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Places To Go In Central California
Monterey Country
Point
Lobos State Preserve If you're looking for a fun and easy outdoor adventure with the kids, this is it! Breathtaking scenery coupled with abundant local wildlife, and easy hiking trails, all seasoned with a dash of colorful history. Bring your camera and some lightweight binoculars as you explore the cliffs, coves, tide pools, and forests of this stunning Monterey Bay preserve. A small museum highlights Point Lobos' history and wildlife with artifacts, photos, and video.
We made the pilgrimage in mid
April and were treated to an up close view of mother harbor seals
sunning on a beach with their newborn pups. Other wildlife
spottings included sea gulls and vultures soaring a few feet above our
heads on the brisk sea breezes, plus cute sea otters bobbing in the kelp beds, a
variety of shore birds, and a satisfying assortment of tide pool
denizens, including tiny fish and hermit crabs in a whimsical assortment
of borrowed shells. The tide pools here are the best we've found
for exploring with kids. Lots to see, easy to get up close and
touch, and much safer for visiting with small children than other
central coast tide pools. To make it just a little sweeter, the
walk from the car to the first tide pool was ridiculously short.
Important Considerations: Temperatures are changeable at Point Lobos with sea breezes and coastal climate, so come dressed in layers and bring your sunscreen. Bring your own refreshments as well as there are no snack concessions in the park. Picnic tables are available. Parents, please note that some trails hug the cliffs with only a flimsy guide rope to indicate (sometimes inaccurately, thanks to erosion) where the edge is. Perfectly safe for kids 5 and up with adequate adult supervision. But not recommended for families with darting toddlers -- unless you plan to do a lot of carrying. In addition, restrooms are few and far between, making this outing a bit challenging with the potty training set. Finally, while we had no trouble, on a Spring weekday, finding a great parking spot near the museum, we can only imagine what it would be like on a weekend in Summer. And in fact park policy explicitly states that cars will be turned away once a certain number of visitors arrives. So try to hit Point Lobos outside of peak visitation periods. Or plan to arrive very early. For additional information, visit the official Point Lobos SR website
Click the thumbnails above for more images of the park.
As lovely as the artwork and fine crafted goods it sells, Carmel-by-the-Sea is a charming little town snuggled amid Monterey Pines at the at edge of one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Stroll amidst buildings modeled on old English Tudors hunting treasures in the many shops, then make your way down to the beach. Visit the official website for the City of Carmel By-The-Sea to find out about upcoming festivals and events. See a listing of art galleries.
Carmel River Beach
State Park (831) 624-4909 If you enter the beach from the city side (via the parking lot in Carmel By-The-Sea) note that you must contend with a considerable slope. But you'll get to take in a fantastic view of the gorgeous Monterey Bay and wiggle your toes in the softest, whitest sand imaginable. If your eyes are sharp you might just spot a sea otter hunting his supper or a harbor porpoise diving and spouting. If you are heading out toward, or returning from, Point Lobos you'll find another nice entrance to this straggling State Park, with parking just alongside the highway. Here the beach is flat and broad with plenty of room for kids to race about and stretch their legs and build that perfect sand castle.
3080 Rio Road, Carmel, CA 93923 (831) 624-1271 Also known as San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo, this mission, with it's lovely gardens, idyllic view of Monterey Bay, and it's picturesque chapels and museum are well worth the visit. Founded on June 3rd of 1770, by father Junipero Serra, Mission Carmel was actually the 2nd mission to be founded in Alta California (the Spanish name for what we now know as the State of California). Still an active Catholic church, it is truly a living piece of California history. Visit the Mission's website for current hours of visitation and tours, photos of the mission, and additional information. Just for California 4th graders
The Black Bear Diner Carmel, CA 93923 (831) 624-9640 Get directions
After a full day of hiking and exploring in Carmel with the kids, stop on by the Black Bear Diner for some hearty, home-style food in a family friendly atmosphere. Kids have a broad choice of their favorites and parents will find a selection of breakfast standards, country classics, a sprinkling of seafood, and tasty burgers. (Vegetarian patties available on request.) For more info, check out the menu online. The diner also features a jazzy looking juke box that always gets the tiny toes tappin' and a quaint gift shop section with lots of cute black bear related items (you may want to state limits and expectations before they see the adorable cuddlies.). Black Bear Diner has plenty of parking and is located in the big Cross Roads Shopping Center at the intersection of Rio Road and Highway 1. Next to the Bank of America with the drive-up ATM. The Black Bear Diner is part of a small franchise chain that got it's start in Shasta, California. Bay Area families can find additional Black Bear Diners located in Gilroy, Monterey, and Salinas. See their website for details.
