Big Sur is the stretch of Highway 1, about 90 miles long, between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains drop straight into the Pacific. The drive itself, Bixby Bridge and McWay Falls are covered on the USA page; this page is about where to stop: the reserves and beaches of Point Lobos, Garrapata, Andrew Molera and Pfeiffer Beach, the redwoods of Pfeiffer Big Sur, the lighthouse on Point Sur, two coast institutions in Nepenthe and the Henry Miller Library, and the two ends of the road, the 17-Mile Drive in the north and Hearst Castle and the elephant seals in the south.
Plan around 2026. Highway 1 reopened end to end on 14 January after years of landslide closures, then the Timber and Plaskett fires burned the hills in August and September. The road and most stops are open again, but inland trails stay closed and winter rain on burned slopes can close the road, so check Caltrans and State Parks before you set off.
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, south of Carmel
2 to 3 hoursNo booking needed
Wind-bent cypress coated in orange algae, sea lions on the outer rocks and sea otters in the kelp, on a short loop.
What it is
Point Lobos, three miles south of Carmel on Highway 1, packs coves, granite headlands and one of the only two natural stands of Monterey cypress left on Earth into a small reserve. The Cypress Grove Trail, a 0.8-mile loop, passes wind-bent cypress coated in orange algae, with sea lions on the outer rocks and sea otters in the kelp of Headland Cove; gray whales pass close in winter and early spring.
How to do it
Start the loop from the Sea Lion Point car park. Entry is $10 per vehicle, from 8 am to 7 pm, with last entry at 6:30 pm. Docents lend binoculars at the Information Station.
Good to know
Parking inside is limited to 150 cars, so arrive before 9:30 am or after 3 pm, and do not park on the Highway 1 shoulder. There are no dogs, no drones and no food for sale inside.
Watch for whales and sea otters from Soberanes Point at Garrapata
Garrapata State Park, Highway 1
1 to 3 hoursFree
Walk in from a roadside gate to headlands where sea lions, harbor seals and sea otters feed and gray whales pass close.
What it is
Garrapata, the northernmost of Big Sur's state parks, starts 6.7 miles south of Rio Road in Carmel and is easy to drive past. On the ocean side, coastal paths lead out to the headlands of Soberanes Point, and a 50-foot climb gives a wide view over the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, where sea lions, harbor seals and sea otters feed and gray whales pass close on their migration.
How to do it
You walk in from numbered gates and turnouts along Highway 1. Across the road, from the gated trailhead opposite Gate 8, the Soberanes Canyon Trail runs 1.25 miles up a creek from chaparral into redwoods; go back the same way, because the Rocky Ridge loop is closed. The park is open from 8 am to sunset.
Good to know
Respect the sea: waves have swept people off this shore, so keep well back from the water's edge.
Climb to the Point Sur Lightstation on a docent tour
Point Sur State Historic Park
3 hoursNo booking needed
Climb to a light station first lit in 1889 and never switched off, on a volcanic rock 361 feet above the Pacific.
What it is
The Point Sur Lightstation sits 361 feet above the Pacific on a large volcanic rock, and it is the only complete turn-of-the-century light station open to the public in California. First lit in 1889, it has never stopped working; keepers and their families lived here until it was automated in 1974.
How to do it
You can only go in on a volunteer-led walking tour of about three hours, with a 360-foot climb and two stairways: Saturdays at 10 am and 2 pm, Sundays at 10 am and Wednesdays at 1 pm. Tours cost $20 for adults and $10 for ages 6 to 17, and they are first come, first served, with no reservations. Meet at the farm gate on the west side of Highway 1, 19 miles south of Rio Road in Carmel.
Good to know
Tour times change through the year. Arrive 30 minutes early.
Cross Creamery Meadow to the wild beach at Andrew Molera
Andrew Molera State Park
2 to 4 hoursNo booking needed
Cross the Big Sur River and walk through a meadow to a wild beach with far fewer people than the famous stops.
What it is
Andrew Molera has about 15 miles of trails through meadows, bluffs and beach where the Big Sur River meets the Pacific, and far fewer people than the famous stops. The Creamery Meadow Trail is an easy 2-mile round trip to the beach. From the river mouth you can walk 2 miles along the sand to Cooper Point; the easy Bluffs Trail runs 1.7 miles above the beach instead.
How to do it
First you cross the river: a narrow seasonal footbridge goes in around 15 June and comes out around 31 October, and outside those dates you have to wade, which may be banned when the river runs high or fast. Day use is $10 per vehicle, from 8 am to sunset, with no dogs.
Good to know
Walk to Cooper Point only at low tide, so check the tide table. Since the 2026 Timber Fire, every trail east of Highway 1 is closed.
Time needed
2 to 4 hours
Best time
Mid-June to October, while the footbridge is in, at low tide
Walk the redwood boardwalk and River Path at Pfeiffer Big Sur
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
2 to 3 hoursNo booking needed
Walk a boardwalk through coast redwoods along the Big Sur River, in a park reopened on 16 October 2026 after the Timber Fire.
