On Hwy-101, 25 miles South of Salinas. Soledad is a small and placid farming town that grew up in the shadow of a mission, Nuestra de Soñora de Soledad, completed in 1797. Never prosperous, the frequent flooding of the Salinas River and various epidemics contributed to the mission’s swift demise, while the isolation of its setting did little to endear the mission to its Spanish incumbents; one visitor describing it as “the gloomiest, bleakest, and most abject looking spot in all California.”

Restoration work has been limited to the chapel and a wing of the inner courtyard (holding a small museum), easily toured in a few minutes, while the ruins keep the sense of desolation as strong as ever.

Detour – Pinnacles National Monument

The scenery is not a strong point of Hwy-101 but there is some spectacular geology to be found by driving east from Soledad on State Road 146, which leads into the lunar-like landscapes of Pinnacles National Monument. Thrown up by volcanic activity 23 million years ago, these immense rock extrusions, gnarled by erosion into bizarrely-shaped towers, spires and pinnacles, lie on and around a 1,000-ft-high ridge running across the monument.

A network of walking trails makes the ridge top accessible with comparatively little effort (though some sections are steep enough to make handrails necessary), bringing breath-taking views of the monument and far beyond, across the Salinas River Valley to the mile-high Santa Lucia mountains flanking the coast.

Bear in mind that this is a severe and isolated place: rattlesnakes are not unknown, venturing off marked paths can be dangerous, and you should never enter a cave – many of which have been formed by streams cutting through the ridge – without a flashlight and helmet. Be sure to stop at the Visitors’ Center for free maps and information.

Note, too, that visitors with RVs should enter the monument using the eastern section of State Road 146, which leaves Hwy-25 31 miles south of Hollister.