Dennis The Menace Park &
Playground If you're coming to Monterey from outside the area, this park is a godsend. It's a great place to stop and let the kids run wild after being cooped up for a long car ride. The park is chalk full of imaginative climbing structures, plenty of sand to dig in, a real train engine to climb aboard for some imaginary travel, plus a huge suspension rope bridge. If you're tired of mass produced look alike playgrounds, this is for you! Bring your own picnic or buy refreshments from the snack bar -- either way mind the seagulls! Although mild-mannered and harmless they are HUNGRY, and will snatch anything left laying unguarded. Endless entertainment for the toddler crowd. The snack bar is open weekends year round and, in Summer, on weekdays Tuesday-Sunday -- 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed if raining).
The tide pools, the kelp forest, the deep ocean section -- these are just a few of the reasons to visit this gorgeous, modern aquarium. When you're done looking inside, go outside for a sweeping panorama of the Monterey Bay -- or a stroll down Cannery Row. (Will it be wine tasting or outlet shopping -- or candy and a carousel ride?) PLUS there are great play and educational sections for kids! Upstairs there's even a toddler area where jazzy, upbeat songs will lift your spirits while your kids explore dress-up costumes, fun nooks and tunnels, hands-on science play, touch tanks with friendly staff ready to educate and invite -- as well as ... PENGUINS! Kids and toddlers alike will also appreciate the Outer Bay exhibit, where they can get nose to glass with this huge exhibit full of very large fish and sea turtles. Little tot vocabulary word: "Wow..." Browsing the shops along Cannery Row can be a real feast for the senses. Ghiradelli chocolates, fine wines, candles, seafood, wondrous works of art, plus toys, t-shirts, a bead shop, a wax museum, the OshKosh outlet store -- and, if your feet need a rest, you can rent a vintage roadster and take in the sites in style. (Those on a more modest budget can rent bikes.) The row adjoins Monterey Bay Aquarium. 20 Custom House Plaza Monterey, CA 93940 (831)649-7118 Located between Fisherman's Wharf and the Doubletree Hotel, Monterey State Historic Park once served as California's capital under Spanish, Mexican and U.S. rule. The U.S. flag was first officially raised in California here on July 7, 1846, bringing 600,000 square miles, including California, into the Union. Open daily from 10am-5pm. Walking tour at 10:30am at the Pacific House Museum, Custom House Plaza. Afternoon tours available on Saturday & Sunday at 2pm. Visit the Stanton Center for a free, short film about Monterey's history. Presented every 20 minutes. California's first Constitution was drafted in this historic site in October, 1849 and it is a landmark in the City of Monterey, once the Capital of Alta California.
Maritime Museum of Monterey
If you've an interest in life aboard ship, this is an excellent hands on look at the world of ship's captains, fishermen, as well as the settler and explorers who hopped a ship and headed for the new lands of California.
Monterey
County Youth Museum A unique hands on children's museum. Exhibits/activities include Creation Station -- an art area featuring 75 bins of craft supplies and odds & ends that children can use to make their unusual sculptural fantasies and other creative concoctions. Water play and a giant loom combine with fun dramatic play areas such as the fire truck, the pizzeria, the Pet Vet, the Theater, and more. Learn more about the exhibits.
Jack's Peak State Park
Go fossil hunting! Or just
enjoy a great hike
Moss
Landing Although not typically open to the public (it's really a research lab for local scientists and college students), MLML occasionally throws it's doors open to the public, making it an excellent field trip destination to budding marine biologists and others who "ooh" and "aww" over the ocean. Contact them for information about upcoming events. Pacific Grove
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural
History
Asilomar Avenue at Lighthouse Avenue The Lighthouse is at the tip of the Monterey Peninsula, at the very end of Lighthouse Avenue. Access to the Lighthouse is from Asilomar Avenue, just north of the intersection with Lighthouse Avenue. Parking is available at the entrance.
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