Monterey/Big Sur Meet October 24-25, 2026

[Max Rockatansky]

Updated 3/8/26

Join us out on the west coast this October 24th and 25th for the Monterey/Big Sur Road Meet.  The meet itinerary for this event is as follows:

October 24th meet up location

-  We will meet at Casa de Fruita at 10 AM off of California State Route 152 near Pacheco Pass.  Casa de Fruita has numerous food options available including Casa de Burrito.  We will depart for Driving Segment 1 around 11:15-11:30 AM.

Driving Segment 1 (modern developments along California State Route 156)

Segment 1 heads west from Casa de Fruita to California State Route 156 onwards towards to Mission San Juan Bautista.  Highlights for this driving segment include:

A.  The turbo roundabout at the intersection of California State Routes 156 and 25.
B.  The brand new four-lane expressway alignment of California State Route 156 from Union Road near Hollister west to San Juan Bautista.
C.  Mission San Juan Bautista and the El Camino Real Trail.  This includes a short drive along pre-1932 US Route 101 along 3rd Street in San Juan Bautista.

Driving Segment 2 (pre-1932 US Route 101 along the San Juan Grade)

Segment 2 will turn south from San Juan Bautista over the Gabilan Range via the San Juan Grade.  The San Juan Grade within San Benito County is still surfaced with 1st-3rd State Highway Bond Act Portland Cement.  This segment will meet up on the Monterey County side at the intersection of San Juan Grade Road and Crazy Horse Canyon Road.

Driving Segment 3 (a drive to the Monterey Peninsula).

Segment 3 will return to modern US Route 101 via Crazy Horse Road and follow it to Prunedale.  Segment 3 turns westward at California State Route 156 and follows it to California State Route 183 in Castroville.  Within Castroville the "Artichoke Center of the World" sign can be found on California State Route 183 (Merritt Street).  Nearby Preston Road once carried the initial alignment of California State Route 1 over Tembladero Slough.  Segment 3 from Castroville will continue on California State Route 156 westward onto southbound California State Route 1.  Segment 3 will conclude at the Sand City Target parking lot located off of California State Route 1 Exit 404.

Driving Segment 4 (a drive around the Monterey Peninsula to the terminus of California State Route 68)

Segment 4 begins with consolidation of cars at the Sand City Target parking lot.  From Target Segment 4 will follow Del Monte Boulevard (early California State Route 1) towards Lighthouse Avenue in downtown Monterey.  The segment will turn westward on Lighthouse Avenue under the Lighthouse Avenue Tunnel.  The segment route will branch off onto Cannery Row in Monterey and follow it to Ocean View Boulevard in Pacific Grove.  The segment route will round the tip of the peninsula along Ocean View Boulevard and Sunset Drive to the terminus of California State Route 68 at Asilomar Conference Grounds. 

Segment 5 (Holman Highway to Carmel)

Segment 5 will follow Holman Highway (California State Route 68) to California State Route 1 towards Carmel.  Segment 5 will branch from California State Route 1 along Ocean Avenue towards Scenic Drive.  Scenic Drive loops through Carmel towards the Carmel River at Carmel Point.

Optional Segment (17 Mile Drive)

Participants willing to pay the entry fee for 17 Mile Drive can enter the roadway and Pebble Beach from Carmel at the Carmel Way entrance.


October 25 the meet up location

We will meet up at the Sand City Target parking lot at 7:30 AM (bring your own breakfast snack).  Those wishing to consolidate their cars can do so at this lot.  Make sure you have a full tank of gas as you don't want to pay Big Sur region prices.  Be advised if you are consolidating cars you will need to backtrack to Sand City after passing through Big Sur.  My recommended routing can be found below after Segment 5.

Segment 1 (a drive on California State Route 1 through Big Sur to Big Creek Cove Vista)

Segment 1 will head southward along California State Route 1 into Big Sur.  The driving tour will stop at the following locations:
-  Bixby Creek Bridge
-  Hurricane Point
-  Big Creek Cove Vista

Segment 2 (a drive to the top of the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road).

