this is a hidden gem for the Californians. Enjoy the quietness next to the ocean. we also spotted…read moresea ottar in water.

Our twelfth stop (09:42) on the Cabrillo Highway on our southbound trip through Big Sur, this dirt…read moreturn off provides unmarked parking to get clear views of the Partington Cove trail that will take you down to see the cove. We couldn't take the hike down but there were already cars parked on the side of the road to allow easy entry onto the trailhead. No cell reception in this area.

Great campground with the Big Sur river running right through it. Loved the quick hike up to the…read morewaterfall through the redwoods. Lots of great shady sites and some really nice sites right on the river. Showers were nice and reasonably priced. If you are feeling lazy and don't want to cook, you can check out the restaurant/ coffee shop, also a nice little gift shop. There is also a store at the back of the campground that has ice , snacks , firewood and a small laundry facility which was super convenient !! Great woodsy campground with great amenities!!

BEST SPOT TO SEE RED WOODS. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is a sprawling, 1,000-acre sanctuary…read morecentered around the pristine Big Sur River. Often nicknamed "mini Yosemite," it trades direct beach access for dramatic inland scenery, boasting spectacular valleys, forested peaks, and dense groves of ancient coast redwoods. Ancient Redwood Groves: The park is famous for its majestic coast redwoods, with some trees measuring over 1,000 years old. Accessible walkways, like the Redwood Deck, allow visitors to stand among these towering giants. Diverse Hiking Trails: Trails cater to all skill levels, ranging from the flat and easy Nature Trail loop to the challenging, steep ascent up the Buzzards Roost Trail, which rewards hikers with panoramic views of the ocean and mountains. On-Site Lodging and Camping: Unlike many rugged coastal stops, this park features developed accommodations, including a large campground alongside the river and the historic Big Sur Lodge, which provides comfortable cabins and a restaurant. The redwoods you see growing in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park (as well as nearby Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park are Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), the tallest living species of tree on Earth. The groves found throughout the park are particularly special because they mark the southernmost boundary of where the coast redwood species naturally thrives in significant numbers. Because they are located at the southern edge of their natural geographic range, the climate here is slightly drier and warmer than the dense, misty rainforests of Northern California. While they generally do not reach the record-shattering heights of their northern cousins in Humboldt or Redwood National Park, they are incredibly impressive, with many individual trees in the park towering well over 200 feet tall and thriving for upwards of 800 to 1,000 years. They rely heavily on the marine fog flowing through the Big Sur River gorge to stay hydrated during the dry summer months

What an amazing hidden treasure. Hard to find and if you know you know. Not easy to find no markers…read moreits about 800 feet south of sand dollar beach. Hike through some poison ivy into a cool meadow over looking the beautiful cove. Now finding your way down is no joke adventurous people only. Need to find the cliff with the ropes and hold on tight as you cascade the cliff. Once at the bottom you feel amazing like you conquered a hidden secret Now climbing back up I thought would be tough however climbing back up is much easier than going down. This is not for the weak but totally worth it. Highly recommend. Jade well thats the color of the water and if thats what you're searching for I suggest diving for it.

Fun, but getting there can be tricky. I used the AllTrails app to find Jade Cove. I then opened up…read morethe Jade Cove map and looked for the blue dot (my car) going along highway 1. I pulled over at the trail marker.. It worked perfectly. The best part of this experience was the short but precarious hike down to the cove. You'll be required to use a rope to hike down to the beach and back up again. The rope is a permanent fixture. Kids seven and over could do it without any assistance. When at the beach you'll see a lot of green rocks, mostly serpentine. The rule is that you can take anything you like as long as the "tide" ocean is able to touch it. The tidal range goes all the way to the cliffside. - There is no highway sign for jade cove anymore. That was taken down many years ago. - Check the tides and try to come here at low tide. - If you can, when you're at the bottom of the rope hike southward to the next cove. Better rocks over there.

One of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to! Located on highway 1 very close to the Kirk…read morecreek campground on the south end of Big Sur! When I tell you the walk down to this beach is breathtaking... my god! It's a ton of stairs so be mindful of what you want to carry because you start on a path from the parking lot and then it turns into stairs.. a lot of stairs! To park in the beach parking lot it's $10! This beach is simply beautiful! My yellow Labrador loved it! They also have this cut out area called jade cove! On the far north side they have a small cave! So cool! Please pick up your trash and be a good human!

Very pretty beach. Plenty of parking spaces. Free. Also free public restrooms. We did not find any…read moreSand Dollars but enjoyed the short easy hike down the stairs to the sand from the parking lot. Found some gorgeous dark green rocks-looks like jade but was probably granite. Worth the stop.

I fell I love with this beach many years ago. The drive here is INCREDIBLE! I literally have dreams…read moreabout driving under the bridge! You go under to get to this secluded beach off of Hwy 1. I had no idea that you could choose between 3 different campsites until I decided I HAD to be under the moonlight at the beach on 2.22.22 at 2:22 pm. And the views are BREATH TAKING from the beach campsite. They were also freezing, windy, and WET in February! And all of the trails were closed when we visited due to the fire, but it was like a little slice of Heaven to disconnect and spend 2 nights off the grid with great folks. The rangers who serve this place are BEYOND friendly, and they do an awesome job of keeping the bathrooms clean. I believe they were cleaned 3 times a day. And the campsites were so self contained, you really had no idea there were up to 29 sites there. Camping on the beach meant you heard the crash of waves all night long. It was so very peaceful! And while the view looked almost warm, there was NOTHING warm about being there in February. But if you had a camper, and the right gear, the rain and wind would be worth it just to burn that image eternally into your mind! I hope I can snag this location during the warmer months. I'm just in love with everything about LimeKiln.

