This Spring, David and I celebrated 20 years of the anniversary of our first date...the night we fell in love (I'll spare you the corny details, but the kiss that ended the evening sealed the deal and we've been together ever since), anyhow we decided to return to our honeymoon spot at Pfieffer Big Sur Campground on the coast of CA. When we were there on our honeymoon almost 18 years ago we spent all of our time in Monterey and Carmel enjoying the 'touristy' spots, this time we came for the scenery of the park and relaxation.
Located on the southern end of the St. Lucia mountains on the central coast of CA, Pfieffer Big Sur State park is a beautiful destination filled with towering coast redwoods, a river, lush trails, and the Big Sur Lodge that features a great restaurant and gift shop.
Some things to consider before booking your trip to Pfieffer Big Sur....
1. Call the park and speak with the Ranger/Host 831-667-2315, last December Big Sur had some serious mudslides taking out two large camping areas and changing the face of the landscape for several of the individual camping areas, including ours (Site 81).
Ask the Ranger what sites were affected and what their recommendations would be on choosing a site based on the online reservation map for Pfieffer Big Sur park. We recommend river access sites as they were mostly untouched by the landslides and are more secluded. Campsites also do not have 'bear boxes' or cupboards as most CA park campsites do. Big Sur does not have bears, but they do have skunks, raccoons and very inquisitive squirrels, so be sure that you do secure your food when not prepping for dinner and throw away your trash before you go to bed otherwise it will be scattered about the campsite.
2. Don't bother with bringing quarters for showers, bring dollar bills as their showers are run on tokens purchased for $1 for 5 minutes of a hot shower, and that's about how long the heat lasts, 5 minutes for $1 and if you use more than one token the shower does not stay hot but gets cooler with each additional 5 minutes. Token machines are located on the sides of the shower/bathroom building located in marked spots on your camp map. Also, aside from the handicapped shower room (they are all individual shower rooms with a bench and towel hook separated from the wet/shower area) they are pretty small rooms. So if you want to 'shower with a friend' I personally would pass as you would have no room in there for both of you to dress and undress without getting wet. For those of you with accessibility issues the handicapped room is spacious and offers a bench to sit and shower if you are unable to stand as well as a larger dressing and prep area. There are no mirrors/toilets/or sinks in the shower rooms, those are separate.
3. There are washing machines available in the area of the Camp Store. Those run on quarters, so you may want to bring quarters if you plan on doing laundry, or don't plan on doing laundry and Murphy's Law decides otherwise. I'm on vacation, I'm NOT and will not be doing laundry.
4. Big Sur Lodge boasts a great restaurant, no reservations needed, a bit on the moderate to spendy side on the pocket book (i.e. steak of the day cost $32, but it was a 10 oz. prime cut New York steak in a sauce that was out of this world).
5. The lodge also has a great gift and grocery shop for little things you forgot and things you might like to take home with you.
6. For the pet lovers, dogs are not allowed on trails unless they are genuine service dogs marked properly. In camp your dog must also be on a 6 foot leash when walking as well as being secured either by leash or kennel while in camp.
So that's the inside scoop for booking your trip.
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