On Hwy-101, 52 miles South of King City/10 miles North of Paso Robles. Surviving the ravages of weather and secularization – when many mission buildings were given over to public use – and thereby requiring minimal renovation, the 1797 Mission San Miguel Arcangel (just north of the hamlet of San Miguel) is among the most authentic of California’s missions with an impressive number of its original features – including some striking frescos by the acclaimed Esteban Munras – intact. Now maintained by Franciscan monks, the buildings do much to evoke the early days and the museum offers factual insights into what was, with 24,000 sheep and cattle, and land stretching to the ocean, among the state’s wealthiest missions.

Directly across Hwy-101, the 1850 Rios-Caledonia Adobe originally housed Petronillo Rios, the owner of the mission following secularization, and later became a stagecoach stop on the Los Angeles – San Francisco route.