McWay Falls

DETAILS:

• Location: Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - 52801 Highway 1, Big Sur, CA 93920 (about 37 miles south of Carmel)

• Hours of Operation: Everyday - 8AM to sunset.

• Parking: Paid parking lot within the park ($10 cash as of this post). You can also park along Highway 1 for free, space permitting.

• Cost: Free!

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes. Add additional time if you want to hit up any of the trails inside the park.

• Miscellaneous:

  • McWay Falls can only be viewed from the trail and lookout point in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (not to be confused with nearby Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park). The cove that McWay Falls drops into is completely off limits. Those caught trespassing will get a citation and/or arrested.

  • Dogs (excluding service dogs) are not allowed on the trails but are allowed in picnic and day use areas.

McWay Falls just might be the prettiest waterfall in the state and perhaps the country. Located within Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park along Highway 1 in Big Sur, whatever this waterfall lacks in magnitude (like Niagara or Victoria Falls), it easily makes up for with its paradisal location. McWay Falls is the result of McWay Creek dumping itself over a cliff into the secluded cove below. This 80ft drop into the Pacific Ocean classifies McWay Falls as a “tidefall”. This basically means that it’s a coastal waterfall which gives it the rare distinction of being 1 of only 25 documented tidefalls in the entire world (two of which reside in California, the other being Alamere Falls in Point Reyes).

A very short trail (approximately .3 miles) from the parking lot will take you to the McWay Falls lookout point. Since Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (and parking lot) is located on the east-side of Highway 1, the trail will take you underneath the highway through a tunnel before shooting you out along the coast towards the lookout. If you park along Highway 1, just look for access points to the trail near the park’s entrance. While absolutely breathtaking, viewing McWay Falls doesn’t require much time (30 minutes should be plenty), so to maximize your visit, I’d recommend exploring one (or more) of the other trails located within the park. These six trails range from .25 miles up to 5 miles, each of varying elevation. Please visit the website below (under “resources”) for details on each trail. We ventured up Canyon Trail which winds east through the forested terrain along McWay Creek until it ends at the park’s lesser known second waterfall; Canyon Falls. Two waterfalls for the price of one, how can you beat that?!

 

RESOURCES:

• Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (home of McWay Falls) website.