How To Elope In Big Sur

Large Sur is a spectacularly beautiful, rugged, and scenic stretch of the Pacific Coast in central California, located betwixt San Simeon and Carmel and betwixt the ocean and the Santa Lucia Mountains. The main route through Large Sur is the breathtaking two-lane State Road 1, winding along steep cliffs and offering breathtaking views of the declension. 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. Big Sur is best explored on human foot as it is covered in a network of hiking and biking trails that pass through spectacular redwood forests and descend down blossom-filled valleys earlier reaching lovely, small secluded beaches.

Nosotros recommend that you lot call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

1.17-Mile Drive

17-Mile Drive

Gently winding from Pebble Embankment to Pacific Grove, 17-Mile Drive will take you through magnificent cypress forests along a dramatic rocky coastline, passing some absolutely spectacular homes and some of earth-course golf courses in Pebble Embankment. Stop by Fanshell Overlook to take in the view of the ocean and scout the harbor seals and, if you pass from April to June, their babies too. As you come by a lovely footling embankment in Castilian Bay, take a suspension and have a picnic. If you lot are in the mood to celebrate, treat yourself to a gourmet meal at the Gild. 17-mile Bulldoze is privately managed, just passing through is free whether you bulldoze, walk, or bike.

2.Andrew Molera State Park

Andrew Molera State Park

Located almost 21 miles from Carmel, Andrew Molera Country Park is ane of the less developed parks in the Big Sur area. 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 camp that is very popular with hikers about a tertiary of a mile from the park's parking area. The park borders the private El Sur Ranch and the visitors are requested to respect the boundary and not enter the ranch's cattle grazing fields when looking for the beach access. Fires are immune in the park only in the designated metallic fire rings. The beach is great for strolling and embankment combing.

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

3.California Body of water Otter Game Refuge

California Sea Otter Game Refuge

The California Body of water Otter Game Refuge is a marine park in Monterey, a part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The refuge covers the surface area from the Carmel River to the Santa Rosa Creek in San Luis Obispo County. While you lot can see these charming sea animals floating in the bounding main 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 group of California sea otters was discovered virtually the Bixby Creek on Big Sur Coast. Thanks to efforts of people like Margaret Westward. Owings and the Friends of the Sea Otter society, which she founded, their numbers increased significantly.

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

4.Calla Lily Valley, Big Sur, CA

Calla Lily Valley, Big Sur, CA

If yous are driving along Highway two in early bound, stop at lovely Garrapata Park for a very special treat. At the pocket-size narrow ravine where Doud Creek passes through on the way to Garrapata Beach, there is a valley filled with elegant, wild calla lilies. To protect the beautiful but frail flowers, there are stairs and trails through the valley. Take your time and enjoy the scene of rare but very fleeting beauty – the lilies do not concluding long. After enjoying the scene, keep going through the park to the two-mile-long beach surrounded by coarse coastal vegetation. The park's spectacular headlands at Soberanes Point 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

Located in Carmel at the corner of 6th Avenue and Lincoln Street is the Get-go Spud House, maintained by the Carmel Heritage Society and owned by the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea. The house is a dwelling house to the Carmel Heritage Society, a non-turn a profit organization that has a goal of protecting, promoting, and preserving the cultural heritage of Carmel. Visitors to the First Irish potato House can savour a range of historical exhibits besides every bit a inquiry library with books, video, and audio tapes and periodicals well-nigh the history of Carmel. The First Murphy House is too a place for friends and residents of Carmel to assemble. More than Things to Practice in Carmel

Lincoln St, Carmel-Past-The-Sea, CA 93921, Phone: 831-624-4447

6.Carmel River Country Embankment, Big Sur, California

Carmel River State Beach, Big Sur, California

Carmel River State Embankment is a mile-long land 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 alleged a bird sanctuary for its multifariousness of waterfowl, song birds, and many other species of birds. Monastery Beach, also known every bit San Jose Creek Beach, is as well part of the park and is very popular with scuba defined, Other activities, such as pond or even walking near the edge of the water, are considered unsafe due to the very stiff currents.

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

7.Garrapata State Park

Garrapata State Park

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 beach, fantastic hiking trails, and a 50-pes climb in order to enjoy the most spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean and nearby Santa Lucia. The beach is at times used for nude pond and sunbathing. The trails through the park are surrounded by thick coastal vegetation and run through dense groves of magnificent redwoods. The littoral headlands at Soberanes Point are a bang-up spot to scout sea lions, sea otters, and harbor seals besides as gray whales during their yearly migration.

