Santa Lucia Range

Cone Peak is the second highest mountain in the Santa Lucia Range in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest. It rises nearly a vertical mile only 3 miles (4.8 km) from the coast as the crow flies. This is one of the steepest gradients from ocean to summit in the contiguous United States. The average gradient from sea level to summit is around 33%, which is steeper than the average gradient from Owens Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney. Near the mountain summit, the oak woodland and chaparral transitions to a pine forest with a few rare Santa Lucia Firs. Junipero Serra Peak at 5,865 feet (1,788 m) is the highest peak in the coastal region. The peak is accessible by driving the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road and then turning north 6 miles (9.7 km) on Forest Route 22S05. The very rough Coast Ridge Road rises to 3,800 feet (1,200 m). The peak is a popular hiking destination. From that point the summit is 2.25 miles (3.62 km) hike along the Cone Peak Trail (4E12). There are two trails from the coast to the summit of Cone Peak: via the Stone Ridge/Gamboa Trail or the Vicente Flat Trail. The peak is topped by the decommissioned Cone Peak Lookout built in 1923. The original 13 by 13 feet (4.0 by 4.0 m) wooden-sided ground-level cab house was built on a rock foundation. It originally had a hipped "dunce cap" roof, and was called a "California Lookout" design. The building was hauled in pieces by mules up the steep and narrow 2 miles (3.2 km) trail. During World War II, it was the site of an Aircraft Warning Service observation post. In 1959. the U.S. Forest Service replaced the hipped roof with a flat roof that could be used to land a Bell-47 helicopter. The wood siding was replaced with metal which protected the structure from fire and vandalism. The lookout was last staffed in 1990. As of 2018, the building houses radio repeater equipment and cannot be easily reactivated for use as a fire tower once again. The lookout atop Cone Peak was one of six active fire lookouts in the Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest. The others were located on Chews Ridge, Ventana Double Cone, Junipero Serra Peak, Pinyon Peak, and Three Peaks. The mountain slopes contain an old-growth Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) forest along with many colonies of Santa Lucia fir (Bristlecone fir, Abies bracteata), one of the rarest and most endemic fir in North America, and according to some, the world. Cone Peak was visited by notable botanists David Douglas in March 1831, Thomas Coulter in 1832 or 1833, Karl Theodor Hartweg in September 1847, and William Lobb in 1849.

Limekiln State Park is a California state park on the Big Sur coast. It contains four lime kilns from an 1887–1890 lime-calcining operation, plus a beach, redwood forest, and 100-foot (30 m) Limekiln Falls. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Lucia on Big Sur Coast Highway. The 711-acre (288 ha) park was established in 1994.

Kirk Creek Campground is a USFS campground located near Lucia, California. Near the campground is an archaeological site dating to the Middle Period of the Big Sur coast in California. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 31, 1974.

Cueva Pintada, locally known as La Cueva Pintada, (in Spanish means "the painted cave"), is a well preserved prehistoric rock shelter covered with white, red, black, and ochre pictographs created by the Salinan people. The site is protected within Fort Hunter Liggett, located about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of King City, California, United States. Cueva Pintada was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 13, 1975.

New Camaldoli Hermitage (formally called Immaculate Heart Hermitage) is a rural Camaldolese Benedictine hermitage in the Santa Lucia Mountains of Big Sur, California, in the United States. The Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine family was founded by St. Romuald in the late 10th century. The hermitage was consecrated under the Immaculate Heart of Mary and was known by that name for its first decades, but its official name is New Camaldoli. The hermitage was founded in 1958 by two monks from the motherhouse in Camaldoli in Tuscany, who had spent two years searching for a site that combined solitude and natural beauty. It is located at an altitude of approximately 1,300 feet (400 meters), and is approached by a winding road nearly two miles long, which gives the visitor a clear view of the landscape and Pacific coastline. The hermitage is located 2 miles (3.2 km) from the Big Sur Coast Highway (Highway 1), .75 miles (1.21 km) south of the Lucia Lodge. It is situated between San Luis Obispo (85 miles (137 km) to the south) and Monterey (55 miles (89 km) to the north).

