From the parking lot at Andrew Molera State Park, walk 0.125 miles south to this educational nature center to learn all about the endangered California condors that are retaking the skies along Big Sur's coast. The center also arranges two-hour condor tours at 10:30am on occasional Saturdays from June to November (per person $75, register online). Check the website for confirmed dates.
Big Sur Discovery Center
Big Sur
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
23.17 MILES
Monterey is practically synonymous with its world-class aquarium overlooking Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which protects dense kelp forests and…
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
13.04 MILES
If you're chasing waterfalls, swing into this state park named for the daughter of some of the earliest European settlers to arrive in Big Sur. The…
3.6 MILES
Pfeiffer Beach is at the heart of what Big Sur is all about – splendid, unusual scenery that's inspired generations of artists, writers, and travelers…
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
16.74 MILES
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28.95 MILES
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2.96 MILES
A little over 6 miles south of Bixby Bridge, Point Sur rises like a velvety green fortress out of the sea. It looks like an island, but is actually…
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo
18.27 MILES
Carmel's strikingly beautiful mission is an oasis of solemnity with flowering gardens and a thick-walled basilica filled with Spanish Colonial art and…
11.18 MILES
This is a raw, breathtaking spot where crashing surf salts your skin. On the steep, half-mile dirt hike down to the cove, you’ll cross a cool bridge and…
Nearby Big Sur attractions
0.21 MILES
Named after the farmer who first planted artichokes in California, this oft-overlooked park is a trail-laced pastiche of grassy meadows, ocean bluffs and…
2. Point Sur State Historic Park
2.96 MILES
A little over 6 miles south of Bixby Bridge, Point Sur rises like a velvety green fortress out of the sea. It looks like an island, but is actually…
3.6 MILES
Pfeiffer Beach is at the heart of what Big Sur is all about – splendid, unusual scenery that's inspired generations of artists, writers, and travelers…
4. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
3.83 MILES
Big Sur's largest state park was named after the area's first European settlers who arrived in 1869. It has hiking trails looping through stately redwood…
5. Henry Miller Memorial Library
6.66 MILES
Novelist Henry Miller was a Big Sur denizen from 1944 to 1962. More of a beatnik memorial, alt-cultural venue and bookshop, this community gathering spot…
6. Henry Miller Memorial Library
6.68 MILES
Henry Miller lived in Big Sur for 17 years, some 5 miles south of this now nonprofit alternative art space and community center in the home of his late…
6.78 MILES
Less than 15 miles south of Carmel, this landmark spanning Rainbow Canyon is one of the world’s highest single-span bridges. Completed in 1932, it was…
9.92 MILES
The tortuously winding 40-mile stretch of Hwy 1 south of Lucia to Hearst Castle is sparsely populated, rugged and remote, mostly running through national…