Take highway 1 down towards Carmel if you are coming from the north (or up towards Monterey if you are coming from the south), and turn west on highway 68 (aka Sunset Drive) and follow it to Asilomar State Beach in Pacific Grove. Try to locate where the boardwalk is (not difficult, just drive slowly) and park there. The boardwalk starts on Sunset Drive and bypasses the beach. Of course you can also walk down to the beach and follow the beach: eventually you will have to climb up to the boardwalk. The boardwalk turns into the Spanish Bay Shoreline trail and costs Moss Beach. Follow the hiking trail that coasts the paved road (the paved road being the world-famous 17-mile drive). On the other side of the road you can see the first golf course and above it a lodge. You will pass the parking lots for Point Joe, China Rock and Bird Rock. If you are lucky, the drinking fountain is still working at the Bird Rock restrooms. Here (you are basically at Indian Village) you can make a short or long loop. Just remember that no sign will tell you which trail you're on.
For the shorter loop, take the Indian Village loop trail going south towards the club house of the Spyglass Golf Course, which is at the junction of Spyglass Hill Rd and Stevenson Dr (this can be confusing because you are walking through a golf course - if lost take Spyglass Hill Rd to the club house). From the club house cross Stevenson Drive and look for a yellow marker which is the beginning of the Steps trail. Follow it south and you will see a blue marker. Keep going straight south and you will see a green marker. You are coasting Stevenson Dr. The green marker is where Drake Rd hits Stevenson Dr. Keeps walking south and just before the Golf Academy and Practice Range the green trail will make a 90 degree left turn and cost the practice range. The trail now heads northeast and crosses several streets: Riata, Oleada, Ronda, Lisbon, Viscaino. After Viscaino pay attention. A green and yellow marker will send you 90 degree to the right, coasting the southern edge of the Poppy Golf Course. If you enter the golf course, you missed the turn. Now you are on the Lower Poppy trail. If you follow the green markers you make a long loop. If you see a yellow marker on your left just after the eastern edge of the golf course, that is the Bamboo trail going north. The Pescadero Canyon trail makes a big circle until it deads ends on a another green trail which is the Bamboo trail (again, there are no trail names on the markers). Either way you are on the Bamboo trail (no bamboo trees, sorry). After it turns east, you will hit a junction with fire road number 4. Turn right on 4. You will see a junction with fire road 2. There are cuontless trails to the left and one of these is the Sawmill Gulch trail but, guess, there is no sign. If you get to the junction with fire road 7, you missed it. Now there are two ways to get back to Asilomar Beach. If you hit number 7, just turn left and follow it to the dead end (which is actually fire road number 3). The gate is on SFB Morse Dr. Turn left and look for Congress Rd. Turn right into Congress Rd and follow Congress Rd all the way to the Spanish Bay Inn. Turn left on the 17 Mile Drive and turn right into the hotel lobby. If they are nice, they will let you walk through and a well-marked path will take you through the golf course to the beach where you will recognize the boardwalk of Moss Beach. Turn right and you'll see Asilomar Beach and the cars parked along Sunset Dr. The second way is to find Sawmill Gulch trail and go down. This is probably the fastest route. This trail hits Congress Road. Now you can turn right into Congress Road and follow the above instructions or continue on the trail all the way to the beach (the trail is faint in many places but basically follows the creekbed). Total: about 24 kms.
For the longer loop (6 kms longer), walk the nature trail from the Bird Rock overlook to the Seal Rock overlook. Leave the trail (that crosses the road and heads away from the beach) and continue along the 17-mile drive. The road bends south through the Crocker Grove of cypresses and reaches the parking lots for Lone Cypress Tree (there is no trail and sometimes the road is narrow so watch out for cars). Walk about one kilometer after the parking lot for Lone Cypress Tree and you'll get to a four-way junction. The 17-mile Drive turns right to visit Pescadero Point and its "ghost trees" (not much to see, honestly). To the left is a road called Cabrillo that takes you to Padre Lane (a residential area). Turn right on Padre Ln and go straight at the next junction on Stevenson Drive. This will take you to the Golf Academy and Practice Range. Turn right on Ondulado Rd (to the parking lot of this Golf Academy) and look for Forest Lake Rd straight in front of you. Walk up Forest Lake Rd and look for a green marker on your right that marks the Steps trail (if you get to the junction with Riata, you missed it). Turn right into it. Follow the instructions above from this point to the Steps trail, etc. Total: about 30 kms.

It is virtually impossible to make the whole loop without making mistakes because of the scarcity of signs. Make sure you have a good map: click here to download the best map that i found in 2020.

The golf courses ruin the experience, and the coastal views are not that exciting if you've seen Big Sur and Point Reyes.

Approximate time (with long stops to take pictures):

• Asilomar Beach
• Point Joe [30']
• China Rock
• Bird Rock [1h]
• Cypress Point [1h45']
• Crocker Grove [2h]
• Lone Cypress [2h15']
• Pescadero Point [2h40']
• Golf Academy [3h20']
• Lower Poppy trail [4h]
• Bamboo Trail [4h30']
• Fire road 4 [4h45']
• Sawmill Gulch trail [5h]
• Congress Road [5h30']
• Spanish Bay Inn [6h]
• Asilomar Beach [6h30']