Shepherd's Knoll
A stop on 17 Mile Drive, a free self-guided tour.
Shepherd's Knoll sits near the top of the drive, and on a clear day it gives you one of the widest views on the route: across Monterey Bay to the Santa Cruz Mountains on the far side.
The knoll is named for Abraham D. Shepard, a railroad executive involved in building the upper part of the 17-Mile Drive. The extra letters crept in through a mapmaker's error, and the misspelling stuck.
Up here you are in the Monterey pine forest that covers most of the Del Monte Forest. Monterey pines grow naturally in only a handful of places, and this peninsula holds the largest native stand. Fog often fills the bay below in the morning and burns off by midday, so if the view is hidden, it can be worth coming back later.
This is a short pull-off with limited parking. From here the road begins its long descent toward the ocean.