Prunedale, CA

Prunedale spreads across the oak-covered hills at the north end of Monterey County, where the Salinas Valley starts to give way to the coast. It is unincorporated, so there is no town hall or main square, just a commercial strip beside Highway 101. Salinas is the big city to the south, Gilroy sits up the freeway to the north, Aromas is the neighboring community past the county line, and Highway 156 branches west toward Castroville and the bay. Houseberry splits the community in two. Oak Hills is the compact one, an association of 269 houses with its own pool and courts, set where Highway 156 heads for the coast. Everything else falls under the name Prunedale, a much larger area that takes in the highway shopping centers and the oak woodland and back roads around them. Across the wider area, living is rural and single-family, with large parcels, horse properties and oaks thick enough to shape the view. The interchange where 101 meets 156 is a busy junction, but the country feel returns within minutes of leaving it. Water and wildlife are the big outdoor draws, and they sit just west. Elkhorn Slough is one of the largest salt marshes left in California, with trails, a visitor center and a large population of sea otters, and Moro Cojo Nature Trails runs along the same low ground near Castroville. Closer to home, Royal Oaks Park, the county's oldest park, and Manzanita County Park cover everyday outdoor time. Coffee and a meal come from a short list. Gourmet Central Bakery and Country Kitchen anchor the mornings, and drivers heading for the coast stop at Moss Landing's Power Plant, a coffee shop that sells pies and houseplants too. Daily travel runs along a single spine. Highway 101 carries commuters toward Salinas and Gilroy, and bigger shopping trips usually head south to Salinas. The tradeoff for the open land is time on the road, since almost nothing here is reachable on foot. Building the week around the highway is the arrangement, and in return you get hills and oaks within a few minutes of a freeway on-ramp.