101. Introduction to Big Sur
Welcome to Big Sur, California. Big Sur encompasses a 90-mile stretch of coastline running south along Hwy 1 from Carmel to San Simeon. Included in this coastline are several California State Parks, sections of the Los Padres National Forest and the Ventana Wilderness. The name Big Sur comes from the Spanish phrase “El Pais Grande del Sur,” meaning "the big country to the south," which came about when the Carmel Mission was founded in 1771. With the mix of Spanish, Mexican and early pioneers in the area over the next hundred years, this name eventually got shortened to “El Sur Grande," meaning "the big south," or more often, Big Sur. For information on lodging or businesses in the area, please pick up our newspaper, the Big Sur Guide, or visit www.bigsurcalifornia.org.For information on California State Parks, visit www.parks.ca.gov.For camping reservations in California State Parks, including the Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground, please call Reserve California at 1-800-444-7275.
102. Pfeiffer Beach
Pfeiffer Beach is located ¼ mile south of the Big Sur Station on Highway 1. Look for a yellow “Narrow Road” sign and a steep paved driveway on the right hand side of the road. If you get to the Big Sur Post Office, you have passed the turn off. Pfeiffer Beach is operated by the U.S. Forest Service and there is a $10 per vehicle parking fee at the beach. The two-mile road to the beach is extremely narrow and RVs and trailers are not recommended. Swimming and climbing on rocks is not advised due to potential hazardous conditions and the remote location of this beach. Dogs are permitted on the beach with a leash. There is no overnight parking or camping, and no fires are allowed on the beach.
103. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is located ½ mile north of the Big Sur Station on Highway 1 or 26 miles south of Carmel. Established in 1933, it is one of California’s oldest State Parks and has a rich natural and cultural history. There are many hiking trails in the park along the Big Sur River and through the Coastal Redwoods and California Oak Woodlands. One of the most popular trails is the 1 ½-mile round-trip Valley View Trail to see 60-foot-high Pfeiffer Falls. This is a moderate hiking trail and you should bring water and wear sturdy shoes for this 1 ½-hour hike. There are also Day Use picnic areas along the Big Sur River in the park, which are popular spots to play in the river on the hot summer days. If you are looking for a shorter trail, try our 1/3-mile, self-guided Nature Trail located near day use parking lot #2. The park also has a 200-site campground, with no hook-ups. There are tent and RV sites up to 32 feet, trailers up to 27 feet. In the busy season the park may be full with campground reservations. To make reservations in advance please visit www.reserveamerica.com or call 1-800-444-PARK.
104. Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park is located 11 miles south of the Big Sur Station on Highway 1. The most popular activity in this park is viewing 80 ft. McWay Falls that falls directly onto the beach. The Overlook Trail to view the waterfall is a short ¼-mile trail out to the viewing platform. There is no beach access at McWay Cove since the cliffs are extremely steep and unsafe. In fact, there wasn’t a beach here at all until a landslide in 1983-84 dumped hundreds of tons of dirt and rock into the ocean. This massive landslide closed the highway for 9 months and created the beaches you see there today. At the end of the Overlook Trail you may notice the foundation and remnants of Lathrop and Helen Hooper Brown's house built in the 1940s. Mrs. Brown donated the land to California State Parks in the 1960s after Lathrop’s death, and the house was torn down at their request. She asked that the park be named after her close friend Julia Pfeiffer Burns, “the last true pioneer” who died in 1928. There is a second waterfall in the park, Canyon Falls, ½-mile up the Canyon Falls Trail in the redwood forest. Both waterfalls can be viewed in about one hour. We hope you enjoy your visit to California State Parks.
105. Ventana Wildlife Society
Founded in 1977, Ventana Wildlife Society is a non-profit organization committed to conserving native wildlife and their habitats. It does so by a three pronged approach of leading outdoor education activities for youth, providing valuable ecological services, and managing the central California condor population. Ventana Wildlife Society successfully recovered a breeding population of Bald Eagles in central California and is in the process of doing the same for California Condors. The Discovery Center at Andrew Molera State Park in Big Sur is a center where you can see and interact with the exhibit Bringing the Condors Home and learn about condors and the efforts to recover these birds to the wild. At the Discovery Center, you can sign up for tours and engage with on-site biologists and naturalists. The Discovery Center is open on Saturdays and Sundays from Memorial Day through Labor Day. To learn more about tours or to sign up for an educational program, visit www.ventanaws.org.
