CA 1 · USA
Highway 1: Leggett to Westport
California’s Highway 1 is best known for Big Sur, far to the south. This page is its other end: the first stretch from Leggett, where it leaves US 101, over the coast range and down to the Pacific at Westport.
Counts are from Turini’s pace-note engine on this route. Heights come from terrain data and can differ from signposted figures by a few tens of metres.
Where is Highway 1?
Highway 1 is in the USA, on CA 1. Also known as Highway 1 California, California State Route 1 or Shoreline Highway. The route on this page: Leggett to Westport, Mendocino County, the northern end of Highway 1, 27.2 miles.
Why Highway 1 is famous
It is one of the twistiest parts of the whole highway: a long run of tight bends through redwood forest over the hills, then a drop to the ocean and the cliffs of the Mendocino coast. Few people drive it compared with Big Sur, so it is often empty.
Highway 1 hairpins
Over 43.8 km Turini calls 13 hairpins and 255 corners graded 1 to 6, plus 11 crests and 10 dips. That is 298 calls in all, one every 147 metres on average. Grade 1 is the tightest, 6 is nearly straight (how to read pace notes). On Turini’s ranking of the twistiest famous roads it comes 28th of 61.
Highway 1 elevation profile
From 251 m at the start to 40 m at the finish, with a highest point of about 570 m. Red marks are the hairpins.
Highway 1 pace notes, first few miles
The first 25 calls, exactly as Turini reads them, with the distance from the start.
Right 3 tightensBridgeLeft 4Right 5Right 6Left 3Right 3Left 6Left 5Right 6Left 3 tightensRight 3 tightensLeft 2Right 3Right 3Left 2Right 3Left 5Left 6Right 2 very longLeft 3Right 3Left 5Right 3 opensLeft 4That takes you to 2.59 km. 273 more calls follow over the remaining 41.2 km.
Before you drive Highway 1
Open all year. Winter storms can bring slides and short closures.
Fuel is scarce between Leggett and Fort Bragg, so fill up first. Long vehicles struggle on the tight bends, and passengers prone to carsickness should be warned.
How to drive Highway 1 with Turini
Set the route before you leave and Turini saves its notes on the phone, so it works with the screen off and no signal. On the road it reads each call about 4.5 seconds before the corner, timed to your speed, and you never touch the phone. It plays through the phone or the car speakers. If pace notes are new to you, start in Simple mode (Easy, Medium, Hard) and switch to the 1–6 scale once it feels natural.
Always drive within the law, the conditions and what you can see. Turini tells you what the map says; the road is what counts.
Highway 1: questions
Is Highway 1 open all year?
Open all year. Winter storms can bring slides and short closures.
Where is Highway 1?
Highway 1 is in the USA, on CA 1. Also known as Highway 1 California, California State Route 1 or Shoreline Highway. The route on this page: Leggett to Westport, Mendocino County, the northern end of Highway 1, 27.2 miles.
How long is Highway 1?
The route on this page, Leggett to Westport, Mendocino County, the northern end of Highway 1, is 27.2 miles (43.8 km) long, with about 2,200 ft (670 m) of climbing.
How many hairpins does Highway 1 have?
On this route Turini calls 13 hairpins and 255 corners graded 1 to 6: 298 pace-note calls in all, about 9.8 corners a mile. Signposted counts can differ, since Turini only calls a hairpin where the road really doubles back.
How high does Highway 1 go?
The highest point on this route is about 1,870 ft (570 m), from terrain data, so it can differ from the signposted height by a few tens of metres. It starts at 820 ft and finishes at 130 ft.
More roads like Highway 1
Best driving roads in the USA · The twistiest famous roads, ranked · All famous roads · How to read pace notes · Best driving apps for twisty roads
Sources: Wikipedia: California State Route 1.
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