Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur, Big Sur, United States | Falls | Hiking | Park | Seal Watching | Watersports | Forest | Whale Watching | Walks | Scuba diving | Eco Tourism

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Big Sur, California, United States

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park is a few miles south of Fernwood but worth the drive to see the beautiful McWay Waterfall and to enjoy the Ewoldsen trail.

McWay Waterfall Trail: .64 mile roundtrip, easy. A quick walk to an overlook facing McWay Falls, an incredible 80-foot waterfall that drops directly onto the sandy beach.

Ewoldsen Trail: 4.5 miles roundtrip, moderate to strenuous. A loop trail starting in the redwood Forest by McWay Creek and climbing to incredible coastal views.

USFS Pfeiffer Beach - directions: Travel 1.5 miles south on Highway 1, take 2nd right after the Ranger Station at single lane road. Two miles to the beach.

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park has an active Guided Hikes, Campfire Program, Junior Rangers, and Ranger Cubs programs through the summer months. A series of activities for the whole family.

Named after Julia Pfeiffer Burns, a well respected pioneer woman in the Big Sur country, the Park stretches from the Big Sur coastline into nearby 3,000-foot ridges. It features redwood, tan oak, madrone, chaparral, and an 80-foot waterfall that drops from granite cliffs into the ocean from the Overlook Trail.

A panoramic view of the ocean and miles of rugged coastline is available from the higher elevations along the trails east of Highway 1.

Whale Watching - in December and January the bench at the end of Overlook trail is an excellent place to watch for gray whales migrating southward to their breeding and calving grounds off the Baja California coast. Many whales pass close to shore at this point, and occasionally one will come into the mouth of the cove. In March and April, they can be seen returning north to their summer feeding grounds in the North Pacific.

Between Partington Point and McWay Creek is the Julia Pfeiffer Burns Underwater Area, which was established in 1970 and is now a Scuba diving area. The rocky shoreline is the access to the underwater Park. Special-use permits allow experienced scuba divers to explore the reserve.