106. Condors
By the 1980s, the California Condor population was in crisis, and extinction in the wild seemed imminent. The dramatic decline of condors in the 20th century has been attributed to shooting, poisoning, electric power lines, egg collecting, and habitat loss. In 1987, the last wild California Condor was taken into captivity to join the 26 remaining condors in an attempt to bolster the population through a captive breeding program. At that time, it was uncertain whether or not North America's largest flying land bird (by wingspan, 9.5 feet) would ever again soar in the wild.In 1997, Ventana Wildlife Society began releasing captive-bred California Condors on the Big Sur coast. Because of these efforts, the California Condor population in central California is increasing. Although biologists are encouraged with the progress of recovery for the central California population, Ventana Wildlife Society recognizes the continuing threats these birds face. Condors are scavengers which feed exclusively on carcasses, and they can be poisoned by contaminants in those carcasses. Lead poisoning, as a result of lead bullet fragments in game carcasses, remains foremost among threats. You can help by taking one of our condor viewing tours. You can enjoy seeing condors once again soaring over the California coast while knowing the proceeds are being used to recover this part of our natural heritage. To learn more about Ventana Wildlife Society or the California Condor reintroduction program, visit www.ventanaws.org.
107. Andrew Molera State Park
At 4,800 acres, Andrew Molera State Park is the largest state park in the Big Sur area. The land was originally part of the Molera family’s Rancho El Sur property, and was sold to the Nature Conservancy by Frances Molera upon her death with the promise that it would become a state park named after her brother, Andrew Molera. Andrew Molera State Park opened to the public in 1972. There is a $10 day-use fee. The park has 24 hike-in campsites, which are first come, first served and may fill up quickly during the busy summer months. The park is home to the Cooper Cabin, one of the oldest buildings in Big Sur. Andrew Molera State Park also has two museums, the Molera Ranch House and the Ventana Wildlife Society’s Condor Discovery Center. Horseback rides are offered through Molera Horseback Tours. More information can be found at molerahorsebacktours.com. Dogs are not allowed on any trails. The most popular trail is the 1-mile hike through Creamery Meadow to the beach. Footbridges are only in place to cross the Big Sur River from mid-June to mid-October.
108. Introduction to Point Sur Lightstation
Point Sur Lightstation is a California State Historic Park. The cluster of buildings on Point Sur’s summit make up the only complete lightstation open to the public on the West Coast. A lightstation is comprised of a lighthouse and all the buildings that supported the light and the lightkeepers. Point Sur usually had four keepers and their families in residence. The keepers and their families lived in two buildings at the top of the rock. There is also a barn, a blacksmith shop and a garage. The lighthouse is on the northwest of the rock, but not at the summit. The lighthouse was not built at the very top of the rock because of persistent summer fogs or low overcast averaging 300 feet above sea level. The light at Point Sur is at a 270-foot elevation, where it normally shines below the fog. The light shines out to the horizon, 23 miles away. Most of the buildings at Point Sur were built in the late 1880s. The light was turned on in August 1889 and has been in continuous operation ever since. Today, Point Sur’s light is an active Coast Guard aid-to-navigation. As a modern beacon, it requires no light keepers and operates remotely.
109. Point Sur Tour Information
Access to Point Sur is by tour only. The three hour walking tours operate throughout the year. From April through October, tours are given on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10am and 2pm and at 10AM on Sundays. On Thursdays, during July and August additional tours are given at 10AM. From November through March, tours are given at 10 AM on Saturdays and Sundays and at 1PM on Wednesdays. Moonlight tours and special events and tours are given throughout the year. More information on the walking tours and tour schedules are at 831-625-4419 or at www.pointsur.org.
110. Steelhead Trout
In the Big Sur River drainage, Steelhead Trout can be found year-round. They are coastal rainbow trout that have a special life cycle. Just like salmon, they are anadromous. This means that they are able to live in both freshwater and saltwater environments. They are born in shallow gravel nests called redds that are found in calm areas of a stream or river. They will live in freshwater for two to three years, gradually moving downstream. When they are ready, they will move out into the ocean for the next two to three years to grow on the rich marine food sources until they reach maturity. They will then return to the stream in which they were born in order to lay and fertilize eggs. This is called spawning, which occurs in late winter through early spring each year. However, unlike other salmonid fishes, the steelhead trout do not die after they have spawned. They will return to the ocean and may repeat this cycle several times during their lives. The Steelhead population in Big Sur is threatened and fishing is not allowed. For more information and their current status in California, visit the California Department of Fish and Wildlife website.
