California State Route 1, more generally known as Highway 1, or in Southern California as the Pacific Coast Highway or P.C.H., runs along the Pacific coast for most of the length of the US state of California.
Highway 1 north of San Francisco
The highway is famous for some of the most beautiful coastline in the world, which contributed to its designation as an All-American Road. From the north, the highway passes through the cities of Ferndale, Fort Bragg and Bodega Bay before joining with U.S. Highway 101 and entering San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge. The highway continues south on the west coast of the San Francisco Peninsula, passing through Devil's Slide, on through Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz and Monterey. Several miles south of Carmel, Highway 1 crosses the scenic Bixby Bridge , a 900-foot stone arch that passes over the Bixby Creek gorge. The highway then continues south through the cliffs of Big Sur, then past Hearst Castle, and on to the coastal cities of San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, and Santa Barbara. It then connects to such Southern California beach cities as Ventura, Oxnard, Malibu, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach and Torrance. South of the Los Angeles area, P.C.H. winds through cities which include Long Beach, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and Dana Point.
For most of its length from roughly San Luis Obispo northward Highway 1 is a winding, two lane road with occasional passing lanes, except between Watsonville and Santa Cruz, where it is a multi-lane freeway, between Colma and Daly City, where it is co-signed with Interstate 280 and again a multi-lane freeway, and in San Francisco, where it is 6 lane wide 19th Avenue and Park Presidio Boulevard, a major approach to the Golden Gate Bridge. State parks and small coastal towns can be found amongst hundreds of miles of wilderness. Along the southern length, P.C.H. is a wide, multi-laned boulevard and is even part of a freeway as it is co-signed with U.S. Highway 101 in the Ventura and Oxnard area.
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