What it is
Pfeiffer Big Sur, 26 miles south of Carmel, is where Highway 1 dips inland into a valley of coast redwoods along the Big Sur River, and it is the hub of the coast, with the Big Sur Lodge, a café, a grocery and the largest campground in Big Sur. The park closed during the Timber Fire, which burned about 517 acres inside it, and reopened on 16 October 2026.
How to do it
Open again: the Redwood Grove boardwalk, the River Path, the Nature Trail and the Buzzards Roost Trail. Day use is $10 per vehicle, from 8 am to sunset, and dogs may walk only the River Path and Warden's Path.
Good to know
Still closed until further notice: Pfeiffer Falls, Valley View, Oak Grove, Mount Manuel, the Big Sur River Gorge and Pine Ridge, and rangers cite anyone in burned areas.
Find the purple sand and Keyhole Arch at Pfeiffer Beach
Pfeiffer Beach, Los Padres National Forest
1 to 2 hoursNo booking needed
Drive down to streaks of purple-tinted sand and Keyhole Arch, a hole worn through a sea stack just offshore.
What it is
Pfeiffer Beach is one of the few places on this steep coast where you can drive down to the sand, and it is known for streaks of purple-tinted sand and Keyhole Arch, a hole worn through a sea stack just offshore. It belongs to Los Padres National Forest, not to the state parks.
How to do it
You reach it by Sycamore Canyon Road, an unmarked, winding one-lane road off Highway 1 that is easy to miss. The beach is open from 9 am to 8 pm, with a $15 fee per vehicle that a state park ticket does not cover.
Good to know
The car park holds only about sixty cars and is often full, so come early. On a few days in December and January the sun sets through the arch and photographers crowd the beach.
Time needed
1 to 2 hours
Best time
Weekday mornings; sunset through the arch in December and January
Have lunch on the Nepenthe terrace, 808 feet above the sea
Nepenthe, Highway 1
1 to 2 hoursNo booking needed
Lunch on a terrace 808 feet above the sea, looking along more than 60 miles of coast.
What it is
Nepenthe stands on the site of a log house built in 1925, 808 feet above the sea on the ocean side of Highway 1, 29 miles south of Carmel; Lolly and Bill Fassett took the property over in 1947. From the terrace you look along more than 60 miles of coast. The house order is the Ambrosiaburger, a ground steak sandwich on a French roll with Ambrosia sauce, $27 in 2026.
How to do it
It opens every day from 11:30 am to 10 pm, with lunch until 4:30 pm and dinner from 5 pm, and it takes no reservations: give your name to the host when you arrive and wait for a table. Below it, Café Kevah serves breakfast and lunch on an open terrace from 9 am to 3 pm, from Presidents' Day weekend to early January.
Browse the Henry Miller Memorial Library in the redwoods
Henry Miller Memorial Library, Highway 1
30 minutes to 1 hourNo booking needed
Browse the shelves and sit on the deck with a coffee at a bookshop in the redwoods that Henry Miller would have liked.
What it is
The writer Henry Miller dedicated Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch to his friend Emil White, a painter and one of the coast's great characters. After Miller died in 1980, White turned his own house into this library in 1981, as a memorial to his friend and a gallery for local artists, and it is now a bookshop, arts centre and concert venue in a redwood clearing at 48603 Highway One, near Nepenthe.
How to do it
It is the kind of place Miller would have liked: browse the shelves, sit on the deck with a coffee, look at what hangs on the walls, and do nothing for a while. It opens every day from 11 am to 5 pm, except on holidays and event days.
Good to know
After the 2026 fire evacuations it is open again, with concerts and talks; check the events page.
Drive the 17-Mile Drive to the Lone Cypress before heading south
17-Mile Drive, Pebble Beach
No booking needed
Loop through Pebble Beach past rocky points, golf links and the Lone Cypress, a solitary tree on a granite outcrop.
What it is
At the northern end of the Big Sur trip, the private 17-Mile Drive loops through Pebble Beach between Pacific Grove and Carmel-by-the-Sea, past rocky points, golf links, grand houses and the Lone Cypress, a solitary Monterey cypress on a granite outcrop that has become the emblem of the peninsula.
How to do it
It is a toll road: in 2026 the fee was a little over $12 per vehicle, refunded if you spend $35 or more at a Pebble Beach Resorts restaurant. There are five gates; the Highway 1 gate is usually the quickest way in.
Good to know
The Carmel gate leaves you in Carmel-by-the-Sea for a walk before the drive south.
Tour Hearst Castle at the southern end of the Big Sur coast
Hearst Castle, San Simeon
Half a day with the bus and the filmBook ahead
Ride up the hill to the estate William Randolph Hearst built above San Simeon with the architect Julia Morgan.
What it is
Hearst Castle, the hilltop estate the newspaper owner William Randolph Hearst built above San Simeon with the architect Julia Morgan, is the big sight at the southern end of the Big Sur drive, roughly halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. You can only see it on a guided tour; for a first visit take the Grand Rooms Tour, about 70 minutes. Daytime tickets include the film in the visitor centre theatre.
