Monterey County attractions

Monterey County is a county on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. As of 2000, the population was 401,762. The coastline includes Big Sur, State Route 1, and the 17 Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula. The city of Monterey was the capital of California under Spanish and Mexican rule. The economy is primarily based upon tourism in the coastal regions, and agriculture in the Salinas Valley. Monterey County was home to writer and Nobel prize laureate John Steinbeck, writer Robert Louis Stevenson, and California poet Robinson Jeffers.

Monterey County attractions 

Museums

• Monterey Bay Aquarium - world-renowned aquarium
• Monterey County Youth Museum
• National Steinbeck Center

Cultural facilities

• Golden State Theatre – 1200-seat auditorium presenting world class performers year-round.
• Sunset Center - 700+ seat auditorium featuring professional trouping companies and productions, world-renowned artists and host to the Carmel Bach Festival and the Monterey County Symphony.
• Golden Bough Playhouse – home of Pacific Repertory Theatre, the only professional theatre company in Monterey County. A two-theatre facility housing the 300-seat Golden Bough Theatre and the 120-seat Circle Theatre. 10–12 major productions annually.
• Forest Theater - oldest outdoor municipal theatre west of the rockies. City-owned facility with two resident companies: Pacific Repertory Theatre and Forest Theater Guild.

Historic sites

• Colton Hall - location where the California Constitution was deigned and signed
• Larkin House - historic California adobe
• Monterey State Historic Park - includes historic locations such as the Custom House, which is the first government building in California
• Historic missions from the Mexican period, including
• Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad
• Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo - Founded by Father Junipero Serra, who is buried there.

Literary sites

• Tor House and Hawk Tower - Robinson Jeffers' home, hand-built by him

• Tourist centers, including
• Carmel-by-the-Sea - thriving artist's colony, restaurants, shops, theatres, galleries.
• Fisherman's Wharf - restaurants, shops, marine activities
• Cannery Row - restaurants, shops, marine activities

Scenic drives

• 17-mile scenic drive - scenic route takes drivers through the Pebble Beach Resort with restaurants, shops and boutiques.
• Highway 1 and Big Sur - scenic route takes drivers through a number of small towns and parks, including Big Sur.

Golf areas

• Pebble Beach – a small coastal resort destination, home to the golf course Pebble Beach Golf Links and host to the annual AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (formerly known as the Crosby Clambake), which is held there every February. Also the site of the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance auto show, which has been held in Pebble Beach since 1950.
• Bayonet and Black Horse Golf Courses
• Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Links, the back nine of which was designed by Jack Neville, who also designed Pebble Beach

Other

• California Rodeo Salinas
• Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca auto and motorcycle racing venue

Popular hiking and outdoor activity locations

• Pinnacles National Monument
• Big Sur
• Salinas River
• Los Padres National Forest
• Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
• Andrew Molera State Park
• Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
• Marina State Beach
• Fort Ord Dunes State Park
• Elkhorn Slough
• Lake El Estero

References

External links

• Top Attractions from the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau