On Hwy-101, 22 miles South of Soledad. A market town for the produce of the southern Salinas Valley, King City doesn’t have much to recommend it save for a chance to buy gasoline and stretch your legs. It does, however, mark the junction of Hwy-101 and Jolon Road, the start of the route to Mission San Antonio de Padua, for which see the detour below.

Detour – Mission Antonio De Padua

To find one of the state’s most atmospheric missions, leave Hwy-101 just west of King City along Jolon Road, after 11 miles arriving at the all-but-deserted village of Jolon and veer right along Mission Road. In this secluded and enchanting river valley in the midst of the vast Fort Hunter-Liggett military base (ID must be shown at the gates), the 1810 church and – more unusually – many of the outbuildings of the Mission San Antonio de Padua remain in good states of repair. It is the tranquillity of the setting, however, and the sight of robed Franciscan monks moving quietly through the grounds, that make this detour such a pleasure.