Ventana Wilderness

Sykes Camp is located 10 miles (16 km) from the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park trailhead along the Pine Ridge Trail. There were seven campsites along both sides of the Big Sur River upstream and downstream from where the trail intersects the river. There was a pit toilet downstream of this intersection.

The Ventana Double Cone at 4,856 feet (1,480 m) is one of the tallest peaks in the Ventana Wilderness within the Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest in Central California. The summit is a difficult 14.7 miles (23.7 km) hike from the nearest trail head, making it one of the more distant locations in the wilderness. The last 4 miles (6.4 km) portion of the trail from Little Pines to the summit is not well used and often overgrown with chaparral. There are a few Santa Lucia Firs near the summit. There is a metal ammo box containing a summit register under some rocks at the peak. The peak is at the center of three watersheds: the Big Sur River watershed to the south, the Little Sur River watershed to the west and north west, and the Carmel River watershed to the east and south east. The largely inaccessible Ventana Cone is a few miles to the southeast. The view from the Ventana Double Cone is notable, enabling individuals to view the Pacific Ocean to the west and Chew's Ridge 30 miles inland. The summit is often covered in fog during summer months and hikers need to arrive at the peak in the morning to maximize chances of a clear view.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park is a state park in California, 12 miles south of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park on California's Pacific coast. A main feature of the park is McWay Falls, which drops over a cliff of 80 feet (24 m) into the Pacific Ocean. The park is also home to 300-foot (90 m) redwoods which are over 2,500 years old. The park is named after Julia Pfeiffer Burns, a respected resident and rancher in the Big Sur region in the early 20th century, who lived in the area for much of her life until her death in 1928. The 6-square-mile (16-square-kilometer) park was established in 1962.

Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, a collection of single wall buildings, cabins, and a restaurant in Castro Canyon, was one of the first visitor accommodation to offer overnight lodging and meals in Big Sur for California visitors and travelers after the opening of Highway 1 in 1937. Helmuth Deetjen initially built cottages for others in Carmel, and was attracted to the Big Sur coast that reminded him of Norway. In 1926, he bought 6 acres (2.4 ha) and began construction of a home. He met Helen Haight and when Highway 1 was completed in 1937, they opened an inn. Helmuth managed the Inn until his death in October 1972, when its operation passed to a non-profit foundation. The Inn was closed for a short time after the Soberanes Fire and subsequent winter floods damaged several structures.

The Henry Miller Memorial Library is a nonprofit arts center, bookstore, and performance venue in Big Sur, California, documenting the life of the late writer and artist Henry Miller. Emil White built the house for himself in the mid-1960s. After Miller died in 1980, White dedicated the property as a memorial to Miller and as a gallery where local artists could show their work. In 1981, with the help of the Big Sur Land Trust, White formally organized "The Henry Miller Memorial Library". White was director of the institution until he died in 1989. The Big Sur Land Trust managed the library until October 1998, when the non-profit The Henry Miller Memorial Library Inc. was created to sustain the library.

McWay Creek is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) coastal stream in Monterey County in the U.S. state of California. It flows steeply west and south from McWay Canyon, high in California's Central Coast Range, and spills into the Pacific Ocean at Waterfall Cove after flowing over scenic McWay Falls. Most of the creek and its watershed are contained within Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, 12 miles (19 km) south of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. The creek is named after Christopher McWay from New York, a pioneer who homesteaded the property. A Pelton wheel was installed in McWay Creek and generated power for Saddle Rock Ranch, the only electricity in the area for many years. The creek and its canyon are rich in vegetation types, due to the humid coastal climate with frequent fog and rainfall.

McWay Falls is an 80-foot-tall (24 m) waterfall on the coast of Big Sur in central California that flows year-round from McWay Creek in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, about 37 miles (60 km) south of Carmel, into the Pacific Ocean. During high tide, it is a tidefall, a waterfall that empties directly into the ocean. The only other tidefall in California is Alamere Falls.

The Marble Cone Fire was a wildland fire that burned for three weeks in August 1977 in the Santa Lucia Mountains high country of the Big Sur area of Monterey County, California including the Ventana Wilderness. Started by two lightning strikes, the fire burned 177,866 acres (720 km2) in the Santa Lucia Mountains, making it the largest wildfire in the state since the Matilija Fire of 1932, although as of 2024 it no longer ranks in the top twenty. About 5,700 firefighters cut 160 miles (260 km) of line around the fire before it was contained. The fire burned 90% of the vegetation cover in the upper Big Sur River watershed. This posed a threat of flooding along the Big Sur River as a much smaller fire in August 1972 had led to severe flooding. This time, however, the rains were moderate and resulted in no major flooding problems. The fire cost $10.65 million to contain and caused millions of dollars more in damage to the watersheds of the Carmel River Valley, Arroyo Seco River, Big Sur, Little Sur River and Big Creek.

Anderson Canyon in the Big Sur region of California was named after pioneering homesteaders James and Peter Andersen who were the first European settlers of the area. The canyon, Anderson Creek, and Anderson Peak (4,099 feet (1,249 m)) are south of McWay Falls and within the boundaries of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. During the construction of Highway One in the 1920s and the 1930s, it was the location of a convict work camp. After the camp closed, literary bohemians like Henry Miller rented the shacks, forming what Miller later called the "Anderson Creek Gang". The canyon is within the boundaries of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Sea Otter Refuge, and California condor reintroduction area. The Staude House built in the 1960s sits on a bluff at the mouth of Anderson Canyon 120 feet (37 m) above sea level. A 90 acres (36 ha) parcel on the bluff between the coastal cliff and Highway 1 sold for $31,394,000 in 2010, one of the largest sale prices for residential real estate in Monterey County history.

Nepenthe is a restaurant in Big Sur, California, built by Bill and Madelaine "Lolly" Fassett and first opened in 1949. It was built around a cabin first constructed in 1925. It is known for the miles-long panoramic view of the south coast of Big Sur from the outdoor terrace and its California/Greek Mediterranean menu featuring locally and California-grown food. Orson Welles and his wife Rita Hayworth bought the cabin around which the restaurant is built from the Trail Club of Jolon on a whim as a romantic getaway. The couple measured the windows for curtains, but never returned. The Fassetts bought the cabin and surrounding land from Welles and Hayworth in 1947 for $22,000. They named the restaurant after a potion used by the ancient gods to induce forgetfulness from pain or sorrow. The restaurant is located 29 miles (47 km) south of Carmel, California and about 800 feet (240 m) above the coast. The business has had to endure multiple closures of Highway 1 since its founding due to fire, floods, and mudslides. The restaurant employs 105 people and maintains about 20 workforce housing units.

Joseph W. Post House is historic house located on the Highway 1 in Posts Summit, approximately four miles to the south of Big Sur, California. Erected in 1867, the homestead evolved through five generations of the Post family settling the Big Sur coast in California. The House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 12, 1985.

Posts (formerly Posts Summit) is an unincorporated community in the Big Sur region of Monterey County, California. It is located on the Big Sur Coast Highway, 4.8 miles (7.7 km) south of the Big Sur Village at an elevation of 945 feet (288 m).