From Big Creek Cove Vista Segment 2 will turn south on California State Route 1 and then east on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road.  The driving segment will ascend seven miles eastward along Nacimiento-Fergusson Road to Coast Ridge Road.  Nacimiento-Fergusson Road gains approximately 2,700 feet over the first seven eastbound miles and has spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.

Segment 3 (descending the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road to Gorda on California State Route 1)

Segment 3 will turn west on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road and return to California State Route 1).  The tour will stop briefly in Gorda where a general store is located.  Restrooms and food are available in Gorda; you can admire the most expensive gas in the state as you snack.

Segment 4 (California State Route 1 from Gorda through Big Sur to San Simeon)

Segment 4 will continue south on California State Route 1 and follow it through Big Sur to SLO-San Simeon Road.  An older 1910s era bridge from the Old Coast Highway can found on SLO-San Simeon Road in addition to Sebastian's General Store.

Segment 5 (San Simeon to US Route 101 in Paso Robles)

Segment 5 will follow California State Route 1 to Main Street in Cambria.  The segment route will turn onto Main Street (early California State Route 1) and turn eastward onto Santa Rosa Creek Road.  Santa Rosa Creek Road is the original alignment of California State Routes 41 and 46 which passes by a cliff-formation known as "The Wall.'  From the eastern terminus of Santa Rosa Creek Road the segment route turns east on California State Route 46 and ends at the large shopping center located near US Route 101 along Theatre Drive.  The meet will conclude at this shopping complex which also happens to have numerous food options.

Optional Segment 6 (for those returning to Sand City)

For people returning to Sand City from Paso Robles my recommended scenic back way is as follows:

-  North on County Route G14 from Paso Robles to US Route 101 near King City. This includes passing by Lake Nacimiento and the Jolon Road corridor.
-  Turn west on County Route G16 which terminates at California State Route 1 near Carmel via Carmel Valley Road.  This roadway crosses the San Lucia Mountains and over the Arroyo Seco truss bridge.

[Rothman]

Big maybe on this.  My wife and I want to head to San Francisco and this would be a good excuse.  Just not sure if we could swing it this year.  Maybe.

[Alps]

* Can you get to Lighthouse Avenue Tunnel without paying the 17 Mile toll?
* Cars of 4 would help lessen the burden of the drive. Just ask those at my NYC 2-day meet. We crossed some bridges together.

[SSOWorld]

* Can you get to Lighthouse Avenue Tunnel without paying the 17 Mile toll?
* Cars of 4 would help lessen the burden of the drive. Just ask those at my NYC 2-day meet. We crossed some many bridges together.

FTFY!!

Low chance here. I did drive the Sur, but that was nearly 2 decades ago.

[Max Rockatansky]

* Can you get to Lighthouse Avenue Tunnel without paying the 17 Mile toll?
* Cars of 4 would help lessen the burden of the drive. Just ask those at my NYC 2-day meet. We crossed some bridges together.

Lighthouse Avenue is easy. I run by the tunnel all the time when I work in Monterey.  The tunnel basically runs under the Customs House.

And I was thinking packing as many people into cars as possible would be ideal for this one.  Especially on drive in Big Sur.

[roadfro]

Count me interested, regardless of when. 

Late October is one of my busy times at work, but taking a couple days off work to accommodate a weekend trip around then would likely serve me well.

[Max Rockatansky]

Sounds good, I'm hitting a couple other west coast regulars to see if that time of year works for them also.

[Max Rockatansky]

After talking to some west coast folks, we are in agreement that a Big Sur meet needs to happen in 2026. I updated the original post with dates and will be refining the itinerary over the next week or so. 

[cahwyguy]

Please also post these things in the regional boards as well -- not everyone follows this board. I certainly didn't know about this until you casually mentioned it in another post.

I've put a hold date for this on my calendar. As I don't yet have the Ahmanson or Pantages dates for the end of the year, I'm not sure if theatre will preempt this, but at least I might be able to reschedule those.

I'll also drop a note to the fellow who joined me on the last roadmeet.

Daniel

[Rothman]

Meh.  If people want to know about road meets, keep track of unread/new posts or this board rather than have people clutter up regional boards with announcements.

