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Pacific Coastal Highway-1
Beautiful views from the PCH-1...Big Sur is a very famous tourist destination along the Pacific Coastal Highway-1. Big Sur generally refers to the region surrounding the town of Big Sur. It’s boundaries are not very-well defined; however, in general it is considered to be the area between the Carmel River and San Simeon town along the pacific coast. Big Sur is world famous its resorts and state parks along the coastline. This beautiful drive on the PCH-1 provides number of stunning vistas.
We reached San Simeon on Friday night and spent a night there. Our lodge - San Simeon Lodge was located just across the ocean. We got a beautiful view from the parking lot of the lodge.
Hearst Castle
Next morning, we had a breakfast and left for the very famous Hearst Castle. I knew beforehand that this is not an actual castle, but a 20th century built mansion, so I was not very much disappointed. However, I was skeptical if I would enjoy this visit, as it has little historical significance. I would say I do not regret visiting this mansion spread over 40,000 acre of land on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Hearst Castle was built by
La Casa Grande
Main House of the Hearst Castle the newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst in 1919. This estate has 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, and more than 125 acres of garden. The indoor and outdoor swimming pools are wonderful! The outdoor swimming pool - Neptune Pool has breathtaking vistas of the ocean, mountains, and the main house. The indoor swimming pool features gold mosaic tiles! This estate also includes a movie theatre, tennis courts, an open air zoo, and an airfield. You can clearly notice that many of these structures are inspired from European architecture. There are number of antiques and collectibles imported from the Europe in the castle.
After Hearst’s death in 1951, the mansion was donated to the state of California by the Hearst Corporation in 1957. Later, it was declared a State Historic Monument and a National Historic Landmark, and ever since guided tours are provided to general public.
Our tour (Tour #1) also included an IMAX documentary, which talked about William Hearst in general, his dream about building this mansion, and how he fulfilled it.
After the guided tour, we left to our next destination - Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Along the way, we stopped at couple of vistas. We saw
Neptune Pool
Neptune Pool is an outdoor pool at the Hearst Castle which has amazing views of mountains, ocean, and the main house hundreds of elephant seals resting at the coast!
Camping at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
Due to camping plans at the Pfeiffer state park, we decided not to wander around much. We reached the campgrounds around 5 pm and checked-in. Good thing we had reservations, as all the campsites around this area had No-Vacancy signs on! Our campsite was quite near to a river, we could even hear the sound of the river flowing.
We had fun setting up the tent and the sleeping bags. Some of us got stuff for campfire, while others got dinner. We had a campfire near our tent. It was so much fun eating fire-roasted corn, marshmallows, fire-baked potatoes, etc. We had some long talks and discussions about random topics that I don’t even remember anymore! The weather was not so bad. It was little bit cold but quite bearable.
Next morning, we got up quite late around 9 am, got ready, and packed up. We had some hiking plans; however, weather was not with us! It was really windy and foggy. We could just do the McWay cove and falls. It is not actually a hike, but more of an
Camping
Our tent at the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park overlook trail of 0.5 mile or so. It is accessible from Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - 10 miles south of our camping location.
This 80 feet waterfall into the ocean is a must watch. It is really famous in the area. While searching for activities in Big Sur, I found this in the list of top 5 things to do in Big Sur on almost all the websites! It is really an amazing vista. Too bad, there is no trail leading to the actual fall or the cove! All you got is this overlook!
Before departing, we decided to have lunch in Big Sur. Plan was to stop at the nearest restaurant on the way. We came across a restaurant called - Cielo at Ventana Ocean View Inn. From the outlook of the restaurant, we guessed that this would be an expensive lunch! However, we had few options, so decided to try it out. The food was really pricey but delicious! Especially the deserts were mind-blowing - worth every penny!!
We had a short drive back home - approximately 100 miles. However, for Nirav and Prutha, who drove from Los Angeles, it must have taken around
McWay Cove & Falls
MyWay waterfall is a 80 feet drop directly to the ocean. It is accessible through an easy trail from the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. 5 to 6 hours to reach back thanks to the curvy roads of the CA-1.
Big Sur is without any doubt a must see for California visitors. It is 30 miles south from the very very well-known 17-miles drive and Carmel-by-the-sea. If you don’t want to do any hikes or other outdoor activities, just drive through the highway-1 and stop at some of the vista points!
Some useful information: How to get there?
Drive down south from Monterey, CA on Hwy-1 or north from San Luis Obispo, CA on Hwy-1
Where to stay?
- Most of the resorts in the area are really pricy! There are number of regular motels/lodges also (however, will cost atleast $75-100 / night).
- This area is very famous for its
campgrounds. We stayed at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.
Where to eat?
- We had - Breakfast at
San Simeon Bar & Grill; Lunch at
Cielo Dining; Pizza at
Redwood Grill - There are number of diner along the way.
Other useful links:
-
A Guide to California's Big Sur -
Big Sur Travel & Tourism
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