Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Northern California → Big Sur

Traveling Route 1 up (or down) the Pacific Coast through Big Sur is a must for any traveler – whether you’re a California native or not – and we’ve done different versions of this trip several times. It helps that we’re willing to put in long hours behind the wheel – getting from our home base in San Diego up to southern Big Sur takes some time (upwards of 7 hours) and we’ve broken up the trip several ways. One nice option is to drive as far as Malibu and stop for the night. We also sometimes combine a trip to Big Sur with a trip to the Wagon Caves area near Fort Hunter Liggett. However you end up doing this trip, here’s are some of our favorite stops, listed from North to South.

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McWay Waterfall Trail

For more information on the hikes listed above (and other hikes not discussed here), as well as a super helpful map showing the locations of these hikes (it’s nice to have an overview of the area), visit this website.

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Where to Stay

We always camp when we visit the Big Sur area, so I don’t have accommodation recommendations. I can tell you, however, that if you’re traveling on a busy weekend (Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc) you’ll need to make campground reservations as far in advance as possible (mark your calendar when the reservations open for your desired day – typically the 1st of the month, 6 months in advance – and try to go online as soon as they’re open). Many of these campgrounds are available for reservations through Reserve America.

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Sample Itinerary

This trip is designed as a 3-day road trip from the LA area , and includes Southern Pacific Coast destinations on the way to and from Big Sur.

Day 0: Arrive in LA, travel to Malibu for the night

Day 1: Leave early and drive to San Luis Obispo and visit Pirate’s Cove at Avila Bay

             Continue on to Cambria and stop for brunch at Linn’s, before heading to Hearst Castle.

            Drive Route 1 through Big Sur as far as Bixby Bridge, then turn around

            Hike Partington Cove and McWay Waterfall trails

            Camp in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

Day 2: Hike Tanbark Trail and Tin House, the Ewoldsen Trail, and Limekiln Trails

              Camp at Limekiln

Day 3: Continue driving south along Route 1 and leave Big Sur

             Stop to visit Elephant Seal Rookery in Cambria

             Drive to Santa Barbara and stop at Cold Spring Tavern for lunch

             After lunch, detour by Chumash Cave

             Return home

Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Northern California → Big Sur