Pismo Beach from the CS?

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AutoTrDvr

OBS Chief
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
623
Just curious, for those who have traveled northbound on the CS, are you able to view Pismo Beach as you do the other beaches before it on the coast, before it turns inward toward San Luis Obispo? Where does the route diverge away from the coastal beaches, going more inland?

Thanks!
 
The route goes up Price Canyon, into SLO. It cuts inland just as you're coming into the City of Pismo Beach. I don't recall seeing the actual beach, but you might get a glimpse. You lose any good ocean views shortly after passing through Grover Beach station.
 
Based on what I see on Google Earth, your best chance of catching a very fleeting glimpse of "The Home Of The Pismo Clam" is when the tracks cross W. Grand Ave. (which goes down to the seashore) in Grover Beach, about 1000 feet North of Milepost 261. But I suspect all you'll see looking West down that road is the ocean - and then for only a split second.
 
Based on what I see on Google Earth, your best chance of catching a very fleeting glimpse of "The Home Of The Pismo Clam" is when the tracks cross W. Grand Ave. (which goes down to the seashore) in Grover Beach, about 1000 feet North of Milepost 261. But I suspect all you'll see looking West down that road is the ocean - and then for only a split second.

So I see. It looks like the actual "Pismo Beach" (the beach itself) is around where the pier is (on both sides of it in front of the hotel district) and, by then, the tracks are already east of Hy 101. Ah well.

No big deal. To be honest, my only real connection to Pismo Beach (and its clams) comes from a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

 
So I see. It looks like the actual "Pismo Beach" (the beach itself) is around where the pier is (on both sides of it in front of the hotel district) and, by then, the tracks are already east of Hy 101. Ah well.

No big deal. To be honest, my only real connection to Pismo Beach (and its clams) comes from a Bugs Bunny cartoon.


The clams have been gone and just started to make a return. Its not like when I was there when I was in junior high in the 90's and you could stick you and through the wet sand and get a fist full of big clams. Unfortunately just like we with the the wild flower super bloom people are fing things up by poaching them.
 
FWIW, the area shown as "Pismo State Beach" on these topographic maps... https://www.mytopo.com/search.cfm ...extends about 5¼ miles along the seashore South from the hotel district. The terrain where the tracks cross Grand Ave. is only about 21 feet above mean sea level so it's not like many other beaches where the tracks are at a much higher elevation.

You can use the Street View feature of Google Earth to get some idea of what you'd see looking West when crossing Grand Ave.
 
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