How to do it
Buses carry every group up the hill from the visitor centre at 750 Hearst Castle Road, 15 to 20 minutes each way. The Grand Rooms Tour is $35 for adults and $18 for children aged 5 to 12 in 2026; the Upstairs Suites and Cottages and Kitchen tours cost the same. Book on ReserveCalifornia up to 60 days ahead and arrive 25 minutes early.
Good to know
It closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
Northern elephant seals haul out a few yards from a free roadside viewing area, with fights between bulls in winter.
What it is
On the beaches at Piedras Blancas, 4.5 miles north of the Hearst Castle entrance on Highway 1, northern elephant seals haul out a few yards from a roadside viewing area. What you see depends on the month. The big males arrive at the end of November, most pups are born by late January, and December to March is the most popular season, with fights between bulls and nursing pups. Females and juveniles come back to molt in spring, with a peak around 1 May, and juveniles haul out again from late October.
How to do it
It is open every day, with no fee and no reservation, and trained volunteer docents from the Friends of the Elephant Seal are often there to explain what you are watching. Pair the stop with Hearst Castle on the same day.
California's Route 1 along the Big Sur coast is drivable end to end again, with Bixby Bridge and McWay Falls along the way.
What it is
The stretch people mean by the Pacific Coast Highway is California State Route 1 along the Big Sur coast, between Carmel and Cambria. After years of landslide closures at Paul's Slide and Regent's Slide, Caltrans reopened it to through traffic on 14 January 2026. Bixby Bridge and McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park are the classic stops.
How to do it
Drive it north to south if you can: you are then in the lane next to the ocean, and the gravel pull-outs are easier to turn into. Give this section a full day even though the distance is short, because the road is two lanes, winding and slow behind campervans. Fill the tank in Carmel or Cambria, since fuel stations in between are few.
Good to know
Heavy rain can still close it, so check Caltrans that morning.
Big Sur has no airport or railway. The northern gateway is Carmel-by-the-Sea, next to Monterey; the southern one is Cambria, near San Simeon, about 225 miles and four hours by road from either San Francisco or Los Angeles. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, the centre of the coast, is 26 miles south of Carmel, Nepenthe 29 miles, and San Simeon another 63 miles beyond Nepenthe. On the day, check Caltrans QuickMap: in late 2026 crews are netting burned slopes with daytime closures near Torre Canyon, and traffic runs one way under signals just north of the Point Sur Lightstation.
Getting around
You need a car. Highway 1 is two lanes, winding and slow, so use the turnouts to let faster cars pass, and fill the tank in Carmel or Cambria because fuel in between is scarce. Most state parks charge $10 per vehicle for day use and close at sunset. Park only in lots and proper turnouts, never on the shoulder near Point Lobos, and walk well clear of the traffic. Phone signal is patchy and many places have no wifi, so download maps before you leave Carmel.
How many days
In must30's view, two full days with a night on the coast: the first for the northern half, from Point Lobos and Garrapata to Point Sur, Andrew Molera and the redwoods of Pfeiffer Big Sur, and the second for Nepenthe, the Henry Miller Library and the long run south to the elephant seals and Hearst Castle. Add a morning for the 17-Mile Drive and Carmel if you start from Monterey.
When to go
From June to August summer fog, known locally as June Gloom, can hide the coast for days, so late spring and autumn usually give clearer views. From November to April the roads and trails are quieter and many hotels lower their rates, and December to March is elephant seal season at Piedras Blancas, but heavy rain closes Highway 1 more often, and after the 2026 fires, slides and debris flows are a real risk in storms. Summer and holiday weekends fill every car park from Point Lobos to Pfeiffer Beach.
Where to base yourself
Sleeping on the coast saves hours of backtracking. The Big Sur Lodge, with 61 rooms inside Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, reopened with the park on 16 October 2026, and the valley around it has inns, cabins and the coast's largest campground. Carmel and Monterey have far more choice and suit the northern stops, while Cambria and San Simeon are the base for Hearst Castle and the seals. Book early for summer and holiday weekends.
Questions travellers ask
Is Highway 1 through Big Sur open?
Yes. Caltrans reopened the whole route on 14 January 2026, and it opened again after the Timber and Plaskett fires closed it in August and September. In late October 2026 expect daytime work closures for slope netting and one-way signals north of Point Sur. Check Caltrans QuickMap on the day, especially after rain.
Which Big Sur parks are open after the 2026 fires?
Point Lobos, Garrapata and Andrew Molera are open, and Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park reopened on 16 October 2026 with its redwood boardwalk and River Path. Pfeiffer Falls and the other inland trails there stay closed, as do all backcountry trails east of Highway 1 in Andrew Molera and Julia Pfeiffer Burns. Rangers cite anyone entering closed areas.
How many days do you need in Big Sur?
Two full days with a night on the coast lets you stop properly instead of just driving through. Spend the first on the northern parks and Point Sur, and the second on Nepenthe and the run south to the elephant seals and Hearst Castle.
When can you see the sunset through Keyhole Arch at Pfeiffer Beach?
Only on a few days in December and January, when the sun sets in line with the arch and photographers crowd the beach. The rest of the year the arch and the purple-tinted sand are still worth the detour. The beach is open from 9 am to 8 pm, and its access road can close in winter rain.
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