Highway 1: Pacifica to Santa Cruz
The coastal highway from Pacifica toward Santa Cruz, via Half Moon Bay, Pescadero and Davenport. Town sections are slower.
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Planning the drive
This page covers the Coastside outing from Pacifica toward Santa Cruz through Half Moon Bay, the Pescadero coast and Davenport. It is the coastal section shown on this map, with town approaches mixed into the more open stretches. Choose a start and finish that leave time to get out of the car along the way.
Pescadero State Beach is one option for a coast stop, with its southern access at the Pescadero Creek Road junction. Turning inland there links the ocean leg to the redwoods and the Peninsula’s mountain roads. The Highway 9–Skyline–Pescadero guide brings those sections together; check current highway conditions before extending your trip beyond the mapped area. State Parks: Pescadero State Beach locations
Roads to connect
- Pescadero Creek RoadAn inland turn toward Pescadero, Loma Mar and the redwoods.
- La Honda Road · Hwy 84The Highway 84 connection inland from the San Gregorio coast.
Full route: Highway 9, Skyline & Pescadero coastal drive →
Driving notes updated .
Road shape
- Length
- 66 mi
- Bends
- 37
- Switchbacks
- 5
- Bends per mile
- 0.6
- Turning per mile
- 71°
- Curviest rank
- 167of 168
Measured from the OpenStreetMap centreline at a 20 m sampling step — road shape only, not a safety or speed judgement. How bends are counted.
Elevation
- Total climb
- 8,597ft
- Climb per mile
- 130ft
- Highest point
- 928ft
- Steepest grade
- 6.8%
Sampled every 100 m from USGS 10 m elevation data, a public-domain federal dataset. Total climb counts vertical change in both directions, so it does not depend on which way you drive. How elevation is measured.
Speed limits
55 mph
Mapped limits
Open stretches; lower limits through towns and some coastal sections.
OpenStreetMap tags cover approximately 99% of this trace. These values have not been checked against current signs.
Posted signs always govern. How speed evidence is handled.
Sources
Difficulty 1/3 (Relaxed) is our editorial rating of width, bends and sightlines; “High speed” describes character, not a target speed. Full method. Identified from:
- r/bayarea · Favorite driving roads
- OpenStreetMap road data (323 ways in this trace)
Reviewed 2026-09-08. The trace shows selected road sections, not a navigation route.
Drives that include this road
Roads nearby
Distances are approximate straight lines between road centers, not driving distances or direct connections.