Big Sur is a spectacularly beautiful, rugged, and scenic stretch of the Pacific Declension in central California, located between San Simeon and Carmel and between the ocean and the Santa Lucia Mountains. The principal road through Big Sur is the breathtaking two-lane State Route 1, winding along steep cliffs and offering breathtaking views of the coast. Big Sur is sparsely populated but very rich in parks, hot springs, nature reserves, and sanctuaries with a diversity of plants, trees, and animals that is rarely seeing anywhere else. Large Sur is best explored on foot as it is covered in a network of hiking and biking trails that pass through spectacular redwood forests and descend down flower-filled valleys earlier reaching lovely, small-scale secluded beaches.

We recommend that y'all call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

ane.17-Mile Drive

17-Mile Drive

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Gently winding from Pebble Embankment to Pacific Grove, 17-Mile Drive will take y'all through magnificent cypress forests forth a dramatic rocky coastline, passing some admittedly spectacular homes and some of world-class golf courses in Pebble Embankment. Stop by Fanshell Overlook to take in the view of the bounding main and watch the harbor seals and, if y'all pass from April to June, their babies as well. Every bit you come past a lovely fiddling beach in Spanish Bay, take a pause and have a picnic. If you lot are in the mood to celebrate, care for yourself to a gourmet repast at the Lodge. 17-mile Drive is privately managed, but passing through is costless whether you drive, walk, or cycle.

2.Andrew Molera State Park

Andrew Molera State Park

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Located well-nigh 21 miles from Carmel, Andrew Molera State Park is one of the less developed parks in the Large Sur expanse. There are miles of hiking trails that cross the verdant meadows, dramatic bluffs, sandy beaches, and gentle hilltops. In that location is a simple, rustic trail army camp that is very pop with hikers about a third of a mile from the park'southward parking area. The park borders the private El Sur Ranch and the visitors are requested to respect the boundary and not enter the ranch'due south cattle grazing fields when looking for the beach access. Fires are allowed in the park only in the designated metal fire rings. The beach is dandy for strolling and beach combing.

45500 CA-1, Large Sur, CA 93920, Phone: 831-667-2315

3.California Sea Otter Game Refuge

California Sea Otter Game Refuge

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The California Sea Otter Game Refuge is a marine park in Monterey, a function of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The refuge covers the expanse from the Carmel River to the Santa Rosa Creek in San Luis Obispo County. While you can see these mannerly sea animals floating in the ocean of kelp all over Big Sur, there was a time when they were believed to exist extinct as they were hunted for their pelts. In 1938 a small-scale group of California sea otters was discovered near the Bixby Creek on Big Sur Declension. Thanks to efforts of people like Margaret W. Owings and the Friends of the Ocean Otter social club, which she founded, their numbers increased significantly.

Highway i Gate, 17 Mile Dr, Carmel-Past-The-Sea, CA 93923, Phone: 831-647-4201

4.Calla Lily Valley, Big Sur, CA

Calla Lily Valley, Big Sur, CA

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If you lot are driving along Highway 2 in early spring, stop at lovely Garrapata Park for a very special care for. At the modest narrow ravine where Doud Creek passes through on the style to Garrapata Beach, there is a valley filled with elegant, wild calla lilies. To protect the beautiful simply delicate flowers, in that location are stairs and trails through the valley. Take your fourth dimension and enjoy the scene of rare merely very fleeting dazzler – the lilies practise not terminal long. After enjoying the scene, proceed going through the park to the 2-mile-long beach surrounded by fibroid coastal vegetation. The park'southward spectacular headlands at Soberanes Indicate are a perfect spot for watching harbor seals, point sea lions, and passing gray whales.

5.Carmel Heritage Society, Large Sur, CA

Carmel Heritage Society, Big Sur, CA

© Carmel Heritage Guild

Located in Carmel at the corner of 6th Avenue and Lincoln Street is the First White potato Firm, maintained by the Carmel Heritage Order and owned by the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea. The firm is a domicile to the Carmel Heritage Society, a not-profit organization that has a goal of protecting, promoting, and preserving the cultural heritage of Carmel. Visitors to the Kickoff Murphy House can enjoy a range of historical exhibits every bit well as a research library with books, video, and sound tapes and periodicals most the history of Carmel. The Start Murphy House is also a identify for friends and residents of Carmel to gather. More Things to Do in Carmel

