California is one of the best places for an amazing road trip. Roads are long and wide, and the scenery is diverse. Here you will find beautiful pacific coastline and the high mountain tops of the Sierra Nevada’s. We did our own Highway 1 Classic Californian Road Trip, and what really took us by surprise was the amount of wildlife we spotted along the way.
Starting Point for our California Road Trip
Starting in Los Angeles we drove north to Santa Barbara. We then stopped at Morro Bay before continuing north to Monterey. Then onto San Francisco and a detour to 3 famous National Parks – Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Here is our account of some of the amazing wildlife we spotted along the way.
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural Science
Wildlife spotted: Blue Whale skeleton, large variety of stuffed animals
Our first stop was Santa Barbara, where we stopped for 3 nights. On our first day we visited the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural Science. The first animal we saw was the skeleton of a Blue Whale out in the car park. Inside we didn’t see any living wildlife to note.
However we did spend a couple of hours checking out the outstanding display of native wildlife found in Southern California. Everything from full-grown Bears to Elk to birds of prey, down to all the tiny critters.
And there are loads of informative boards to read explaining what wildlife and habitats are found in Southern California. It’s a great way to kick off a wildlife adventure with some solid local education.
Stearns Wharf Santa Barbara
Wildlife spotted: Pelicans, Sea Lions
Later that day we headed down to Stearns Wharf at the main waterfront precinct of Santa Barbara. We had lunch at an awesome waterside restaurant on the wharf called Moby Dicks. Over lunch we got to see many Pelicans doing their thing all around us.
Also there are Sea Lions visible from the wharf, although you will do better with binoculars because they are quite far off. There’s a buoy out to sea full of them, and an island near the big marina also.
Santa Barbara Whale Watching
Wildlife spotted: Humpback Whale, Mako Shark, Pelicans, Sea Lions, Dolphins
Santa Barbara is a great place for whale watching thanks to the very deep Santa Barbara channel just off shore and the Channel Islands. We had a marvellous half-day cruise aboard the Condor Express and spent close to half an hour watching a single Humpback Whale breaching and lunging upwards into the air.
We witnessed a giant feeding frenzy with a massive school of Herring in the middle, with all manner of sea animal getting a piece of the action.
Northbound from Santa Barbara
Wildlife spotted: Birds of Prey
As you leave Santa Barbara driving northbound, you start driving into some low mountains. It was in these mountains found a terrific roadside stop overlooking a giant valley. This is an outstanding place to spot large Birds of Prey, and we saw some gliding on the thermals. It is reputed that you can sometimes spot the rare California Condor here!
Morro Bay
Wildlife spotted: Sea Lions, Sea Otters, Squirrels
Just north of Santa Barbara was our next overnight stop, Morro Bay. We stopped here for one night and were fortunate to see several groups of Sea Otters in the main estuary, frolicking in the water about 20 metres from us.
Also in the same estuary we saw a group of Sea Lions, and heaps of Squirrels playing around the shore. You can hire some kayaks or boards and get up close to them, if that’s your thing.
San Simeon
Wildlife spotted: Elephant Seals
San Simeon is famous for its large colonies of Elephant Seals, just a few miles north of the town. The main colony is well sign-posted and very easy to spot. These are one of the best close encounters you will find along this section of coastline and not to be missed.
Monterey
Wildlife spotted: Sea Lions, Sea Otters
No trip to Monterey is complete without driving along the famous coastal road between Big Sur and Monterey. This is world-class driving and one of the most scenic roads on the planet. There are many roadside stops, and at some of these you will be able to see Sea Otters and Sea Lions in the water. We were lucky enough to see them.
Yosemite National Park
Wildlife spotted: Deer, Blue Jay.
Yosemite National Park is well-known for it’s large population of inquisitive Bears. There are very strict rules for Bear safety, like leaving all your food locked away safely in bear lockers. We were hoping to catch our first glimpse of a wild Bear, alas we missed out.
However we did see a couple of groups of wild Deer, up along the Glacier Point Road. We were also thrilled to see several colorful Blue Jay birds bouncing around near our tent in Housekeeping Camp.
Sequoia National Park
Wildlife spotted: Deer, Bear
We spotted more Deer in Sequoia National Park. Whilst driving out of the park we were lucky enough to see 2 wild Bears searching for food in one of the meadows. They were a couple of hundred metres off the road, but we enjoyed watching them for some time.
It was us that gave up and left the Bears to their searching for food. We were truly amazed to see these huge creatures in the wild.
Squaw Valley
Wildlife spotted: Turkey, Tarantula
We stayed in an Airbnb RV out in some fairly open country in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. We were hoping to see some Deer on our 5 acre block, as they are reasonably common.
Although we saw no Deer, we did see a Wild Turkey up close. We saw several small mammals which we have absolutely no idea what they were. The scariest find was in a grassy field, where we spotted a Tarantula’s hole. I have to say this was one of the scariest wildlife experiences for me!
San Francisco
Wildlife spotted: Sea Lions
Who would think that San Francisco is a great place for spotting wildlife? There is a colony of Sea Lions at Pier 39, and you can get within about 20 metres of them for a really close look. This is a must see attraction when in San Francisco. And Pier 39 is a great place to spend the afternoon also.
California the Wildlife State
So in our opinion San Francisco is an awesome wildlife state. At every overnight stop we made, we were lucky enough to see some great wildlife. And I know that we only just scratched the surface, we didn’t intentionally go out on wildlife spotting safaris.
And the best thing is, you don’t have to be an adventurer to find wildlife in California. All you really have to do is go there, and you will find it!
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