Carmel Valley is home to Garland Ranch Regional Park's 4,000+ acres, open for day-use activities, known for excellent mountain trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding along the willow-lined banks of the Carmel River. In Carmel Valley one sees working horse ranches, many offering clinic English and Western riding, Hunter/Jumper and Dressage, Sulky and Carriage Driving.

Thirteen miles up Carmel Valley from Highway 1 is the quiet country Carmel Valley Village with its fine dining, wine tasting, antique shops and art galleries. This is where folk singer Joan Baez led the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s from her nearby Miramonte ranch. Celebrities galore have visited the Carmel Valley dating back to the 1890s when the Del Monte Lodge used the old Rancho Los Laureles as a guest lodge.

Until WWII, many millionaire sportsmen built mansions in the Carmel Valley and invited their Hollywood friends to hunt boar in the hills, play polo and golf, and attend horse shows and fiestas. To this day several luminaries have made their homes here including actress Doris Day and entertainer Merv Griffin. Celebrity weddings and receptions are also the norm in the Valley.

"Sunny" Carmel Valley enjoys moderately warm temperatures year round, with an average high of 71 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, 61 in the winter, and 78 in September and October (Indian Summer--the best weather of the year). Carmel Valley has earned its "Sunny" name because its neighbors to the west, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Pacific Grove, and Monterey are known for dense fog when the weather warms up. Families have found Carmel Valley an ideal place to raise their children because of the weather, good schools, and the fact that it is considered a "safe" environment away from urban crime.

Carmel Valley is approximately 120 miles south of San Francisco and, at Mid-Valley, about 20 minutes from Monterey Peninsula Airport and 1-1/2 hours from the San Jose Airport.