Historic Route. The historic route enters San Luis Obispo County nearly on the alignment of state highway 1, passes Oso Flaco Lake, and continues along the coast for several miles before turning inland at Price Canyon. It follows Price Canyon Road and state route 227 to reach the mission. The historic route then followed San Luis Creek upstream to the top of Cuesta Grade and then Santa Margarita Creek to the Salinas River. Today, this stretch is paralleled by U.S. 101 from San Luis Obispo through Atascadero to Paso Robles. There the historic route turns northwest on county road G14 to pass through Camp Roberts en route to the Monterey County line. Federal Components
High Potential Route Segments
Historic Sites
Interpretive Sites
Recreational Trail
Auto Route (marked)
Rail Tour
Auto Tour (guide book)
(Directions are given south to north.) From Highway 101, take Highway 58 east through the town of Santa Margarita and turn north on El Camino Real, noting the Asistencia and Community of Garden Farms on the west side. In Atascadero, take Viejo Camino east and then Halcyon Road to get an open view and access to the Salinas River. Return to El Camino Real in Atascadero, turn east on Curbaril Avenue and follow it toward the Salinas River. Turn right on Gabarda Road, then left on Tampico Road which ends at the Wranglerette Arena. Return to Curbaril Avenue, and before the bridge over the Salinas River, turn left onto Sycamore Road (Highway 41) and follow it northwest along the river. Passing under the railroad tracks, turn right on Ensenada Avenue, then right on Via Avenue, and right again onto Traffic Way; follow it northwest along the river. Note the site of Camp #83, Assumpcion, on the right in the vicinity of Ferrocarril Road. Continue along Traffic Way , turning left onto Carrizo Road, turn right on El Camino Real, and then enter highway 101 north. From highway 101 north, take the Vineyard Drive exit east across the Salinas River, turn left on El Pomar Drive, left on Neal Springs Road, and left again onto South River Road. Follow River Road north to highway 46, turning left on County Road G14 to rejoin the marked auto route in Paso Robles. Agency/Organization Coordination
South San Luis Obispo County: Guadalupe
to Pismo
The Willow-Wax Myrtle community predominates in pockets of the dunes.... Former swamp land east of the Santa Maria River outlet and Oso Flaco Lake have been converted to agricultural lands with apparent little effort to prevent soil erosion and contributing to the 90+% loss of California wetlands. Cattle graze in the wetlands adjacent to the estuary at the mouth of the Santa Maria River and are very destructive to the wetlands. Vehicles in the State Vehicle Recreation Area (SVRA) have completely destroyed the foredunes and the vegetation which held them in place. Removal of the vehicles would permit recovery of the foredunes in a decade or two. This will be an excellent trail going from Guadalupe to the ocean and along the beach and into the dunes where permitted along the way and then on to Pismo Beach and Price Canyon. —Bill Denneen. Information provided in the San Luis Obispo County Task Force Report to the NPS, May 1993
Going up over Cuesta Pass, they probably
did not go through the Sargent Cypress grove, but through a lower point
in the Serpentine Chaparral and Serpentine Digger Pine-Chaparral. At their
high point on Cuesta Pass, they probably traveled through Coast Live Oak
Woodland, Coast Live Oak Forest, and down into Valley Oak Woodland and
Central Coast Live Oak Riparian Forest, and other riparian communities.
They followed the Salinas River, traveling through a savannah of Valley
and Blue Oaks mixed with grassland species.
—Lynne Dee Oyler, Field Ecologist. Information provided in the San Luis Obispo County Task Force Report to the NPS, May 1993
These plants are highly adapted for dissemination by wind or by animals and can move for long distances. Man may also have aided this early distribution directly. Spanish and other navigators touched shore at various points on the California coast in 1542 and afterwards. Although their activities on this land were limited, introduction of plants such as those mentioned above was quite possible. Further evidence from plant materials in adobe bricks indicates the probable introduction of at least 15 additional species of weeds between 1769 and 1824. All of them are now widespread in the state and some are very troublesome. All the alien plants can't be regarded as weeds, particularly those which became established on rangelands. Wild oats, soft chess, perennial and Italian ryegrasses, bur clover, the filarees and others have well-recognized forage and wildlife values. —Bill Weitcamp, Farm Advisor, Cooperative Extension University of California. Information provided in the San Luis Obispo County Task Force Report to the NPS, May 1993.A Recommended Interpretive Site [The campsite called "El Buchon" by the Spanish] was one of the many Chumash village sites in the area around San Luis Obispo Bay. Buchon was the Wot (chieftain) of a vast area. When Señor Portola's first expedition came, Buchon lived there. When Anza arrived in 1776, one of his principal wives still lived there. The Chumash thrived in this area. Clams, fish (both freshwater and saltwater), game, acorns and other seeds and plants provided abundant food. Broken clam shells, left in piles at village sites, are found through the area. Because acorns were an important part of their diet, the Chumash tended groves of oak trees to get a good crop. They also tended other communities of plants used for food and medicine. Price Canyon would be a good place for interpretation of the Chumash culture.... —from the San Luis Obispo County Task Force Report to the NPS, May, 1993 |