Sometimes 101 is too small a number.
Many readers, having digested our new list of the 101 Best West Coast Experiences, have stepped up to defend the destinations we left out, from a country road in Malibu to a remote coastal town on a Canadian island. We've put together a sample of them here.
Most of these readers talk about their hometowns or share findings from their own wanderings in the West, but others are more mysterious.
One reader wrote from a beloved corner of the Northern California coast to say: “I would tell you [where]but then it would be FULL.”
Another reader, who insisted on anonymity, said he likes living on a boat in the Baja California Peninsula, looking at “the largest aquarium in the world” in the Gulf of California.
Yet another reader described a “magical” spot at Stinson Beach in Marin County, where birders could spot dozens of nesting snowy egrets and great blue herons. Unfortunately, Audubon Canyon Ranch officials say, that time has passed. A prolonged and escalating campaign of harassment by bald eagles has haunted the egrets and herons of the Martin Griffith Reserve. As much as we would sometimes like to, the West does not stand still.
As the guy who put together all 101 destinations on our list and put a lot of thought into which one to include, I have to admit that the readers' choices here are solid, if not downright jealousy-inducing. I hope to see some of these places in the coming months.
Meanwhile, here they are arranged from south to north.
A road in Malibu
In a passage that reads like the beginning of a novel, Bryan A'Hearn of Los Angeles praises driving down Malibu Canyon Road on a humid morning after a long evening with an old friend.
A'Hearn: “Our night, of bad cards and sips of cheap vodka and orange juice and industry gossip with too many characters and news old and new, dragged into the early hours, and a scenic tour seemed appropriate. It was not quite dawn and the mist from the valley rose and curled around the hills before us. Sometimes you would get caught in the fog of the canyon and the road would stretch as far as the low lights could reach. Malibu Canyon Road branches off to tree-covered back roads; There the fog is mist and hides dead ends with long, flat houses and elegant mailboxes. My old friend mentioned that she once babysat or babysat or was a tutor or babysitter (actually, you forget) for a family here. The sun yawned over the Pacific and the fog began to lift, and we made the descent to Malibu Colony.”
A historic black town in Tulare County
Students review historical information in front of the Hackett House at Colonel Allensworth State Historical Park.
(Tomás Ovalle / For The Times)
Lisa Fitch of Los Angeles first visited Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, site of California's first city founded, financed and governed by African Americans, on a neighborhood group tour. Shortly after, she joined the Friends of Allensworth.
The park is a collection of restored and reconstructed wooden buildings, 12 miles west of Delano in the San Joaquin Valley. The 800-acre town was founded in 1908 near a Santa Fe railroad route. Its main supporter, Fitch writes, was an educator and Army chaplain named Colonel Allen Allensworth, a charismatic leader who had been born into slavery in the 1970s. 1840.
After several years of growth, the city faltered and eventually emptied amid a water shortage, the loss of rail service, and the death of Colonel Allensworth in a traffic accident. The remaining buildings were at risk of demolition in the late 1960s, when former resident Cornelius “Ed” Pope launched a campaign to preserve them. Allensworth became a state historic park in 1974.
On June 8 of this year, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fitch writes: “Allensworth will be hosting a Juneteeth event! Bring a blanket and umbrella and enjoy tours of the renovated buildings, entertainment and street vendors.”
The star of Sequoia National Park
By volume, the General Sherman tree is the largest single-stemmed living tree known on Earth.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“I understand that any list is curated,” begins Eric Gersh of Agoura Hills. Then he left me the note for contemplating the General Sherman tree and its companion redwoods in Sequoia National Park. “Still, it's surprising that the largest living things on the planet aren't on that list! Too many memories to list, from the awe of my childhood to watching my children experience the same awe at such ancient giants. Yes, you got the redwoods…twice, but no General Sherman in the midst of the splendor of the Sierras???”
Mea culpa, Mr. Gersh. For the record, the National Park Service states that the General Sherman tree is “the largest in the world at 52,508 cubic feet (1,487 cubic meters),” with a height of 274.9 feet and a base circumference of 102.6 feet.
A lighthouse lodge in San Mateo County
The sun sets behind the Pigeon Point Lighthouse on the coast of San Mateo County.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Anna Glynne of La Jolla raves about the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel, where she stayed last July. Traveling with her sister and her sister's three children. Glynne booked two nights in a room for six people.
“Our stay was magical,” Glynne writes. “We explored the redwood trails at Butano State Park. His children saw elephant seals sunbathing at Año Nuevo State Park. We drove 9 miles to Pescadero for fancy coffees and freshly baked bread.”
