Don’t pass up these sights
Here are some places you shouldn’t miss, traveling south to north on California 1:
Hearst Castle, San Simeon: If you haven’t visited William Randolph Hearst’s astonishing 115-room hillside mansion, this is your chance. From a staging area near California 1, buses will take you on a winding five-mile trip to the 127-acre estate and castle built by newspaperman Hearst in the early 1900s. www.hearstcastle.org, (800) 444-4445.
Elephant Seal Landing and Piedras Blancas Light Station: These stops precede the ocean’s-edge segment of California 1. Elephant Seal Landing is a quick stop five miles north of San Simeon; during the winter you’ll see as many as 18,000 of the huge seals beached on the sand. parks.ca.gov/?page_id =26424.
Piedras Blancas Light Station, 1590 Cabrillo Highway, San Simeon, offers morning tours several days a week. blm.gov/visit/piedras-blancas.
State parks: At Julia Pfeiffer
Burns State Park (its namesake was a lifelong Big Sur resident and rancher), take a short walk to stunning McWay Falls before continuing to Pfeiffer Big Sur
State Park (parks.ca.gov/ ?page_id=5700), where you can hike through the redwoods near
the Big Sur River. If you have time, backtrack 1½ miles south on California 1 and turn right on the two-mile Sycamore Canyon Road to wild and scenic Pfeiffer Beach, where the surf roars through arched rocks. When it’s crowded, visitation is limited. I waited four hours before my car was allowed down to the beach.
Bixby Creek Bridge: Park at turnouts at the north end of this iconic bridge to take pictures of its single-span concrete arch. As you continue north, watch for sand dunes near Point Sur State Historic Park and Lighthouse, built in 1889. Tours are Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays at this state historic park, pointsur.org
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve: See tide pools, coves, headlands and meadows at this beautiful 550-acre park. Easy trails will take you along the sea’s edge or to high cliffs overlooking the churning waters. pointlobos.org
Warning: Take care where you leave your car. I got a $71 parking ticket at a Big Sur state park.