Big Sur Adventure Route
- OTG Crew
- Nov 2, 2019
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 30
Mellow terrain and big views will provide beginner to expert offroaders with an unforgettable experience along California's world famous Big Sur coastline and Ventana mountains.
Route Overview
Trip Length & Season
Adventure Rating: EpicÂ
Trip Length:Â Â 2-4 days, 190 mi
Season: Year round, but avoid after heavy rains. The 10 mile long Old Coast Road is typically closed during the wet season (Nov - April most years).
Digital Maps & GPX Files
Download Digital Mapping Files
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Technical Ratings & Terrain
Avg Trail Rating: 1
Peak Trail Rating: 2-3 (the last couple hundred yards to the San Martin Top viewpoint is rated a 4-5).
Typical Terrain: A mixture of highway, paved road, and mostly wide dirt roads. As you head south beyond Prewitt Ridge along South Coast Ridge Road, the road does have some steeper, rockier and loose sections (4 low recommended).
Recommended Vehicle / Moto / Adventure Vans
Recommended Vehicle: Stock 4x4
Recommended Moto: A mid-weight bike is recommended for some of the steep and loose terrain along South Coast Ridge Road.
Adventure Vans: Yes! Sprinters and Transit vans (4x4/AWD) are good to go!
Fuel, Provisions, and Recommended Gear
Fuel:
Carmel to Big Sur is 35 mi
Big Sur to Gorda is 40 mi
Gorda to King City is 125 mi
Provisions: Provisions can be obtained in the same general vicinity as fuel. Gear: no specialized gear is recommended for this adventure.
Alternative Routes
n/a
Camping Recommendations
Dispersed camping is permitted on National Forest Lands (the Indians area and the dirt roads south of Nacimiento-Fergusson Road). Some of our favorite places to camp include:
Prewitt Ridge and surrounding area
San Martin Top
Alder Creek Campground (if no room at San Martin Top)
Kirk Creek Campground (developed)
Plaskett Creek Campground (developed)
Plaskett Ridge
The Indians area: Roads 4, 5, 6, or 7 dispersed camping (alternative route in the Indians area)
Discovery Points
Monterey Bay
Lover's Point
Point Pinos Lighthouse
Asilomar State Beach
Seventeen Mile Drive
Sunset Point
The Lone Cypress
Mission San Carlos Borroméo del rÃo Carmelo
Carmelite Monastery
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
Bixby Bridge
Old Coast Road
Point Sur Lighthouse
Ventana Wildlife Discovery Center
McWay Falls
LimeKiln Falls
Limekiln Ruins
Sand Dollar Beach
Los Burros Road
Los Burros Mining District
San Martin Top
South Coast Ridge Road
Prewitt Ridge
Cone Peak
Hearst Hacienda Lodge
Mission San Antonio de Padua
San Antonio River
Merle Ranch
Wagon Caves Rock
Indians Historic Ranch Adobe
Tidball Store
Dutton Hotel (ruins)
Land Managers & Other Resources
Land Managers
CA State Parks  (Point Lobos State Park, Garrapata State Park, Point Sur State Historic Park, Andrew Molera State Park, Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park)
Permits & Papers
Adventure Badge OTG has partnered with All Roads Taken to offer an adventure badge for this route. >> Buy your adventure badge today!
Route Overview
One of our favorite things about Big Sur and its iconic coastline is that you can visit just about any time of year. While Big Sur may not have a plethora of dirt roads and technical terrain, any shortcomings are quickly forgotten as visitors are overwhelmed with stunning vistas around nearly every corner. The route begins along the Monterey Peninsula's famed 17 Mile Drive (DP) (there is a fee to drive 17 mile drive) before heading south along Highway 1. As you make your way south you'll be greeted with jagged cliffs, majestic mountains, pockets of redwood forest, and turquoise blue waters below. If you're lucky, you may even spot one of Big Sur's elusive California Condors.
Just before you cross Bixby Bridge (DP), you'll head inland on your first patch of dirt. Old Coast Road (DP) is a well-groomed 10-mile dirt road that meanders along the lower elevations of the Santa Lucia Mountains, traveling through coastal grasslands and pockets of redwood forest with views of the surrounding range and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The southern portion exits back onto pavement at Garrapata State Park and lighthouse.
Continue south along Highway 1 until reaching Los Burros Road (DP) (also known as Willow Creek Road). This dirt road is a spectacular introduction to the South Coast Ridge area, which runs from the pavement along Nacimiento Road all the way down to the San Luis Obispo County line, at least as far as you can legally drive before hitting a gate. The stretch is named Los Burros for the mules and donkeys that once hauled supplies up and down to the Los Burros Mining District (DP). You heard that right: there was once a bustling, albeit small-scale, mining district known as Manchester where roughly $2 million in modern dollars of gold were extracted from the creeks and mountain slopes around Alder Creek. Today, many of the off-grid homesteads in this area sit on those original mining claims.
As you reach the top of the ridge, turn right onto South Coast Road (DP), the bigger sibling to Old Coast Road. It's longer, more rugged, more remote, and sits at a much higher elevation. On days when the coastline is socked in with fog, you'll often find yourself looking down over the marine layer. Prewitt Ridge (DP) is by far the most popular camping area along South Coast Road, and for good reason: the views are second to none. San Martin Top (DP) is another popular camping destination near the Los Burros Mining District with equally impressive views. Even on busy weekends there are numerous dispersed camping spots along the ridge and surrounding area, so you should be able to find something.
Heading south of Los Burros Road, you get the feeling nobody is out this way, and that may very well be the case. It's quite possible that you'll reach the gate at the south end without passing another vehicle or person on this stretch of remote dirt road. A few prolonged hills require 4-low gearing, so plan accordingly. While the camping along this southern stretch won't give you the "edge of the world" feeling you get at Prewitt Ridge or San Martin Top, it's the right choice if your goal is to camp somewhere genuinely remote without being bothered. You may even hear the sounds of heavy artillery drifting over from Fort Hunter Liggett to the east.
As you backtrack north, the dirt eventually spits you out onto Nacimiento Road. Take the pavement east through Fort Hunter Liggett, following the track back into the Los Padres National Forest to an area known colloquially as The Indians. Before heading into the forest, make time for a stop at the historic Mission San Antonio de Padua (DP), California's third mission, founded in 1771 by Father Junipero Serra in the Valley of the Oaks. The mission fell into ruin after secularization in the 1830s and wasn't fully restored until the 1950s. Most recently, a $12 million seismic retrofit completed in 2022 secured its future by drilling 214 steel cores into the ancient adobe walls, creating a hidden skeleton that will hold the 250-year-old structure together through whatever this California earth throws at it next.
Father Serra called this place the Valley of the Oaks, and standing here it's easy to understand why. The Los Padres National Forest section known as The Indians is home to magnificent stands of valley oak, the largest oak species in North America. Some specimens here are pushing 600 years old, with canopies spreading over 100 feet wide and trunks exceeding 10 feet in diameter, trees that were already ancient when the mission was founded. The name "The Indians" is a nod to the Salinan people who called these oak valleys home for thousands of years. The Wagon Caves area (DP), a series of fascinating rock formations and shallow caves sacred to the Salinan people, is worth exploring on foot, as is the old Indian Ranch Adobe (DP), a remnant of the ranching era that followed the mission period.
The Big Sur Adventure Routes won't overwhelm the adventure traveler with technical terrain, but they will overwhelm you with everything else: history, solitude, and scenery that most visitors to this stretch of the California coast never find. That's precisely the point.
GALLERY
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