The group room had three bunk beds and a private bathroom, with access to a common kitchen and living room. Other Pigeon Point options include a sunset soak in a hot tub with ocean views (and often a soundtrack of sea lions) or a driftwood fort-building session on a nearby beach.
Glynne added: “If you dread camping (like my sister) but still want to explore the California coast on a budget, don't forget about hostels.”
A theater festival in southern Oregon
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Allen Elizabethan Theater approximates the open-air theaters of Shakespeare's time.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Reader Trinity Tracy of Ashland is now taking center stage to speak out in support of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.
As Tracy writes, it's not just Shakespeare or a summer thing. The theater festival, which dates back to the 1930s, runs from March to October and features new and traditional plays. Like many theater companies, Oregon Shakespeare has faced difficulties since the pandemic, but “it's truly incredible…one of the biggest and best Elizabethan theaters in the world and two other theaters.” Additionally, the town of Ashland (not far from Crater Lake) has its fair share of restaurants, pubs, and accommodations for theatrically inclined travelers.
This year’s Oregon Shakespeare productions include Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” “Coriolanus” and “Much Ado About Nothing”; along with “Born With Teeth” by Liz Duffy Adams (an imaginary meeting between William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe); “Lizard Boy,” an indie rock musical by Justin Huertas; an adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's “Jane Eyre” by Elizabeth Williamson; and several one-man shows.
A rugged beach in Olympic National Park
Ruby Beach, known for its driftwood and stones, is part of Washington's Olympic National Park.
(Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times)
Joel Kawahara of Quilcene, Washington, suggests Ruby Beach, which is a rugged area of rocky shoreline, often littered with driftwood, in Olympic National Park.
Kawahara: “Ruby Beach is almost completely undeveloped. There is a parking lot, a bathroom and a path to the beach. There is no development on the beach; It is simply as the last wave left it. It's perhaps a little over-visited, so crowds are a problem. But if you want to understand the north coast, stay there and watch the waves and look closely at the tide pools. Do not think. Be zen. Or as zen as you can.”
A park in Port Townsend, Washington
Jeffrey Crocker of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, suggests Fort Worden Historic State Park in Port Townsend, Washington. Crocker calls it “a beautiful place. where the movie[An Officer and a Gentleman’ (1982) was filmed. Rustic, scenic area at entrance to Puget Sound. Camping, hiking.”
Bellingham, Wash.
Taylor Dock is a popular waterfront playground for adults and children in Bellingham, Wash.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Michael Grass of Bellingham, Wash., suggests his hometown. (And really, you have to love a place that calls itself “the city of subdued excitement.”)
For best effect, Grass says, arrive by train around sunset, taking in the scenery near Chuckanut Mountain and focusing on the historic Fairhaven neighborhood.
“I work remotely from Bellingham and commute into Seattle via Amtrak Cascades a few times a month,” Grass writes, “and never tire of the waterside train views on the 6 p.m. departure out of Seattle.”
Grass notes that Bellingham’s Amtrak station is in the Fairhaven neighborhood. He recommends eating at Fairhaven Poke, drinking at Southside Bar, checking out the watery views from Taylor Dock, hearing music at Skylark’s and browsing Village Books, “a three-level bookstore and community crossroads known for its book talks, programming and writing workshops.” Or you could head to the cruise terminal and catch a ferry to Ketchikan via the Alaska Marine Highway System.
Among Washington’s San Juan Islands
In this photo taken July 31, 2015, an orca whale leaps out of the water near a whale-watching boat in the Salish Sea in the San Juan Islands, Wash.
(Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)
David Tull of Mountain View casts his vote for the San Juan Islands.
“The San Juan Islands are beautiful. Period,” he writes. “The archipelago contains numerous islands of different sizes and accessibility. In places there are narrow channels between islands as well as open sea. The region is home to pods of orcas and gray whales and humpbacks. In addition, bald eagles are thriving in the islands. My biggest thrill was being out on the water in a small boat with orcas coming alongside. Tourism is the principal industry now, but the islands’ largest town, Friday Harbor, is not garish, schlocky or overrun.”
A coastal town on Canada’s Vancouver Island
Tyler Mark of Los Angeles was disappointed in us for overlooking Tofino, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
Writes Mark: “How you make a list without a visit to Tofino is beyond anyone who has been there. This small town perched on the tip of a peninsula on the west coast of Vancouver Island, with the Pacific and its whales on one side and its bay full of otters on the other, is a gem. White-capped mountains cascade down to redwood forests and an archipelago of small timbered islands with beautiful surfable beaches.” Mark also lauds Tofino’s food scene. Basically, he concludes, “This place has everything except easy access, which makes it more special.”