111. Coast Redwoods
The towering trees you see before you are coast redwoods. The coast redwood’s scientific name is Sequoia sempervirens, meaning “forever living,” as these trees can live up to 2,200 years. The trees here in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park in the Proboscis Grove near the Big Sur Lodge are between 500 and 800 years old. Coast redwoods are among the fastest growing trees in the world, and can grow more than 360 feet tall and 30 feet wide in the trunk. The largest tree in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is the Colonial Tree near Day-Use Parking Lot #4, standing at 31 feet wide. Coast redwoods can grow to be so old and big because they have incredible adaptations, including thick bark to protect against fire and tannins in their leaves, branches and bark to protect against fungal disease and insect infestation. Coast redwoods are very particular about their surroundings, and only grow in a narrow strip of land from southern Oregon to here in Big Sur in what is called the “redwood belt.” They use the area’s dense coastal fog as their source of water through a “fog drip” process, in which they absorb water through their leaves and then store it in their roots for later use. Today, only 5% of the original redwood forests still exist in the world, mostly in parks and reserves.
112. Endangered and Endemic Species
The rugged terrain and isolation of Big Sur have allowed it to become a refuge for numerous rare, threatened and endangered species. A number of plants found in the area are “endemic,” meaning that they only grow here, such as the Santa Lucia fir. This tree is one of the rarest fir trees in the world, and only grows in small pockets in the Santa Lucia Mountains. Many animals, most notably the sea otter, have survived extinction by taking refuge in Big Sur. Threatened birds, such as the peregrine falcon, bald eagle and California condor, are re-establishing populations here. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park also provides a home for sensitive aquatic species, like the California red-legged frog, Western pond turtle and Pacific lamprey. Loss of habitat is one of the main reasons that these aquatic species are struggling. You can help protect their homes by not moving rocks or making dams in or around the river.
113. Geology
Over 200 million years of geological activity has given Big Sur some of the most complex geology in California. The area is built from a diverse assortment of rocks, called the Franciscan Complex. This complex occurs throughout California’s coastal mountain ranges, and is the result of plate tectonics bringing ancient rocks from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away and changing their shape. These rocks are usually undersea sediments, volcanic rocks, and rocks that have been transformed, or metamorphosed, through heat and pressure. These rocks can be found in the park underneath Pfeiffer Falls, in the Big Sur River Gorge, along the Pine Ridge trail and as pebbles in the Big Sur River. Big Sur is still incredibly geologically active. The dramatic landscape that many people come to see - the Santa Lucia Mountains, the rugged coastline, and the deep canyons - is the result of ongoing geological processes. You may even feel an earthquake from the active Hosgri-Gregorio fault that runs through the park.
114. Pfeiffer Family
The first Europeans to permanently settle in Big Sur were Michael and Barbara Pfeiffer. They arrived in 1869 with their four children and settled in Sycamore Canyon. Once settled, they had four more children. They supported themselves through beekeeping, farming and logging. Their eldest son, John, lived near the Big Sur River in the Homestead Cabin until he married his wife Florence. John and Florence eventually opened Pfeiffer’s Ranch Resort, on the site of today’s Big Sur Lodge, when the area became a popular destination. John sold his 680 acres to the State of California in 1933, which became the centerpiece of the park. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is named in his honor. John’s sister, Julia, was also a beloved member of the Big Sur community, and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park is named in her honor. Many of the areas in and around the park are also named after the Pfeiffer family, including Pfeiffer Beach, Pfeiffer Falls and Pfeiffer Ridge.
115. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
As one of the 50 parks that the Civilian Conservation Corps worked on from 1933 to 1942, Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park contains one of the largest collections of structures and campground furniture constructed by the corps. The CCC was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression, and employed more than 2 million young men between the ages of 18 and 25 to develop recreational areas and conserve natural resources. Corps members would receive steady pay, three meals a day, clean clothes, a place to live, and a sense of community. Pfeiffer’s corps members, known as Camp Big Sur, built many of the buildings still standing in the park today, including the Warden’s Cottage and its garage (now the Ewoldsen Nature Center), Recreational Hall and campground restrooms. The CCC also constructed the picnic tables, trails and water fountains found around the park. They followed a “rustic aesthetic,” using a mix of river rocks and redwood lumber to blend in with the park’s surroundings.
116. Warden's Cottage
The Warden’s Cottage was built in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of their development of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park during the Great Depression. It is perhaps the best preserved of the lasting buildings. The cottage follows the corps’ “rustic aesthetic,” in which river rocks and redwood lumber were used to blend in with the park’s surroundings. Note the decorative pine tree cut-outs on the shutters and rugged stone on the exterior of the building that highlight this. As evidenced by its name, the cottage was the home of the park’s warden, or most senior supervisor, but is no longer in use. The cottage’s accompanying garage was built in 1936 and is now the Ewoldsen Nature Center.
