Driving Time: 1.5 to 2 hours
It's 65 miles to Big Sur from Hearst Castle, but likely to take longer than you expect. You'll stopp for photographs, slow down to negotiate curves and slow again to enjoy the views.
On the way to Piedras Blancas, bucolic grazing land can make you want to spend your next life as a bovine. Further on, the road wrinkles like a slept-in shirt, a result of the earth's constant slippage and movement. The pavement veers away from the coast and plunges into the trees near Big Sur.
Points of Interest
- Ragged Point: The
hotel and restaurant may tempt you to spend the night and enjoy the cliffside scenery while stretching your legs or getting a snack.
- Elephant Seal Vista: December through February, Northern Elephant Seals use the coastline for pupping and mating. One of only two places where you can see the spectacle on mainland, it's 4 miles north of Hearst Castle. See them now in our photo gallery
- Piedras Blancas Lighthouse: The original lens is in Cambria, but a modern light keeps the old beacon going.
- Condor Watch: California condors soar along the cliffs between Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and the town of Big Sur. With 9-foot wing spans and steady flight (vultures wobble), they're so black they look like they're drawn with felt tip marker.
- Henry Miller Library: The writer's fans may enjoy visiting his Big Sur home.
- Nepenthe: Designed by a Frank Lloyd Wright student, the restaurant and gift shop offer spectacular views.
Side Trips
- Little-known and seldom-traveled, Nacimiento-Ferguson Road heads steeply east over the Santa Lucia Mountains toward a historic Spanish mission and William Randolph Hearst's Hacienda. It takes over an hour through live oak forests and meadows to navigate 17 scenic miles.
- Exit Highway 1 at the road to Pfeiffer Beach where the purple-colored sand is actually manganese garnet particles that wash down the hillside and there's a dramatic sea stack just offshore.
- You may have seen pictures of McWay Falls, the dramatic waterfall dropping onto the beach. To see it in person, you can take an easy, short walk to the overlook.
Primary Needs
You'll find gasoline and food at Ragged Point and in Gorda near Monterey County mile marker 10. The Lucia store also offers a small selection of food items.
You'll also find restrooms at the Washburn Day Use Area between San Simeon State Park and Cambria.