Lincoln St, Carmel-By-The-Bounding main, CA 93921, Phone: 831-624-4447

6.Carmel River Country Beach, Big Sur, California

Carmel River State Beach, Big Sur, California

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Carmel River State Embankment is a mile-long country park in Carmel Bay, a protected beach where the Carmel River creates a lovely lagoon. The beach is very popular with bird watchers as the lagoon is a natural habitat that attracts a huge number of migratory birds. The area has been declared a bird sanctuary for its diversity of waterfowl, vocal birds, and many other species of birds. Monastery Beach, too known as San Jose Creek Embankment, is also role of the park and is very popular with scuba divers, Other activities, such as pond or even walking most the edge of the water, are considered dangerous due to the very strong currents.

Carmelo St, Carmel-By-The-Bounding main, CA 93923

7.Garrapata State Park

Garrapata State Park

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Garrapata State Park is a 2,939-acre park established in 1979, located less than seven miles from Rio Road in Carmel. The park has a lovely 2-mile-long embankment, fantastic hiking trails, and a 50-human foot climb in gild to bask the most spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean and nearby Santa Lucia. The beach is at times used for nude swimming and sunbathing. The trails through the park are surrounded by thick coastal vegetation and run through dense groves of magnificent redwoods. The coastal headlands at Soberanes Point are a neat spot to spotter bounding main lions, body of water otters, and harbor seals besides equally gray whales during their yearly migration.

Highway 1, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93923, Phone: 831-624-4909


viii.Henry Miller Memorial Library, Big Sur, CA

Henry Miller Memorial Library, Big Sur, CA

© Henry Miller Memorial Library

Located in a redwood grove on the mountain side of Highway 1 almost a quarter mile from the famous Nepenthe restaurant in Big Sur, the Henry Miller Memorial Library is not a normal kind of library: It is an unofficial Large Sur art hub as well every bit a book store with a focus on promoting the artistic and literary works of Henry Miller. Known as a fiction writer, Miller besides wrote some very good travel books, mostly about Greece. The library'southward founder was Miller'due south friend Emil White, who founded the library on his belongings in memory of a friend. The library soon became a gallery and a gathering place for local artists.

48603 CA-1, Big Sur, CA 93920, Telephone: 831-667-2574

nine.Julia Pfeiffer Burns Country Park

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

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Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park is located 37 miles from Carmel, stretching from the declension of Large Sur to the 3,000-foot-high mount ridges. The park's lush vegetation consists of aboriginal redwood, madrone, tan oak and chaparral. The park's most outstanding feature is an 80-foot-high waterfall that drops from the massive granite cliffs at the Overlook Trail straight into the body of water below. The trails through the park offer fantastic views of the rugged coastline and the countless bounding main. There is no beach access from the park. Fenced cliff areas, the beach, Saddle Rock, and McWay Falls are off limits from the park and accessing them from the park is considered very unsafe.

52801 California State Route 1, Big Sur, CA 93920, Telephone: 831-667-2315

10.Limekiln State Park, Big Sur, California

Limekiln State Park, Big Sur, California

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Limekiln State Park is a 711-acre park established in 1994 and located about 56 miles from Carmel. The park is best known for spectacular views of the Large Sur Coast, magnificent redwood wood, the rugged, dramatic terrain, and four limekilns that operated from 1887 to 1890. The park has a network of hiking trails leading to the limekilns or to the Hare Creek Canyon. One trail leads to the 100-human foot Limekiln Falls on the fork of Limekiln Creek. The park has a small-scale campground with 31 campsites in the redwood woods and 11 on the coast, with a view of the bounding main.

63025 CA-1, Large Sur, CA 93920, Phone: 805-434-1996

11.Los Padres National Forest

Los Padres National Forest

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Los Padres National Woods is a 1,950,000-acre area that includes an 8,847-foot-loftier mountain, rivers, streams, beaches, and magnificent forests. Well-nigh of the forest is on public land. Los Padres is divided into two divide areas. The northern division includes the Big Sur Coast and scenic interior and is located in Monterey and San Luis Obispo Canton. The "main division" of the Los Padres Forest includes areas within San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Kern Counties. Los Padres is very popular with hikers, with 323 miles of hiking trails and a range of campgrounds.