Heads up a number of trails are still closed from the fire so it's not possible to access the falls…read moreand other trails as in the past. We had site #6 near the beach. The sites are very close to each other. Our first night before our immediate neighbors arrived was amazing - incredible views of the beach/ocean from the campsite and very peaceful. Restrooms including shower were nearby and cleaned every morning. Next night, we were surrounded by big groups on both sides and it felt like a parking lot tent city and it did not seem like car parking restrictions were enforced. The sites are so close we could hear intense snoring on both sides. Neighboring kids would come and smack/kick at our dogs - they were young but still not cool and I was annoyed their parents stood by and watched. We will try Kirk Creek instead next time to get more space. Pros - we loved the incredible access to the beach. Amenities seemed to work well (until inconsiderate folks started to ignore basic human decency like flushing!). Cons - no access to internet (despite it being available but it is locked), some beach sites are very close together, trails closed.

A short level trail. You enter through a gate into a field, and does not look like much until you…read morewalk towards the ocean. The bluffs drop about 75 ft. and give you sweeping views of the ocean. Such an easy trek right off Hwy 1 for nature's charm.

This is a nice quick walk off of Hwy 1 with a lot of roadside parking available. It's a nice quiet…read morewalk since the highway has very few cars and there's thick vegetation around. My complaint with this waterfall is that we couldn't figure out how to get to it! The signage is bad and they need to point you in the right direction more. We were prepared to climb some rocks, as we'd heard that you have to to get to the falls, but when we couldn't figure out which rocks to climb, we just turned around. We were able to see the waterfall from a distance and heard people splashing around. Definitely not a trail to walk when muddy and definitely be prepared to climb a lot of boulders to get to the waterfall.

June 2025 As a city person, this is not a "normal easy…read moretrail" Fair warning, the trail is everywhere, no signs or one real pathway to the fall I'm not a hiker and end up turning back because I didn't think I can hope over wet boulders and climb pass a ledge to reach the waterfalls I'm sure it was worth it, I hear others swimming and having fun but I'm too old for that trail I hope you guys give this a try but be careful

A nice trail that's part nature walk, part moderate hike. The distance ranges from 3.5 - 3.8 miles…read moreit's a loop trail that goes around Sam Simeon State park/Campground. If you're staying at the camp ground you can easily get to the trail by following the park map. If you're not visiting the campsite there is a pullout area across the campground entrance on the other side near the beach where you can walk the trail under PCH. Coming from the beach trail around the loop you'll get around 450 feet of elevation gain, the trail is pretty simple to follow but if you're looking for direction to follow online there is a map on All Trails under "San Simeon trail to Washburn Campground Loop"

The first .5 mile has a wooden path but don't try to do the full loop! The trial is quite overgrown…read moreand poison ivy is all along it. There was a small sign that indicated a part of the trail was under maintenance but once on the trail there's little direction other than small signs that tell about the trail. With no warning, suddenly you're in a very overgrown part that continues onto a broken bridge. By the point we got here we assumed we were more than halfway and didn't wanna risk more poison ivy which he had hardly gotten past. I'm glad we chose to continue because after getting past the broken bridge which was blocked off at the end (not the end we had come on) it was open, far less poison ivy and we made it to a road intended for vehicles to grt to the campground I think? It had some beautiful parts but not the sort of thing to bring kids out ages. Very narrow path for most of it!

PACIFIC VALLEY OF TICKS TRAIL* Ive never seen so many…read moreticks in my life (June 2017). If you see my photo, those were just the ticks we found on our clothes AFTER taking them off and putting them in a trash bag to get back to the campground. Literally more than 100 on our dogs and us! I had them all of my back and was wearing two shirts. Looked down at the dogs and saw SWARMS of them crawling all over! Haven't ran that fast in awhile haha! Pretty trail but leave the dogs at home and wear long pants/shirts! You can get your clothing treated for ticks as well. We got about a quarter mile in before I noticed those suckers were all over our dogs and us. In hindsight, I don't recall this trail being dog friendly (this would be a good reason why besides being a wildlife sanctuary) and would not recommend it to any dog owners. Stay away and save yourself the headache & several hours of picking those blood suckers off yourself and poor pup. Continue south down on highway 1 and hit up the Willow Creek Beach instead. Beautiful scenery and cmon', its to be expected in the outdoors, especially in Big Sur. Tall grass = ticks & snakes. Very much a "doh" moment for us. Lesson learned. Glad we had tick forceps in my emergency first aid to pick them off without having to touch them.

Love this place! Always stop by on the side of the road, climb over the ladder, and do some…read moreclimbing. Beautiful place to take pictures! Beautiful in the sun, beautiful in the fog, beautiful in every season.

A very short trek to the ocean from Hwy 1. The only drawback are the narrow trails where you can't…read moreavoid the brush. The lighting makes for great photos against the cove and emerald turquoise water.