Oak Hills, Prunedale, CA

Oak Hills is a residential neighborhood in Prunedale, reached from Highway 156 as it runs between Highway 101 and the coast at Highway 1. It is a homeowners association community of 269 houses around Charter Oak Boulevard, with its own pool, tennis courts and playground, and those shared facilities set it apart from the scattered acreage roads elsewhere in the area. Streets such as Oak Hills Drive keep the layout compact and the feel organized, which makes Oak Hills one of the tidier corners of a community that mostly spreads out. Neighbors share an amenity set that acreage owners in the surrounding hills have to build themselves. Outdoors, Moro Cojo Nature Trails is the closest walking ground. It sits near Castroville and is run by the North County Recreation and Park District, with paths beside the slough. Elkhorn Slough Reserve is a short drive away, with a visitor center and several miles of its own trails. Farther east, Manzanita County Park keeps ball fields, hillside hiking trails and riding routes. For a morning coffee, The Power Plant Coffee in Moss Landing is a plant-filled shop that also sells pies. Closer to the highway, Country Kitchen on Vierra Canyon Road is the diner for breakfast, and Gourmet Central Bakery nearby bakes croissants and pastries. Errands take a car. Safeway and Grocery Outlet are in the Prunedale shopping area, with the branch library close by. Highway 156 is the road out, and from it you can head east to 101 for Salinas and Gilroy or west toward Castroville and Monterey Bay. Having a pool and courts inside Oak Hills means a weekend can stay at home, though anything beyond that is a drive. What you get back is a neighborhood with oaks in its name and the slough country a short drive west.