Wonders of the Central Coast: Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

McWay Cove is perhaps the most iconic image of the Big Sur Coast.

“It’s been on calendars and lots of postcards and photographs and people just want to go there,” said Sara Arnett, a park interpreter through California State Parks. “The McWay family settled here in 1877 and they had their children here, raised them and did things like ranching, farming, they had bees and cattle and it was a much different existence in those days. There wasn’t even a road.”

Of course, now there’s a road—Highway 1, which was completed in 1937. But the cove’s signature waterfall looks a little different now than it did to the original settlers.

“It (the waterfall) fell directly into the ocean, but in 1983, there was a massive landslide just north of us,” explained Arnett.

The dirt and sand eventually formed a beach in the cove, leaving the falls as they exist today.

The area, developed as Julia Pfeiffer Burns State park features relics and interpretation of the area’s heritage and has an easy to access viewing area for the falls. Just don’t try and climb down the cliff!

“There is no beach access at this park, so we do have instances where people have tried to climb down there and we end up with rescue situations,” said Arnett. “It’s a very steep, eighty foot cliff and it’s definitely not safe for foot traffic.”

While beautiful, the cove is only part of the park.

“People don’t realize there is a good portion of the park that’s up in the redwoods and in the mountains,” Arnett continued. “You can actually hike up McWay Creek. There’s a second waterfall here called Canyon Falls. It’s only a half a mile hike from the parking lot.”

In the canyon, there is enough water for coastal readwood trees to survive.

The park also features plenty of wildlife.

“You can see California Condors if you’re lucky. You might see whales,” said Arnett.

As you can imagine, this famous place is very popular to visitors.

“It is a pretty small parking area, so the parking lots do fill up, especially on busy weekends and holidays,” said Arnett. “So, definitely arrive early to try and get a parking space.”

“We come up here about every five years– been doing it since the late sixties and it’s just one of those places you have to come back to,” said Richard Brown, visiting from Princeton, NJ.

Arthur Adams, visiting from Bermuda was also impressed.

“This bay in particular has a lot of color to it, which makes it a little nicer,” said Adams.

There’s no doubt that McWay Cove and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park has earned itself a spot amongst the ranks of the Wonders of the Central Coast!