Discover Exciting Things To Do in King City, California | Keefer's Inn

King City is a gateway city in Monterey County, California. King City is located on the Salinas River 51 miles southeast of Salinas and lies along U.S. Route 101 at the southern end of the Salinas Valley of the Central Coast. Originally called “Hog Town”, King City is a friendly and close-knit community of 14,221 people that features beautiful mountain views, tree-lined streets, and historical downtown. This thriving agricultural area is the gateway to Pinnacles National Park and The Monterey Coast.

King City is the southern gateway to Monterey County offering a myriad of outdoor and historical recreational activities for the entire family. King City is home to the Salinas Valley Fairgrounds and annual Salinas Valley Fair. Some noteworthy places to explore include Pinnacles National Park, Santa Lucia Highlands Wineries, the Scheid Winery, Central Coast Missions, Big Sur, and the Monterey Peninsula.

Laguna Grande Park is a great outdoor excursion for families, featuring 2 playgrounds, picnic areas with tables, barbecue areas, a volleyball court, and a soccer field.

King City is renowned for its ranching and agriculture. But it is also of great interest to literary, history and adventuring travelers. Much of John Steinbeck's work is set in this area, and mentioned prominently in his book “East of Eden”. His mother's parents lived here, and his mother instilled in him with a powerful sense of storytelling. This is the setting for his first California novel, “To A God Unknown”. And he wrote of the mountain ranges on both sides of the Salinas Valley from a King City perspective. This is a good overnight spot for visiting the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas.

Pinnacles National Monument is close to King City, making this a good place to stay while visiting that intriguing geological park. An interesting way to drive to King City by way of the Pinnacles is Bear Valley. Mission San Antonio De Padua is 24 miles west, and it is the way to one of the most enchanting ways to get to Big Sur. And the San Antonio Valley is quintessentially a California coastal valley without development. It is of historical curiosity too, as William Randolph Hearst, and the family architect, Julia Morgan, built a lodge there, Hacienda.

King City is a good base camp for exploring two other missions, Mission San Miguel and Mission Soledad.

In the Santa Lucia Mountain foothills, you can find an exotic hot spring, Paraiso. It was built by Southern Pacific Railroad as a resort destination for train travelers. Outstanding wineries abound in the King City region. A few worthy of mention are Chalone, Smith and Hook, Paraiso, Lockwood, Shied, Kendall Jackson, Morgan.