Come Walk With Us!
These are group walks where we all meet and walk together. Meet at 8:45 am - group walk leaves by 9:15 am (unless noted). Walks are 5K or 10K long - your choice. We take a relatively slow pace with lots of time to see the sights.
$4 per walker who wants to stamp their Volksmarching book.
$2 per walker who just wants to walk for fun!
Orcutt Chalk Festival
It’s a celebration of the Arts, Chalk-Art style! Come experience beautiful street art, music performances, dance teams, and food trucks galore at the Orcutt Children’s Art Foundation Annual Chalk Fest! Watch amazing artists create masterpieces right before your eyes as the Orcutt Academy Art Club creates a 30 foot labyrinth out of chalk, featuring all four of the Special Program’s Wild Things doing activities that represent the Chalk Festival Theme of “The Central Coast”. Ever seen a Gnome barbecuing tri tip or a fairy go wine tasting?
Register between 8:00am and 11:00am
Everyone must be back in by 2:00pm
There’s a 5k and a 10k option rated 2A and 2B
Solvang
Sunday’s walk introduces you to Lulu, Thomas Dambo’s first permanent Troll sculpture in California! She was looking for some of those famous Solvang sweets, and got stuck in the California Nature Art Museum! She is huge, made completely out of repurposed materials, and the Museum Director has waived the admission fee for us to go see her!!
The museum is right on our YRE route, so our 5K and 10K walks will give you all the highlights of this fascinating Danish-themed village! You’ll see windmills, European architecture, and oodles of gift shops, bakeries, and cafes!
The start point is on the sidewalk outside our walk host, the Solvang Shoe Store - look for the giant red clog! The start table will be set up from 8:00-11:00am. Multiple restrooms are en route, and wheelchairs and strollers should have little problems on the 5K. Furry walkers welcome with leash and cleanup, except in the museum (Lulu is visible from the street).
Register between 8:00am and 11:am
Everyone must be back by 2:00pm
There’s a city 5k rated 1A and a 10k rated 2A
Los Olivos (NEW START POINT)
Visit this quaint wine country town to browse antique stores, wine tasteries, and delicious eateries.
Take a walk through the Santa Barbara Wine Country. Stroll past many shops with opportunities for wine tasting, antique shopping, or outside dining. The 11K follows a country road to the quaint town of Ballard, while the 5K focuses on the sights and sounds of beautiful Los Olivos. Wine tasting opportunities abound!
This walk generously sponsored for 2023 by Holly & Dave Rapson. Dogs welcome with leash and clean up. Much of the walk is on country roads without sidewalks, so take care walking facing traffic in single file.
Avila Beach
Feel the ocean air in your hair on this beautiful beach walk!
The walking route is on the Bob Jones Bikeway that is a paved surface for the majority of the event.
Walkers will enjoy orchards, farms, crossing a river bridge, passing a golf course, beach area, and other walkers/cyclists.
Santa Maria CA
Santa Maria, CA
Walk beautiful Santa Maria, CA. Start at the historic Santa Maria Inn and stroll through the garden district.
Visit the local community college campus, Allen Hancock College - and get credit for University Walking!
5k or 10k
University Walkin’
This walk is on the list of qualifying walks for University Walkin’ - a special program where you win special awards for talking walks that set foot on a college or university. You can purchase special tracking books to take part in this program.
Start Point:
Santa Maria Inn
Reception Desk
801 S Broadway, Santa Maria, CA 93454
Pismo Beach
Get the sand between your toes on this beautiful walk!
The primary walk for this event heads south from the hotel into downtown Pismo Beach.
It includes Pismo Beach, the pier, the boardwalk, and a monarch butterfly grove just south of town (best viewing November - March).
The alternate route wanders north through the Shell Beach area of Pismo Beach, with views of the Pacific Ocean, the Pismo Beach Pier, the Pismo State Beach, and the Nipomo Dunes in the distance.
Morro Bay
See Morro Rock, Downtown, and all points in between!
Beautiful walk includes Natural History Museum, Heron rookery, shoreline parks, the vibrant Embarcadero, and historic Morro Rock. There are many shops and restaurants along the route.
Buellton
Buellton
Split Pea Soup, an Ostrich Farm, a place for pups to play, and a stroll through a park...Buellton has it all!
Buellton is the home of Andersen's Split Pea Soup restaurant and hotel, well-advertised on California freeways.
