midnight, last reservation
10:45pm).
The Drive » Take Hwy 101
back northbound toward San
Luis Obispo. Exit after 4.5 miles
at Los Osos Valley Rd, which
leaves behind stop-and-go
strip-mall traffic to slowly roll
past rural farmlands for about
11 miles. After passing through
downtown Los Osos, curve left
onto Pecho Valley Rd, which
enters Montaña de Oro State
Park a few miles later.
5 Montaña
de Oro State Park
In spring, the hillsides
of Montaña de Oro
State Park (www.parks.
ca.gov; end of Pecho Rd,
Los Osos; admission free;
hsunrise-sunset; c) are
blanketed by bright
California native poppies,wild mustard and other
wildflowers, giving this
park its Spanish name,
meaning ‘mountain
of gold.’ Along the
winding access road,
sand dunes and the
wind-tossed bluffs of
the Pacific appear. Pull
over at Spooner’s Cove,
a postcard-perfect
sandy beach once used
by smugglers. Here the
grinding of the PacificTRIP HIGHLIGHTMorro Bay Kayaks in the bay