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

eight.Henry Miller Memorial Library, Big Sur, CA

Henry Miller Memorial Library, Big Sur, CA

Located in a redwood grove on the mountain side of Highway 1 almost a quarter mile from the famous Nepenthe eating place in Large Sur, the Henry Miller Memorial Library is not a normal kind of library: It is an unofficial Big Sur art hub besides as 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'due south founder was Miller's friend Emil White, who founded the library on his property 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

9.Julia Pfeiffer Burns Land Park

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park is located 37 miles from Carmel, stretching from the coast of Large Sur to the three,000-pes-high mount ridges. The park's lush vegetation consists of aboriginal redwood, madrone, tan oak and chaparral. The park's nearly outstanding feature is an 80-pes-loftier waterfall that drops from the massive granite cliffs at the Overlook Trail straight into the ocean below. The trails through the park offering fantastic views of the rugged coastline and the endless ocean. 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 dangerous.

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

10.Limekiln State Park, Big Sur, California

Limekiln State Park, Big Sur, California

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 Big Sur Coast, magnificent redwood forest, 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 campground with 31 campsites in the redwood forest and xi on the coast, with a view of the body of water.

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

eleven.Los Padres National Forest

Los Padres National Forest

Los Padres National Woods is a 1,950,000-acre area that includes an viii,847-foot-high mountain, rivers, streams, beaches, and magnificent forests. Nearly of the forest is on public land. Los Padres is divided into two separate areas. The northern division includes the Big Sur Coast and scenic interior and is located in Monterey and San Luis Obispo County. The "main partition" of the Los Padres Wood 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

Located in Julia Pfeiffer Burns Country Park, just off Highway 1 between Monterey and Cambria, McWay Falls drops 80 feet straight down into the Pacific Ocean. The views from the elevation of the falls are amidst the most breathtaking on the California coast. On the hillside merely north of the falls are the ruins of the long-abased Waterfall House, surrounded past exotic palm trees, aging foundations, terraces, and steps. The views from the house are then spectacular, it is difficult to believe that anyone would abandon such a house. The last owner, the wife of belatedly Lathrop Dark-brown, donated the house and the land to the land of California.

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

xiii.Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo

Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo

Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo is a Roman Catholic mission in Carmel-past-the-Bounding main, California. Information technology is listed on the National Register of Celebrated Places and is a U.S. National Celebrated Landmark. The mission consists of 5 museums and is known for its exceptional beauty. The main edifice is the basilica, with a magnificent catenary ceiling, five-foot-thick walls, 30-foot-tall reredos, and a collection of significant Castilian artifacts and colonial liturgical art. In the forecourt of the Basilica is the Harry Downie Museum with artifacts and displays well-nigh the restoration of the mission. Backside 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

14.Tor House and Hank Tower

Tor House and Hank Tower

Tor House was built for the legendary Californian poet Robinson Jeffers in the early 1900'southward, using local granite stones from the Carmel Bay coastline. Located on a cute but isolated promontory, Tor House became dwelling to the poet and his family, and is where the greatest book of his poesy was equanimous. The Hank Tower was constructed by Jeffers himself to provide a retreat for his married woman and a magical place for his twin sons to enjoy. Today the property is run every bit a museum and a tribute to one of the state's most prolific poets. Information technology is open up to the public for guided tours every Sabbatum and for Music Tours on occasional Friday evenings.

Tor House and Hank Tower, 26304 Ocean View Ave, Carmel-by the- Sea, CA 93923, 831 624 1813

15.Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a federally protected marine area located off the coast of California. It is the biggest American marine sanctuary, with 276 miles of shoreline stretching between the Gilded Gate Bridge in San Francisco and Cambria in San Luis Obispo Canton. Supporting one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world, the sanctuary offers a abode to a large number of fish, mammals, invertebrates, seabirds, and plants. It as well includes cute beaches, tidepools, kelp forests, underwater seamounts, cliffs, and canyons, all teeming with life. The National Marine Sanctuary has the goal of promoting environmental protection and body of water research and stewardship.

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

sixteen.Nepenthe, Big Sur, California

Nepenthe, Big Sur, California

High on summit of a tiptop in the Santa Lucia Mountains, just off the scenic declension-hugging Cabrillo Highway, is Nepenthe, a restaurant where spectacular views of the ocean and rocky beaches compete with equally spectacular California edible delights. Nepenthe has a history more one-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 breathtaking landscape views with the cultural and artistic mural characteristic of Big Sur. From the very showtime it attracted musicians, artists, writers, and other interesting types. Surrounded by ancient redwood and oak forest, with the rails seating overlooking the ocean and Graves Coulee, eating at Nepenthe is a unique experience.

48510 Highway Ane, Big Sur, CA 93920, Phone: 831-667-2345

17.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 Big Sur. The Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine family was established in the late 10th 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, can exist accessed by a narrow 2-mile-long road that offers spectacular views of the surrounding landscape. About xx monks at present live at the hermitage, each in a private small cottage, seeking confinement and privacy. The hermitage sells fruitcake and engagement-nut cake fabricated using the monks' ain recipe. About 150,000 people have then far undertaken retreats at the hermitage since its foundation.