Goleta, CA 93117, Telephone: 805-968-6640

12.McWay Falls and Waterfall House Ruins

McWay Falls and Waterfall House Ruins

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Located in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, only off Highway 1 betwixt Monterey and Cambria, McWay Falls drops lxxx feet straight down into the Pacific Ocean. The views from the top of the falls are among the most breathtaking on the California coast. On the hillside but n of the falls are the ruins of the long-abased Waterfall House, surrounded by exotic palm trees, crumbling foundations, terraces, and steps. The views from the house are and then spectacular, it is hard to believe that anyone would abandon such a house. The last owner, the married woman of late Lathrop Brownish, donated the firm and the state to the state of California.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, 52801 California Land Route 1, Big Sur, CA 93920, Phone: 831-667-2315

13.Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo

Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo

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Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo is a Roman Cosmic mission in Carmel-by-the-Body of water, California. It is listed on the National Register of Celebrated Places and is a U.Due south. National Celebrated Landmark. The mission consists of five museums and is known for its exceptional beauty. The master edifice is the basilica, with a magnificent catenary ceiling, 5-foot-thick walls, 30-foot-tall reredos, and a drove of meaning Castilian artifacts and colonial liturgical art. In the forecourt of the Basilica is the Harry Downie Museum with artifacts and displays virtually the restoration of the mission. Behind the basilica is the Munrás Family unit Heritage Museum. The Jo Mora Chapel Gallery houses the Serra Memorial Cenotaph, sculpted by Jo Mora in 1924. The Convento Museum houses the cell in which Saint Junipero Serra died in 1784.

3080 Rio Rd, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93923, Phone: 831-624-1271

xiv.Tor House and Hank Tower

Tor House and Hank Tower

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Tor House was built for the legendary Californian poet Robinson Jeffers in the early 1900's, using local granite stones from the Carmel Bay coastline. Located on a beautiful but isolated promontory, Tor House became home to the poet and his family unit, and is where the greatest volume of his poesy was composed. The Hank Tower was synthetic past Jeffers himself to provide a retreat for his wife and a magical place for his twin sons to enjoy. Today the property is run as a museum and a tribute to one of the state's most prolific poets. It is open to the public for guided tours every Saturday and for Music Tours on occasional Friday evenings.

Tor House and Hank Belfry, 26304 Bounding main View Ave, Carmel-by the- Sea, CA 93923, 831 624 1813

fifteen.Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

© Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a federally protected marine surface area located off the coast of California. Information technology is the biggest American marine sanctuary, with 276 miles of shoreline stretching betwixt the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and Cambria in San Luis Obispo County. Supporting one of the nearly various marine ecosystems in the world, the sanctuary offers a home to a big number of fish, mammals, invertebrates, seabirds, and plants. Information technology besides includes beautiful beaches, tidepools, kelp forests, underwater seamounts, cliffs, and canyons, all teeming with life. The National Marine Sanctuary has the goal of promoting ecology protection and ocean research and stewardship.

Monterey Bay, CA 93940, Phone: 831-647-4201

16.Nepenthe, Big Sur, California

Nepenthe, Big Sur, California

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High on summit of a pinnacle in the Santa Lucia Mountains, but off the breathtaking coast-hugging Cabrillo Highway, is Nepenthe, a eatery where spectacular views of the ocean and rocky beaches compete with equally spectacular California edible delights. Nepenthe has a history more than half a century long that involves stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles, and Henry Miller. Opened in 1949 and designed by Rowan Maiden, protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright, the restaurant was always meant to combine scenic landscape views with the cultural and creative landscape characteristic of Big Sur. From the very beginning it attracted musicians, artists, writers, and other interesting types. Surrounded by aboriginal redwood and oak forest, with the rail seating overlooking the body of water and Graves Canyon, eating at Nepenthe is a unique feel.

48510 Highway I, Large Sur, CA 93920, Phone: 831-667-2345

17.New Camaldoli Hermitage

New Camaldoli Hermitage

© New Camaldoli Hermitage

New Camaldoli Hermitage is a secluded community of Roman Catholic monks who are spending their lives in prayer and contemplation. This rural hermitage is located in the Santa Lucia Mountains of Large Sur. The Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine family was established in the tardily tenth century by St. Romuald. The New Camaldoli Hermitage was established in 1958 and its site was chosen because information technology combines rare natural beauty and solitude. Its location, at 1,300 feet, tin can exist accessed past a narrow two-mile-long road that offers spectacular views of the surrounding mural. About xx monks now live at the hermitage, each in a private small cottage, seeking solitude and privacy. The hermitage sells fruitcake and appointment-nut cake made using the monks' own recipe. About 150,000 people accept then far undertaken retreats at the hermitage since its foundation.

