Big Sur

Big Sur is defined by its inaccessibility no railroad ever reached it, no significant flatland exists for development, and the single road (California Highway 1) was completed only in 1937, cutting through terrain so severe that its construction required seven years and cost the 1930s equivalent of $3 million per mile. The result is one of the longest stretches of undeveloped coast in the lower 48 states. Bixby Creek Bridge, one of the longest single-arch concrete bridges in the world when completed in 1932, is photographed from the turnout on its north side by an estimated million visitors per year. Point Sur State Historic Park preserves a volcanic rock with a 19th-century lighthouse accessible by guided walk only. McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park drops 80 feet directly onto a beach cove one of only a few tidefall waterfalls in California. The Esalen Institute hot springs, perched on a cliff above the ocean, are open to the public from 1–3 a.m. only (reservations required). Highway 1 through Big Sur has been repeatedly closed by landslides and erosion the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge was replaced after a 2017 slide, and the route's fragility is part of its character.