An easy 125 miles from Santa Barbara, the small town of Cambria — nearly hidden in plain sight right off Highway 1 — welcomes visitors with all the crisp and rugged forces of nature classic to the Central Coast. There’s course sand underfoot and stiff wind off the water. Cold breakers crash against rocky points, and tide pools teem with bull kelp and striped shore crabs. Along the bluffs, trails and boardwalks run for miles against a backdrop of forested mountains. All of it makes for a nice, long pit stop, for sure. Better yet, try Cambria as a destination, even for just a weekend.
STAY
Late on a recent Friday afternoon, my family and I checked in to Oceanpoint Ranch ( oceanpointranch.com ), an unassuming single-level hotel at the northern end of Moonstone Beach Drive. The ladies running the lobby welcomed our two small dogs with gifts of matching bandanas, and across the street, trails through Leffingwell Landing State Park and along the Moonstone Beach Boardwalk provide plenty of leashed roaming room.