62475 CA-1, Large Sur, CA 93920, Phone: 831-667-2456

18.Former Declension Road

Old Coast Road

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The route from Big Sur to Carmel runs through what is probably 1 of the nigh beautiful stretches of the California mural. The dorsum road, which runs from the scenic Bixby Bridge to Big Sur, is not as well known to tourists, although it was the main route before the Bixby Bridge was completed in 1932. It is 10 miles of spectacular beauty, going upwards and downwards a narrow dirt road over the Santa Lucia Mountains, through tunnels and the deep shade of fragrant pines and massive coastal redwoods, then out into the bright sun with views of Andrew Molera State Park and the Large Sur River equally it empties into the Pacific Body of water.

19.Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History

Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History

© Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History

The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, which opened in 1883, is one of the get-go natural history museums in the country. The museum is located in Pacific Grove, close to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and showcases the natural treasures of California'southward primal declension as well as its plants, birds, wildlife, geology, and cultural diversity. Since its establishment, the museum has spearheaded the national tradition of nature preservation and hands-on scientific discipline education. The museum'southward collection of birds native to Monterey County has a brandish with more than 400 specimens, and it includes the California condor and the now extinct passenger pigeon. The museum is also the largest public site for monarch collywobbles, which stop in Pacific Grove on their annual migration south.

165 Woods Ave, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, Phone: 831-648-5716

20.Pfeiffer Big Sur Land Park, Large Sur, CA

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, Big Sur, CA

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Located about 26 miles from Carmel, Pfeiffer Big Sur Country Park covers the western gradient of the Santa Lucia Mountains, high higher up the Big Sur River Gorge, through which the Big Sur River flows into the park. The park has a network of breathtaking trails that wind along the river banks and through the dense, verdant groves of redwoods, oaks, conifers, sycamores, maples, alders, cottonwoods, and willows. Many campsites in the big campground are stretched along the Large Sur River. The park is rich in wildlife, and it is non rare to spot elusive bobcats, gray squirrels, black-tailed deer, raccoons, skunks, and many species of birds.

47555 CA-1, Big Sur, CA 93920, Phone: 831-667-2315

21.Signal Lobos National Reserve

Point Lobos National Reserve

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Signal Lobos Country Reserve is located 3 miles from Carmel on Highway one, at the northern terminate of Big Sur. This unique spot on the coast combines on the i side rocky cliffs, patches of dumbo forest, deep canyons, and valleys covered in wild flowers. On the other side is the Pacific, with endless waves crashing at the coastal cliffs. The reserve is very popular for hiking, scuba diving, visiting important geological sites, and observing native plants and animals such as harbor seals, seabirds, sea lions, sea otters, and gray whales. There is a small cabin in Whalers Cove, built a long fourth dimension ago past Chinese fishermen, that is now a cultural history museum.

62 California 1, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93923, Phone: 831-624-4909

22.Point Lobos Ranch, Big Sur, California

Point Lobos Ranch, Big Sur, California

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Indicate Lobos Ranch is an area in Monterey County that is owned by the California State Park System and is currently beingness evaluated every bit a possible land park. The ranch is located due east of the Point Lobos State Reserve and merely south of Carmel. Its importance lies in the fact that it has one of the largest stands of endemic native Monterey pines in the globe, the endangered rare Gowen cypress, and a institute community of rare maritime chaparral. The area besides offers spectacular views of the coastline and Carmel Bay. The ranch lands and surrounding public lands are a habitat for mount lions, and San Jose Creek is an important spawning ground for steelhead trout. In addition, there are some significant archeological Native American sites.

562 State Hwy 1, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93923, Phone: 831-649-2836

23.Betoken Sur State Historic Park

Point Sur State Historic Park

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Located about xix miles from Carmel, the Betoken Sur Land Historic Park is domicile to an historic lighthouse that stands on a massive volcanic rock 361 feet higher up the sea. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Point Sur is currently the but functioning plow-of-the century lighthouse in California open to the public. It was outset lit in 1889 and has continued to operate ever since. From 1889 to 1974, before the lighthouse was automated, it was dwelling house to the lighthouse keepers and their families. The lighthouse and its surrounding buildings are beingness restored by the park staff and volunteers, and there are docents who pb guided tours of the lighthouse.

