In the sun-bleached hills above the blue Pacific, four miles east of the ocean off the I-5 along Hwy-76, Mission San Luis Rey de Francia (daily; $5) was among the largest and most successful of the California missions. Its lands have been taken over by Camp Pendleton, and most of the outbuildings have disappeared, but the stately church at the heart of the complex survives in fine condition, worth a look for the blue-tinted dome atop the bell tower and for the haunting carved stone skull that looks down from the cemetery gate.
A long but worthwhile detour inland from San Luis Rey brings you to the least visited but perhaps most evocative of all the California missions, Mission San Antonio de Pala (sometimes closed Mon.; $2; 760/742-1600). Located on the Pala Indian Reservation, 20 miles east of San Luis Rey along Hwy-76, then another 100 yards north along a well-marked side road, Mission San Antonio de Pala is the only California mission still serving its original role of preaching to the native people, and gives an unforgettable impression of what California’s mission era might have been like.
