Great Roads - G16

By: Judd Goldfeder

A very special road is G16 which runs from Carmel to Greenfield (at US 101). To get there, take Carmel Valley Road from Highway 1 and after about 60 miles you will find yourself in the town of Greenfield on US 101. It?s a great way to get from the Monterey Peninsula to 101 if you want to take in the scenery.

The road is all paved but is up and down, twisty and turny, narrow in spots, has no line down the middle in some areas, and even has a one lane bridge. After you leave the Carmel Valley this is what California was like 100 years ago before we had people, farms and cars - just beautiful scenery.

Several years ago I drove this road at night thinking (from reading a map) that it was a short cut from 101 to our hotel in Carmel - bad idea. If you want to go fast, take 68 through Salinas but if you don?t mind going slow, try G16. And it can be slow - Cy Yedor told me that he has encountered fog so thick that he had to stop.

This is the most natural, bucolic, inland drive to be found. It is an ideal Ferrari road because there is no traffic and lots of wiggles in the road but I most enjoyed driving slowly and absorbing what our state was once like.

Please send us a description of your favorite drive.

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