CA-i, Monterey, CA 93940, Telephone: 831-625-4419

24.Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary

Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary

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Every year in October in a large eucalyptus grove in California's Pacific Grove, thousands of monarch collywobbles have a pause from their long journey southward to warmer places. They hang in thick clusters from each eucalyptus branch to keep warm, creating a stunning effect and attracting thousands of visitors. To protect collywobbles and their preferred eucalyptus habitat, the city of Pacific Grove established the grove as a butterfly sanctuary. Visiting the sanctuary is costless, and visitors tin can watch and admire monarch collywobbles as long as they practise non affect them. The sanctuary is maintained by Pacific Grove volunteers. The monarchs stay in their protected grove until February, when they proceed their journey south.

250 Ridge Rd, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, Telephone: 831-648-5716

25.Big Sur Tours and More, Big Sur, CA

Big Sur Tours and More, Big Sur, CA

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Big Sur Tours and More is a one-person tour agency run since 1969 by Dave Engerberg, a Monterey native with an in-depth knowledge of all important spots a visitor to Big Sur should non miss. The tours are totally customized and are perfect for small groups of 2 or three people. Nil is scripted, the story evolves equally you laissez passer Big Sur's almost exciting spots and most beautiful landscapes. Depending on your likes and interests, Dave will take yous to Bixby Bridge, Ventana, McWay Falls, Big Sur Spirit Garden, Hawthorne Gallery, and the River Inn and Baker. Dave picks up his guests at their door and brings them back after a day of experiencing the Big Sur adventure.

48485 California i, Big Sur, CA 93920, Phone: 831-241-2526


25 Best Things to Do in Big Sur


  • 17-Mile Drive, Photo: Courtesy of Miles - Fotolia.com
  • Andrew Molera State Park, Photo: Courtesy of rolf_52 - Fotolia.com
  • California Sea Otter Game Refuge, Photograph: Courtesy of Betty Sederquist - Fotolia.com
  • Calla Lily Valley, Big Sur, CA, Photo: Courtesy of srongkrod - Fotolia.com
  • Carmel Heritage Guild, Large Sur, CA, Photo: Carmel Heritage Society
  • Carmel River State Beach, Big Sur, California, Photo: Courtesy of jerdad - Fotolia.com
  • Garrapata State Park, Photo: Courtesy of Frank Fennema - Fotolia.com
  • Henry Miller Memorial Library, Big Sur, CA, Photo: Henry Miller Memorial Library
  • Julia Pfeiffer Burns Country Park, Photo: Courtesy of Ctram - Fotolia.com
  • Limekiln Country Park, Large Sur, California, Photo: Courtesy of RbbrDckyBK - Fotolia.com
  • Los Padres National Forest, Photo: Courtesy of spiritofamerica - Fotolia.com
  • McWay Falls and Waterfall House Ruins, Photo: Courtesy of tschumacher04 - Fotolia.com
  • Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo, Photo: Courtesy of spiritofamerica - Fotolia.com
  • Tor House and Hank Belfry, Photo: Melastmohican/stock.adobe.com
  • Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Photo: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
  • Nepenthe, Big Sur, California, Photo: Courtesy of Naeblys - Fotolia.com
  • New Camaldoli Hermitage, Photo: New Camaldoli Hermitage
  • Old Coast Road, Photograph: Courtesy of Andy - Fotolia.com
  • Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, Photograph: Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History
  • Pfeiffer Large Sur State Park, Big Sur, CA, Photograph: Courtesy of lucky-photo - Fotolia.com
  • Signal Lobos National Reserve, Photo: Courtesy of Lynn Yeh - Fotolia.com
  • Signal Lobos Ranch, Big Sur, California, Photo: Courtesy of Lynn Yeh - Fotolia.com
  • Point Sur State Historic Park, Photo: Courtesy of Lynn Yeh - Fotolia.com
  • Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, Photo: Courtesy of jesuschurion57 - Fotolia.com
  • Big Sur Tours and More, Large Sur, CA, Photo: Courtesy of maranso - Fotolia.com
  • Cover Photo: Courtesy of Maks_ershov - Fotolia.com

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