Carrizo Plain

Friday, March 6

The drive between Pinnacles and Carrizo Plain National Monument was a rural scenic drive, continuing up the San Benito River valley. After pausing in Paso Robles for supplies and lunch, I arrived at Carrizo Plain in early afternoon.

Carrizo Plain National Monument encompasses the largest surviving grassland in California. Much of its recent history includes ranching and farming, uses that have been significantly reduced due to California's long-running drought. The monument is administered by a partnership between a number of public and private agencies, led by the federal Bureau of Land Management and the Nature Conservancy. It has minimal services, consisting of a small visitors center. There is no publicly-available potable water anywhere within its bounds, something its official website does not emphasize strongly enough; the nearest town where you might acquire some is more than 20 miles away. There are also relatively few sources of non-potable water, due to the drought. Fortunately, I had enough water for my needs in the car; had I wanted to stay more than the roughly 24 hours I spent there, I would have needed more.

The infrastructure of the monument is minimal. One road, Soda Lake Road, runs the length of the park, and is generally passable by passenger vehicles, although it may not be so if it rains. I did drive the rental car on some of the side roads, and experienced occasional scraping on the underside of the car. Some notable portions of the park are only accessible if you have a high-clearance vehicle.

The main things that I saw at Carrizo Plain were a lot of grass, big sky, Soda Lake, and fleeting views of smaller wildlife. After an uneventful if unexpectedy chilly night, I headed south toward Los Angeles the next afternoon.