"I want to know about road meets but I don't want to follow the board specifically set aside for their announcement" is an interesting take.

[cahwyguy]

Meh.  If people want to know about road meets, keep track of unread/new posts or this board rather than have people clutter up regional boards with announcements.

"I want to know about road meets but I don't want to follow the board specifically set aside for their announcement" is an interesting take.

I don't think one post is "clutter". We have so much more other garbage on those boards. Not everyone reads every board. I normally only look at Pacific Southwest, unless someone points me to something of interest elsewhere. I have only so much time.

I want to know about Road Meets in California, but I don't really care about meets elsewhere. If I'm travelling, then I might look at that board. So, to me, regular reading of the road meets board is clutter. If it relates to Pacific Southwest Roads, post it on the Pacific Southwest Board. That was one thing great about the days of USENET -- you could crosspost things.

[Rothman]

Meh.  If people want to know about road meets, keep track of unread/new posts or this board rather than have people clutter up regional boards with announcements.

"I want to know about road meets but I don't want to follow the board specifically set aside for their announcement" is an interesting take.

I don't think one post is "clutter". We have so much more other garbage on those boards. Not everyone reads every board. I normally only look at Pacific Southwest, unless someone points me to something of interest elsewhere. I have only so much time.

I want to know about Road Meets in California, but I don't really care about meets elsewhere. If I'm travelling, then I might look at that board. So, to me, regular reading of the road meets board is clutter. If it relates to Pacific Southwest Roads, post it on the Pacific Southwest Board. That was one thing great about the days of USENET -- you could crosspost things.

I'll admit to being a little punchy today, but calls that "Things must change that have been set for years to accommodate my own preferences" has never set well with me.

[cahwyguy]

I'll admit to being a little punchy today, but calls that "Things must change that have been set for years to accommodate my own preferences" has never set well with me.

If you want meets to get the greatest attendance, then you need to publicize them.

Just because things have been "set for years" doesn't make them right, or make them right for today. Your preferences cannot change what other people do, and some people don't read other boards here -- they stick to their primary area of interest. I do the California Highways page (https://www.cahighways.org/), and I do a podcast on California Highways with Tom (https://caroutebyroute.org/). But I generally only read the Pacific Southwest Forum, because I don't have the time (or, really interest) to keep up with all the other stuff posted here. So you're saying I should be unaware of a road meet in my area simply because my practice doesn't agree with your preference.

Yeah, you're a bit touchy today. I personally think meets should be posted here for the out of area folks, and have one post in the appropriate regional board so the regional folks know about it. Two posts don't seem excessive to me.

Now I'll go back to the PSW forum (and use "updated topics" to see this post).

[Rothman]

I'll admit to being a little punchy today, but calls that "Things must change that have been set for years to accommodate my own preferences" has never set well with me.

If you want meets to get the greatest attendance, then you need to publicize them.

Just because things have been "set for years" doesn't make them right, or make them right for today. Your preferences cannot change what other people do, and some people don't read other boards here -- they stick to their primary area of interest. I do the California Highways page (https://www.cahighways.org/), and I do a podcast on California Highways with Tom (https://caroutebyroute.org/). But I generally only read the Pacific Southwest Forum, because I don't have the time (or, really interest) to keep up with all the other stuff posted here. So you're saying I should be unaware of a road meet in my area simply because my practice doesn't agree with your preference.

Well, forum practice, anyway.

[hbelkins]

I think I'm responsible for the creation of this board. Back several years ago when I hosted a meet in Charleston, WV, I posted about it in several boards. There were accusations of "spamming" as I wanted to get the word out to as many people as possible. After that, this board was created with the expectation that all meets would be posted here and not in the regional boards.

[vdeane]

I remember in the glory days of internet forums keeping to a minimum number of posts (only posting threads once, quoting multiple people in the same post, etc.) was considered good forum etiquette, with varying degrees of social retaliation.  This may or may not have been related to the obsession with post counts that pervaded many forums.

Personally, I'm not sure how checking the meets board for new posts is a big ask.  Just because there are new posts doesn't mean you have to read them - I certainly don't read every thread of every board, even though I check all of them!