Lucia is a hamlet located 22 miles (35 km) south of Big Sur Village and 38 miles (61 km) north of Hearst Castle. The area is sparsely settled The sole business active today is the Lucia Lodge alongside the Big Sur Coast Highway, one of very few lodging places along the south coast of Big Sur. Wilber Judson Harlan filed the first patent for land in the area in 1885; his family continue to own the Lodge. Until a fire in 2021, a small store and restaurant were attached to the Lodge. Lucia is miles away from any other business. Due to the remote location, gas prices are typically high.

The 3,848 acres (6.013 mi2) Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve located in the southern region of Big Sur, California is owned by the University of California Natural Reserve System. It is located off State Route 1 in 50 miles (80 km) south of Monterey and adjacent to the Big Creek State Marine Reserve and Big Creek State Marine Conservation Area. It is open only for approved research or educational purposes.

Sand Dollar Beach is a .5 miles (0.80 km) long beach in Big Sur, California, one of the longest publicly accessible beaches on that coast. It is within the Los Padres National Forest. The beach is 3.7 miles (6.0 km) north of the small commercial center of Gorda and 38.5 miles (62.0 km) north of Cambria. It is 25 miles (40 km) south of Big Sur Village on Highway 1.

The Big Sur Jade Festival is an annual three-day event held in southern Big Sur in Monterey County, California. It is organized by the non-profit South Coast Community Land Trust. The availability of high-quality nephrite jade at Jade Cove spurred the start of the annual festival in 1989. Before regulations limited how much jade could be removed, divers floated large boulders of jade to the surface. They were carved and polished into unique and rare jade specimens. The three-day festival is held at the Pacific Valley School north of nearby Gorda, California. Artists who work jade and other lapidary arts from all across the US, Canada, and New Zealand show their wares each year. The 2019 festival featured 51 vendors, music and food. There is no entrance fee. Proceeds from booth rental and food sales at the festival fund local education and organizations. In May 2005, the organization contributed to construction of a combination classroom/community center at the Pacific Valley School. They have funded summer educational opportunities for Pacific Valley students, including trips abroad. They have also bought a vehicle and other gear for the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade.

The Big Creek Bridge is a 589-foot (180 m)-long, open spandrel, concrete deck arch bridge located on the southern portion of the Big Sur coast of California, along State Route 1 near Lucia. Opened for traffic in 1938, it crosses Big Creek Canyon on this scenic, mountainous coast.

Jade Cove is located in the southern area of Big Sur on the California central coast. It contains the only concentrated underwater deposit of quality nephrite jade in the world. Individuals are permitted to collect as much jade as they can personally carry using hand tools up to 90 feet (27 m) deep offshore.

The Dolan Fire was a large wildfire that burned in the Big Sur region and other parts of the Santa Lucia mountain range in Monterey County, California, in the United States as part of the 2020 California wildfire season. The fire began at approximately 8:15 p.m. on August 18, 2020. On September 8, 15 firefighters were injured, one critically, when they were forced to deploy emergency fire shelters at Nacimiento Station. Ten adult California condors and two chicks died in the blaze, which began about a mile south of the Big Sur Condor Sanctuary in Monterey County. The nonprofit Ventana Wildlife Society of Monterey lost a sanctuary that has been used to release the captive-bred condors into the wild since 1997. While no people or condors were at the 80-acre (32 ha) site, a research building, pens, and other facilities were destroyed. The fire burned parts of the Ventana Wilderness, Fort Hunter Liggett, along Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, and forced the closure of many area state parks as well as a section of California State Route 1. As of December 31, 2020, the fire has been fully contained. According to the D.A, the estimated cost of fighting the fire was $63 million. The fire also destroyed the USFS Nacimiento Ranger Station. During winter storms following the fire, entire sections of the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road were washed away, reopening in November 2024 after $12 million in repairs. In January 2022, U.S. Representative Jimmy Panetta announced that he had obtained $126 million in Federal Highway Administration funds to repair the road and rebuild the USFS Nacimiento Ranger Station destroyed in the blaze. This includes replacing the fire station, barracks, engine garage and pumphouse, along with some site utilities, such as a water well, solar connections and access roads. The Dolan fire was started by arson, and Ivan Gomez was arrested in connection with the fire and convicted of arson subsequent to his confession. Gomez claimed he lit the fire to hide five murders, but his mental competency, the true intentionality of the arson, and the actual existence of bodies were put in question. On September 23, 2020, a judge ruled that he was competent to stand trial. He was convicted in April 2022 of 16 felony counts, including arson and cruelty to animals. In May 2022, he was sentenced to 24 years in state prison.