude stops, traffic and ferry waits.

What the drive is like

Two roads do the work. Roughly 43% is on the US101 and another 39% on the CA1.

There's real climbing in this one: the road gets up to roughly 600 m near Santa Barbara, with something like 2,549 m of ascent over the whole drive.

The bigger places on the way are San Mateo, Sunnyvale, Santa Cruz and Watsonville, handy for fuel and food between the stops.

Part of the drive follows the Pacific Coast Highway - Big Sur (CA-1).

  • US10143%
  • CA139%
  • CA1547%
  • CA175%

How high it goes

~600 m near Santa BarbaraSan Francisco, CALos Angeles, CA · 701 km
Height above sea level along the driving route, measured at about 50 points. Total climb roughly 2,549 m.

Passes and famous roads

From the 500-plus roads drivers collect in the Plan Your Road Trips app.

Famous road · On the route

Pacific Coast Highway - Big Sur (CA-1)

Famous road · 3 km off the route

Mulholland Drive

Before you go

Best time to drive it

April to June, or September to October

Summer brings coastal fog to Big Sur and heavier traffic. Check Caltrans for Highway 1 closures: landslides shut sections of Big Sur for months at a time.

Driving rules

Emission zones, mandatory equipment and licence requirements change country by country, and in 2026 several of them changed mid-year.

Every stop on the Pacific Coast Highway (SR-1)

  1. San Francisco, CA

    Start

  2. Santa Cruz, CA

    +115 km from the last stop

  3. Monterey, CA

    +69 km from the last stop

  4. Big Sur, CA

    +46 km from the last stop

  5. San Luis Obispo, CA

    +169 km from the last stop

  6. Santa Barbara, CA

    +150 km from the last stop

  7. Los Angeles, CA

    +152 km from the last stop

Worth a detour

Curated places within 25 km of the road.

Show 6 more

  • The Madonna Inn

    cafe

    A flamboyantly kitsch roadside inn on Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo, famous for its 110 uniquely themed rooms and rock waterfall men's restroom.

  • Alice's Restaurant

    cafe

    A legendary biker and car enthusiast hangout on Skyline Boulevard in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a must-stop on one of California's best riding roads.

  • Nepenthe Restaurant

    cafe

    A clifftop restaurant perched 800 feet above the Pacific on Big Sur's Highway 1, offering breathtaking ocean views and famous ambrosia burgers since 1949.

  • Neptune's Net

    cafe

    A legendary seafood shack on PCH in Malibu where bikers, surfers, and road trippers have gathered since 1956, featured in numerous films including Point Break.

  • The Rock Store

    cafe

    A famous biker bar and cafe in Cornell, California on Mulholland Highway, where celebrity riders and car enthusiasts congregate on weekend mornings.

  • Universal Studios Hollywood

    landmark

    The original Universal theme park and working film studio offering studio tours and movie-based attractions.

Common questions about the Pacific Coast Highway (SR-1)

How long does the Pacific Coast Highway (SR-1) take?

The driving itself is about 9 hr 36 min across 441 miles (709 km). Most people spread it over 5 days: the day-by-day breakdown on this page splits it into balanced stretches rather than equal ones, so no single day is all driving.

How many miles is the Pacific Coast Highway (SR-1)?

441 miles, or 709 km, measured along the actual road rather than straight-line between towns.

When is the best time to drive the Pacific Coast Highway (SR-1)?

April to June, or September to October. Summer brings coastal fog to Big Sur and heavier traffic. Check Caltrans for Highway 1 closures: landslides shut sections of Big Sur for months at a time.

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