Another great backroad we discovered in the Mini was Nacimiento Road in Big Sur. It cuts east from the Pacific Coast Highway south of Big Sur Village. It's very narrow -- I'm not sure 2 large SUVs would be able to pass one another without touching -- and it winds high up into the mountains and Los Padres National Forest. The day we drove it, we stopped pretty soon after turning onto it, took great pictures of the Pacific Coast Highway winding below us along the coast, then drove further and ended up above the clouds, with the coast and the highway no longer visible. Very fun drive and cool scenery. We camped at a national forest service campgrounds about 11 miles back from the start of the road, along Nacimiento Creek ($10 for a tent site). A really fun, spur-of-the-moment detour from our main route.