A Day's Drive in Big Sur, California 🐙

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I'm going to try and write a little more often, including posts about shorter trips or overall quicker things we do. I've tended to just stick to larger out-of-state or international trips to blog about but looking back I've only done about 30-40 posts in almost 8 years – more to come more often!

It was my fiancé's birthday wish to spend her 31st trip around the sun in one of California's most beautiful stretches of Highway 1, the infamous Big Sur. This was an area of Northern California that neither of us had yet to experience up to this point. We have been as far south as Monterey a couple of times (which is fantastic!) but not quite as far south as Big Sur, one of the state's most scenic drives and destinations.

The Bixby Bridge is towards the north side of the Big Sur area and is one of the area's most popular attractions. I really wanted a good blue-hour photo of the bridge but Northern California's signature fog had other plans.

The view of Bixby Bridge from the less photographed side.

Bixby Bridge in the distance

Echium, one of coastal Northern California's most popular and beautiful plants.

We went tide-pooling in Partington Cove (a short hike down to an awesome spot to stop in Big Sur) and were treated to a little octopus friend in one of the small pools near the edge of the rocks – truly an amazing wildlife encounter. Seeing such an amazing creature this close for a few minutes felt like a blessing. 🐙

The view of Partington Cove from the start of the trail.

Highway 1 was closed about 15 miles South of the Bixby Bridge due to a previous landslide, so the distance we could travel was a bit limited. A little further than Big Creek Bridge was about as far South as you could go.

The view of Big Creek Bridge.

Like much of California's coastline, it's hard to look away when you're in Big Sur. I've been fortunate enough to have driven a huge chunk of Highway 1 and I think Big Sur might be the prettiest section. You're continuously surprised curve after curve and there seems to be a perfect amount of small-ish hikes and treks outside of just driving.

My model for the day.

Another one of our California "must dos" we were able to check off. We'll most definitely be back in the Big Sur area in the next year or so, hopefully, to venture a little further off the beaten path.