[cahwyguy]

Personally, I'm not sure how checking the meets board for new posts is a big ask.  Just because there are new posts doesn't mean you have to read them - I certainly don't read every thread of every board, even though I check all of them!

The distinction is that if you normally only read one board, you never even think to look at the other boards (I certainly don't). Given that a meet is only likely to be covering one region, a single mention of the meet in the regional board isn't really spanning, as it is on-topic. All it need do it point to the meets board, making folks aware of it. We get much more real spam (fictional highways, countless posts regarding renumbering, endless debates about widening or not).

It is important to realize that there are numerous ways people use and read these forums. We should be endeavoring to make these forums the most useful they can be. Meets are infrequent enough, and these crossposts would be equally infrequent, so as to be overall noise in the grand scheme of things. We've probably spent more energy talking about this than is needed.

[Max Rockatansky]

Can we not turn this into a "good ole internet days/MTR reminiscence" thread?  That kind of stuff has gotten really stale on the forum as of late. 

On the flip side, we got a really awesome meet idea here with a lot of kick ass highway segments.  I'm certainly committed to seeing become another fun event just like Bakersfield and Sacramento were the last two years. 

[Rothman]

Eh, on second thought, if this forum turned into more of a meet-related forum, perhaps it would be a good thing.

[vdeane]

Personally, I'm not sure how checking the meets board for new posts is a big ask.  Just because there are new posts doesn't mean you have to read them - I certainly don't read every thread of every board, even though I check all of them!

The distinction is that if you normally only read one board, you never even think to look at the other boards (I certainly don't). Given that a meet is only likely to be covering one region, a single mention of the meet in the regional board isn't really spanning, as it is on-topic. All it need do it point to the meets board, making folks aware of it. We get much more real spam (fictional highways, countless posts regarding renumbering, endless debates about widening or not).

It is important to realize that there are numerous ways people use and read these forums. We should be endeavoring to make these forums the most useful they can be. Meets are infrequent enough, and these crossposts would be equally infrequent, so as to be overall noise in the grand scheme of things. We've probably spent more energy talking about this than is needed.

I think most of us see the regional boards as news boards rather than a general "anything and everything pertaining to a given region" board.  And using the latter, where is the line?  By that definition, "My Plan to Upgrade US 101 to I-3" or "the speed limit should be 85" are just as valid as a meeting threat (not to mention that "just pointing to the meet board" isn't how forums work and inevitably you'll have two threads with discussions on them), even though that would be a very unpopular change (at least among the members who post the most substance).

The "spamming" in this instance isn't necessarily posting off topic, but posting multiple times.  Heck, I remember when making two posts in a row in a thread, even if the posts were quoting different people or addressed different aspects of the conversation, was frowned upon to the point where multiple people would jump down your throat and the mods would get involved combining posts and/or issuing infractions for doing that.  It doesn't seem to be the case here as of late though (in fact, using separate posts to quote different people seems to be the norm now), but as someone who still remembers the forums of old, has no memory of Usenet's glory days (even when MTR was the main discussion hub, I used Google Groups and found it to be outdated/limited/clunky), and hasn't really embraced modern social media, it still strikes me as an odd thing to do.  Of course, I also remember when post counts and join dates were status symbols that created a status hierarchy where the "old guard" would bully the n00bs if they stepped out of line (on other forums, at least; this forum has never had that, despite a certain someone's attempts to make it otherwise), so the double posting thing no doubt reflected that.

I do think there are cases where meets would hit multiple regional boards (both of the recent Quad State meets would have even if including just the tour area), and meets tend to draw people from out of region as well.  And, of course, for the Northeast and Midwest, meets can easily happen more than once a year.  As I said earlier, how do we draw the lines here?  Especially on a forum with so many people obsessed with well-organized systems (hence grid purity)?

[Max Rockatansky]

It has been about half a week and I've had some thoughts about order/disorder.  Breaking the mold isn't always a bad thing.  Pretty much every meet I've hosted out here in California has some degree of flexibility built in. 

Last year in Sacramento and the Sierra Nevada foothills had quite of adapting on the fly.  The Forest Hill Bridge was the surprise star of the meet and we even had someone from the off-forum realm join us about 80% of the way through the driving tour.  Keeping everyone in somewhat close proximity north of Placerville on CA 49 was a considerable challenge of phone tag. 

For the Bakersfield Meet we met up early at McDonald's in Buttonwillow.  The weather forecast for the afternoon was bad and we really needed to get through the Sierra Nevada foothills before it hit.  My understanding is that was quite the to-do on forum about not having a traditional start of the meet gathering/meal.  We did end up eating midway through the meet at the Highway 178 Cafe at Lake Isabella.  The rain and winter weather hit about 15 minutes after we finished up at the Tehachapi Loop.  I don't think we have ever had a driving road like Caliente-Bodfish Road in any meet which I'm aware of.

In Fresno we ended up having to cancel the second day because winter storms had tore up the Generals Highway.  That being the case we took it easy around Fresno for a single day instead.  We even included a stop at my house to check out my signage collection.

Me personally, I'm not bothered by some disorder.  You can't come to mountainous places like Big Sur and expect things to always go 100% to plan (especially months in advance).  I'm sure there will be challenges with this meet as there has been with the others.  Truth be told, my largest concern is a random forest fire mucking things up in the fall season.  There is no way to fully predict if something like that will happen.

Regarding the meet redirect thread In Pacific Southwest, boy did that turn out to be no big deal.  Thus far it really hasn't had any effect on the exposure of this meet that I can tell.

[Rothman]

It has been about half a week and I've had some thoughts about order/disorder.  Breaking the mold isn't always a bad thing.  Pretty much every meet I've hosted out here in California has some degree of flexibility built in. 

Last year in Sacramento and the Sierra Nevada foothills had quite of adapting on the fly.  The Forest Hill Bridge was the surprise star of the meet and we even had someone from the off-forum realm join us about 80% of the way through the driving tour.  Keeping everyone in somewhat close proximity north of Placerville on CA 49 was a considerable challenge of phone tag. 

For the Bakersfield Meet we met up early at McDonald's in Buttonwillow.  The weather forecast for the afternoon was bad and we really needed to get through the Sierra Nevada foothills before it hit.  My understanding is that was quite the to-do on forum about not having a traditional start of the meet gathering/meal.  We did end up eating midway through the meet at the Highway 178 Cafe at Lake Isabella.  The rain and winter weather hit about 15 minutes after we finished up at the Tehachapi Loop.  I don't think we have ever had a driving road like Caliente-Bodfish Road in any meet which I'm aware of.

In Fresno we ended up having to cancel the second day because winter storms had tore up the Generals Highway.  That being the case we took it easy around Fresno for a single day instead.  We even included a stop at my house to check out my signage collection.

Me personally, I'm not bothered by some disorder.  You can't come to mountainous places like Big Sur and expect things to always go 100% to plan (especially months in advance).  I'm sure there will be challenges with this meet as there has been with the others.  Truth be told, my largest concern is a random forest fire mucking things up in the fall season.  There is no way to fully predict if something like that will happen.

Regarding the meet redirect thread In Pacific Southwest, boy did that turn out to be no big deal.  Thus far it really hasn't had any effect on the exposure of this meet that I can tell.

Hey now, you are stealing the credit for my inability to follow simple directions!  That was all, 100% Rothman.

[Max Rockatansky]

I forget, were we the only two people who stopped in Coloma after the Marshall Monument?  I recall you having a pretty good story about wanting to see the State Historical Park.

[Rothman]

I forget, were we the only two people who stopped in Coloma after the Marshall Monument?  I recall you having a pretty good story about wanting to see the State Historical Park.

I did not have a good story, other than getting stuck behind crowds and I think a wedding, if I recall correctly.

[Max Rockatansky]

I forget, were we the only two people who stopped in Coloma after the Marshall Monument?  I recall you having a pretty good story about wanting to see the State Historical Park.

I did not have a good story, other than getting stuck behind crowds and I think a wedding, if I recall correctly.

I thought it had something to do with James Marshall hosting veterans of the Mormon Battalion from Utah after the Mexican-American War?