Parkfield

What's just north of North-County? Earthquakes and amazing burgers.

As you travel East from the Central Coast, a good majority of people do it by way of Highway 46/41. A couple of feet prior to the fork-in-the-road for these highways, is a left turn I've never had a reason to make. I've been driving by this road for over 20 years now, and 

today would be the first time I'd drive down it.

As you first start out on Cholame Valley Rd, you might feel like it's going to stretch on forever. Slow down, enjoy the view, and before you know it the road will start to bend again. As you reach this point, you will be exiting SLO County, and entering Monterey County. It's about 2 miles into the curves, that you will cross a bridge with very unique signage. "San Andreas Fault - Now Entering North American Plate".

As you roll into Parkfield, on the right is the school and the left is the USGS campus. About 100 yards down the road you have the inn and cafe. Today, we chose the perfect time to arrive in town. There were a couple of people dressed in bear suits running around the street. after dancing around, posing for a couple pics, and reading the signs in town, the bears hopped back into there min-van and  left the town a little less furry. 

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Because our office is in South County, after the hour-and-a-half drive, we were hungry. Straight-away we entered the Parkfield Cafe. We were immediately greeted by a very friendly woman, who let us know we could sit where we would like. We asked about outdoor seating, and with a smile she told us we could order and sit on the patio. We ordered drinks to start. The beer and wine selection was on par with any decent local restaurant in the county, but we ordered our usual Sprite. She poured them immediately, and asked if we were ready to order. We live very close to the best Burger Joint in Slo County, and had heard these were some of the best in the neighboring county, so we chose our styles and stepped outside to explore the grounds while they were being crafted.

There's some old mining equipment, a decent sized stage, picnic tables, and for the kids they have plenty of running room with a clubhouse perfect for playing make-believe. We notice an interesting-looking monument across the street at the inn, but decide to explore that side of town after lunch. We notice the friendly waitress approaching the patio with our food, and so we make our way back toward the smell of BBQ that was coming from her hands. Every bite we took, was like eating a taste of summer itself. I was instantly transported to a warm summer night by the grass-fed beef patty that was cooked over fire.

After our scrumptious lunch (that had us stuffed) we decided to take a look at the grounds of the Parkfield Lodge. We were first struck by what we thought was an old pumping station, now used as storage (or something forgotten, like that). Turns out, when you walk around back, you see this is actually one of the rooms offered by the inn. Beside this unique room is a "broken" monument. Upon reading it, you understand why it's broken. The two pieces of the monument are a little over 12 feet apart. This represents the movement the San Andreas Fault has had since the early '30s. It moves about 2.33 inches per year. At this rate (according to the plaque on the monument), Los Angles will move past San Francisco in about 31.5M years.  Among the several detached rooms (cottages) you will also find a "waterworks" fountain, a small pool/hot tub, and a BBQ area (both gas a wood). This seems like the perfect setting for a country wedding, or family reunion.

On the way out of town, we took Parkfiled-Coalinga Rd. The GPS showed this route almost identical in time/distance to the Cholame Valley way. A couple miles out of town we drove past something that drew my attention, and caused me to whip the car around to get a closer look. It was the Imusdale Cemetery, established in 1865. The entire cemetery was about 400-500 square feet, with 50-75 markers. It was a very peaceful spot to pay respect, and witness the destructive forces at work in the ground. 

This little town doesn't have a lot to offer, but what it does....it does right. Plenty of Nature to explore. Amazing food to come together around, and friendly people to share it all with. Whether you're looking to get a quick day-trip out of Slo County, or looking to have a "destination weekend", we HIGHLY recommend taking the short drive out to Parkfield, California.


-Written by @SLOCOUNTYINFO