Fog-Free Carmel Valley

If summertime fog puts a cloud over the Monterey County coast, turn inland for diversions in sunny Carmel Valley.

Just follow the locals who escape the seasonal sea mist by driving out Carmel Valley Road. Along that country highway you can taste wines, tour flower nurseries, play golf, go swimming, and drink and dine in roadhouses or stylish restaurants.

Visitors to Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey who prefer short sleeves to sweaters also will find a wide choice of lodgings in the warm, fog-free valley. Among them are exclusive Stonepine, five-star Quail Lodge and the newly built Carmel Valley Ranch Resort.

Extending 13 miles inland from Carmel Bay, the pretty valley cradles homes and horse farms, agricultural fields with old barns and evergreen golf courses. Its meandering road tapers from four to two lanes and follows the Carmel River that begins in the Santa Lucia Mountains.

Residents and visitors often meet in the shops and eateries clustered along the roadside at Carmel Valley Village, a dozen miles up the road from California 1.

A Busy Junction

At the coast highway’s busy junction with Carmel Valley Road is the Carmel Ranch Shopping Center and neighboring Barnyard. That garden-like complex of 50 shops and restaurants is home to the popular Thunderbird bookstore-cum-cafe.

The valley road soon becomes two lanes and passes Rancho Canada Golf Club, which has two 18-hole championship courses open to the public. Then you’ll see the private course at Carmel Valley Golf and Country Club that’s available to guests of Quail Lodge, a deluxe resort on the club property. Turn at Valley Greens Drive.

Guests stay in lodge or cottage rooms overlooking tranquil duck ponds; double rates from $175. The Covey restaurant offers water views as well as good continental cuisine. It’s open nightly for dinner; jackets required for men. Call (408) 624-1581 to make reservations for a meal or accommodations.

A right turn onto Schulte Road leads to Riverside RV Park, with its sunny or shady campsites beside the dried-up Carmel River. Full RV hookup is $22 (no tents). Information: (408) 624-9329.

A Young Winery

Farther along Carmel Valley Road, look right for grapevines and the French-style facade of Chateau Julien, a young Monterey County winery known for its Chardonnay and Merlot. Tours are by appointment, but you can drop in for tastings any day.

Visitors also are welcome at the Begonia Gardens, a roadside nursery with greenhouses filled with begonias in dazzling bloom and many other flowering plants.

Then look right for Robinson Canyon Road, a pristine country lane that leads to remote ranches in the foothills. It winds through trees up to open areas with grazing cattle. Along the way we saw mule deer, a great blue heron and other birds.

At the beginning of Robinson Canyon Road is the guarded entrance to the Carmel Valley Ranch Resort. You’ll pass its 18-hole golf course and 12-court tennis club en route to guest suites. They’re in two dozen buildings scattered amid oaks and other trees on the hillside. Rates from $185; call (408) 625-9500.

For Orchid Lovers

Orchid fanciers can detour left from the valley road on Miramonte Road, then turn right on Los Robles Drive and look right immediately for No. 33, the entrance to the Orchid Garden. It’s the hobby-turned-business of Kit Kurz, who displays 15,000 Phalaenopsis and other orchid types. Open daily except Mondays.

Continue on Los Robles Drive to Los Laureles Grade Road, turn right back to the valley road, then go left. More lodgings appear as you get closer to the village, and several allow day-use of their swimming pools for a nominal fee.

You’ll pay $3 to swim at the vintage Los Laureles Lodge, where double rooms begin at $74 and include a full breakfast. Diners have been attracted to its informal restaurant for decades. A crowd always gathers Friday and Saturday nights to listen to Pat DuVal, the local singing sheriff. Reservations: (408) 659-2233.

A left turn at Country Club Drive leads to Carmel Country Spa, where guests relax and reduce with a daily program of exercises and diet meals. The all-inclusive fee is $95 per person double occupancy (two-night minimum). Information: (408) 659-3486.

Farther along Carmel Valley Road, a small sign directs you to John Gardiner’s Tennis Ranch, where intensive tennis clinics have attracted players for 31 years. It has 14 courts, one for each guest room at the ranch. The five-day clinics cost $1,550 to $1,650 with meals and lodging. Information: (408) 659-2207.

Soon after entering Carmel Valley Village you’ll see a red brick building, Will’s Fargo restaurant, where you select a steak from a butcher’s case and it’s cooked to order. Other meats and seafood also are served for dinner nightly except Mondays. Reservations: (408) 659-2774.

Down the road the Iron Kettle occupies the old village milk house, built in 1890. Enjoy Devonshire tea with scones, or have a light lunch or Sunday brunch; closed Mondays. Across the highway is the very casual Running Iron restaurant with an adjoining saloon, where the local cowboys drop in for beers.

A right turn on Esquiline Road and another right on Los Ositos takes you up 1,000 feet to the 1920s Robles del Rio Lodge and its 30 refurbished rooms (from $59) overlooking the valley. Panoramic views and delicious food attract visitors to the lodge’s Ridge restaurant for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch.

Elegance and Seclusion

Just past the village is the most elegant and secluded place to stay in Carmel Valley, Stonepine, the 330-acre country estate once owned by the Crocker banking family. It offers impressive suites for no more than 24 guests in the main mansion, Chateau Noel, and the Paddock House by the equestrian center.

Guests can mount up for trail rides, take Western and English riding lessons and even learn how to drive a horse carriage. Four-course gourmet dinners are served in the chateau’s formal dining room. Suite rates are $150 to $500, or you can rent the entire estate for $4,500 a night. Information: (408) 659-2245.

Go back on Carmel Valley Road to Carmel to return to Los Angeles via your arrival route, California 1 and U.S. 101.

Round trip from Los Angeles to Carmel Valley is 690 miles.