Finally arrived at the famous waterfall!
In Big Sur I visited the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and the McWay Falls.
To get to the oh so famous waterfall you have to pay really good attention because this place is not well-marked!
If you are driving down Highway One from San Francisco you will most likely pass the sign for the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. This sign will only lead you to some hiking trails. That means you will have to keep driving until you see the real Entrance of the State Park. You have the option of parking inside the park for $10 or if you are lucky enough you can get a parking spot on the curbside. From there it is not far to the beautiful nature preserve. A small path will lead approximately 1 mile down the cliff. From this path you will have the perfect view on the waterfall!!
Because the beach including the waterfall are part of the natural preserve you are not allowed to trespass. Which I did not have a problem with.
Because you are not allowed to come any close to that area, you have the rare opportunity to see real nature. This is how I learned to protect our planet even more! If we, as human, would not always think it is ours and that we can do whatever, we would have this opportunity more often! It could be that beautiful almost everywhere. This place thaught me to appreciate clean nature even more and to have more respect for nature.
To come back once again to the trip: The McWay waterfall is one of two waterfalls in California that flow directly into the Pacific Ocean. The other waterfall is the Alamere Falls. The McWay Falls are 78.74ft (24m) high and visible all year-long. Even though you should keep in mind that they are logically directly located on the coast and that there is a lot of fog all around. Also you should think about picking the right season. In summer there will be a lot of tourism. The chance to find a free parking spot or one in general may be lower in summer. I was there in October and we enjoyed warm weather and a perfectly blue sky. Neither were there a lot of people which is why we took like a million pictures nor was there any fog.
Bixby Bridge.
As I already mentioned before…if you are coming down Highway One (you can read more about Hwy 1 here) from San Francisco you will drive by the Bixby Bridge. Better said…you will cross the bridge.
It was opened in 1932 and is located approximately 190km south of San Francisco (you can read more about SF here) and approximately 20km south of Carmel-By-The-Sea (here you can read more about Carmel).
Before the building of the arch bridge, the residents were often isolated from the the surrounding area, especially in winter. With the building of the street from Carmel-By-The-Sea to San Luis Obispo (you can read more about San Luis Obispo here) people were thinking of building a 270m long tunnel along the flank of the valley and a 75m long bridge further inland. Because of the consideration of safety and the better view, the building we can see today was built. From 1996 to 1999 the bridge was improved with a budget of $20 million to make it safer in case there is an earthquake. The appearance stayed the same.
Finally I would say: GO and find those waterfalls! They are beautiful!!