Don't just stop for lunch or dinner, but walk through downtown Buellton and its neighborhoods, the Ostrich Farm, Avenue of the Flags, and the Ronald Reagan Flag Dedication Plaque.
There is more to Buellton than highway signs depict!
Solvang - Christmas Town!
Solvang
Enjoy this quaint Danish town and the surrounding countryside!
Trail is mostly flat surfaces but with some hills. Besides walking along the streets of Solvang and through the Santa Ynez Mission which is also a National Historical Landmark, it goes out and back on a road alongside the Santa Ynez River.
San Luis Obispo - Cal Poly
University Walkin’ at Cal Poly
Visit Cal Poly, Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, and Downtown SLO!
It is mostly on paved surfaces, but it has moderate hills. It includes an optional extension to the campus of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) and the Amtrak station, as well as historical, residential and downtown areas.
The city of 45,000 is the county seat, and is home to historic Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, a beautiful and vibrant tree-lined downtown, and the world famous Thursday Night Farmers' Market street fair; plan on at least a day to explore downtown San Luis Obispo.
Visitors from all over the world are charmed by the small town atmosphere of San Luis Obispo, from the friendly people to the casual atmosphere. Once you experience it, you'll embrace the "SLO Life."
Los Osos and Baywood Park
The Sweet Springs Nature Preserve has some accessible gravel trails as well as softer dirt trails with significant quantities of tree roots. Walking sticks recommended. Dogs allowed on all portions of the walk except within the Nature Preserve (alternate route available for that portion of the walk)
Come explore the seaside serenity of Los Osos and Baywood Park. The gem of our 5K walk is the Sweet Springs Nature Preserve, with its abundant waterfowl and expansive views of the Morro Bay Estuary. The 11K walk also takes you along several stretches of shoreline and to the Elfin Forest Boardwalk, with Pygmy Oaks and no less than eight distinct environment types.
Water and restrooms available at the start/finish and at the Baywood Boardwalk. Porta Potties available for the 11K near the corner of El Moro Ave and 11th Street.
Credit is $4.00 per event or you may walk for $2.00 if no credit is desired.
Cambria Scarecrow Festival
This walk coincides with Cambria’s famous Scarecrow Festival! It’s fantastic!
View over 100 life-sized scarecrows representing movie stars, historical figures, even cavemen and dinosaurs! Our 10K combines the best Scarecrow displays with a scenic walk along the beautiful Moonstone Beach Boardwalk, and returns along the wooded path following Santa Rosa Creek.
The paved 5K city walk route is okay for strollers and wheelchairs, but not recommended for the 10K walk. River Walk path not suitable for wheelchairs. Alternate Moonstone Beach Walk available. Dogs ok everywhere (with leash and cleanup). Restrooms and water available on routes. Off-leash dog park near hotel.
Beautiful walk along the beach & harbor!
Enjoy an invigorating walk in quaint Cambria, or opt to get back to nature on the beautiful Moonstone Beach Boardwalk.
Four walking options await you!
If a cityscape is more your style, enjoy a 5K or a 10K walk through all of Cambria, with an additional leg out to the edge of the Fiscalini Nature Preserve on Windsor Drive.
You are even treated to five blocks of ocean-front vistas!
Or, if communing with nature is what you'd prefer, opt for our 5K (remote start) or 10K Nature Walks. The 5K stays along the Moonstone Beach Boardwalk, while the 10K includes a path along Santa Rosa Creek.
Credit is $4.00 per event or you may walk for $2.00 if no credit is desired.
Something for everyone!!
Orcutt, Labyrinths and the Chalk Festival
Let’s Walk Labyrinths - Saturday September 28th
Avila Beach, CA
Not just a beach - a beautiful walking trail!
Feel the ocean air in your hair on this beautiful beach walk!
The walking route is on the Bob Jones Bikeway that is a paved surface for the majority of the event.
Walkers will enjoy orchards, farms, crossing a river bridge, passing a golf course, beach area, and other walkers/cyclists.
Santa Maria CA
Santa Maria, CA
Walk beautiful Santa Maria, CA. Start at the historic Santa Maria Inn and stroll through the garden district.
Visit the local community college campus, Allen Hancock College - and get credit for University Walking!
5k or 10k
University Walkin’
This walk is on the list of qualifying walks for University Walkin’ - a special program where you win special awards for talking walks that set foot on a college or university. You can purchase special tracking books to take part in this program. To do so, fill out this form.
Start Point:
Santa Maria Inn
Reception Desk
801 S Broadway, Santa Maria, CA 93454