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

18.Old Coast Road

Old Coast Road

The route from Big Sur to Carmel runs through what is probably 1 of the most beautiful stretches of the California landscape. The back road, which runs from the scenic Bixby Span to Big Sur, is not as well known to tourists, although information technology was the principal road before the Bixby Bridge was completed in 1932. It is 10 miles of spectacular beauty, going up and down 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 Big Sur River as it empties into the Pacific Ocean.

19.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's key coast equally well equally its plants, birds, wildlife, geology, and cultural diversity. Since its establishment, the museum has spearheaded the national tradition of nature preservation and hands-on science education. The museum's drove of birds native to Monterey County has a display with more than 400 specimens, and information technology 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 southward.

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

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

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, Big Sur, CA

Located about 26 miles from Carmel, Pfeiffer Big Sur Land Park covers the western slope of the Santa Lucia Mountains, high above the Big Sur River Gorge, through which the Big Sur River flows into the park. The park has a network of scenic trails that wind forth 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 forth the Big Sur River. The park is rich in wildlife, and information technology is non rare to spot elusive bobcats, greyness squirrels, blackness-tailed deer, raccoons, skunks, and many species of birds.

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

21.Point Lobos National Reserve

Point Lobos National Reserve

Point Lobos State Reserve is located 3 miles from Carmel on Highway 1, at the northern end of Big Sur. This unique spot on the declension combines on the one side rocky cliffs, patches of dense forest, deep canyons, and valleys covered in wild flowers. On the other side is the Pacific, with countless 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 every bit harbor seals, seabirds, sea lions, ocean otters, and gray whales. There is a small cabin in Whalers Cove, built a long time agone by Chinese fishermen, that is at present a cultural history museum.

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

22.Point Lobos Ranch, Large Sur, California

Point Lobos Ranch, Big Sur, California

Point Lobos Ranch is an surface area in Monterey County that is owned by the California Land Park Organization and is currently being evaluated as a possible land park. The ranch is located east of the Point Lobos Land Reserve and just southward of Carmel. Its importance lies in the fact that it has one of the largest stands of endemic native Monterey pines in the earth, the endangered rare Gowen cypress, and a establish customs of rare maritime chaparral. The area also offers spectacular views of the coastline and Carmel Bay. The ranch lands and surrounding public lands are a habitat for mountain lions, and San Jose Creek is an important spawning ground for steelhead trout. In addition, in that location are some meaning archeological Native American sites.

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

23.Indicate Sur Country Historic Park

Point Sur State Historic Park

Located about 19 miles from Carmel, the Point Sur State Historic Park is home to an celebrated lighthouse that stands on a massive volcanic stone 361 feet above the sea. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Point Sur is currently the just operation turn-of-the century lighthouse in California open up to the public. It was kickoff lit in 1889 and has continued to operate ever since. From 1889 to 1974, earlier the lighthouse was automated, information technology was dwelling house to the lighthouse keepers and their families. The lighthouse and its surrounding buildings are being restored by the park staff and volunteers, and there are docents who atomic number 82 guided tours of the lighthouse.

CA-1, Monterey, CA 93940, Phone: 831-625-4419

24.Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary

Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary

Every twelvemonth in October in a large eucalyptus grove in California'south Pacific Grove, thousands of monarch butterflies take a intermission from their long journeying south to warmer places. They hang in thick clusters from each eucalyptus co-operative to go along warm, creating a stunning effect and attracting thousands of visitors. To protect butterflies and their preferred eucalyptus habitat, the metropolis of Pacific Grove established the grove as a butterfly sanctuary. Visiting the sanctuary is gratis, and visitors can watch and admire monarch collywobbles as long equally they do not touch them. The sanctuary is maintained past Pacific Grove volunteers. The monarchs stay in their protected grove until February, when they go on 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

Big Sur Tours and More is a one-person tour agency run since 1969 past Dave Engerberg, a Monterey native with an in-depth knowledge of all important spots a company to Large Sur should not miss. The tours are totally customized and are perfect for small groups of two or three people. Zippo is scripted, the story evolves as you laissez passer Large Sur's virtually heady spots and most beautiful landscapes. Depending on your likes and interests, Dave volition take you to Bixby Bridge, Ventana, McWay Falls, Big Sur Spirit Garden, Hawthorne Gallery, and the River Inn and Bakery. Dave picks up his guests at their door and brings them dorsum after a solar day of experiencing the Big Sur adventure.

48485 California 1, Big Sur, CA 93920, Telephone: 831-241-2526

25 Best Things to Do in Big Sur

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

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