Monterey is also a prime pushing-off point for some of the best short road trips in the West. Here are three we love.

BIG SUR 30 MILES

Highway 1 into Big Sur is a postcard-perfect stretch of road, but now we're telling you to get out of the car. First stop: Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and the breezy quarter-mile Canyon Trail, which follows a redwood-shaded creek that ends in a 60-foot cascade into the Pacific. From there, head to the area's newest restaurant, Big Sur Roadhouse. Chef Matt Glazer brings a Southern-inflected menu to the land of cliffs and curves: red beans and rice, petrale sole po'boys. The wine list is great, and waiters are happy to bag you a bottle for the road. Uncork it under a canopy of redwoods at the Henry Miller Memorial Library's outdoor theater, home this month to the Big Sur International Short Film Screening Series. The popcorn's free; so are the views. Park: $ I O/vehicle; parks. ca.gov. Roadhouse: $$$; bigsurroad house.com. Library: Donation suggested; henrymiller.org.

SANTA CRUZ 44 MILES

Summer in Santa Cruz means sand, surf, and organic strawberry peppercorn ice cream, thanks to Kendra Baker and Zachary Davis, the ingredientsobsessed owners of The Penny Ice Creamery. But before you inhale a scoop of chile chocolate smoke (made with chiles grown and smoked at nearby Fogline Farms), try their new joint, Assembly. The concept is California rustic (kale salad with seaweed; slowcooked chicken leg over white beans) with the decor to match (antler chandeliers, community tables). …