Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

The Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is a state park in Monterey County in the U.S. state of California. The park is one of the main attractions of the Big Sur.

Geography

The 391 -acre park is located 41 km south of Carmel at California State Route 1 and three kilometers south of the town of Big Sur and is not to be confused with the 19 km south Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. The park extends along the western slopes of the Santa Lucia Mountains and is characterized by the valley of the Big Sur River, which meanders through the park redwood forests to the Pacific, eight kilometers away. In the forest hid the 18 m high are Pfeiffer Falls.

Fauna and Flora

The valley of the Big Sur River is forested with redwood trees, Lithocarpus densiflorus and strawberry trees, the mountain slopes are covered with chaparral or consist of open mountain meadows. The park is home to mule deer, western gray squirrels, raccoons, skunks and birds such as dippers and belted kingfisher.

History

John Pfeiffer, after which the park is named, managed as a farmer of pioneer days 64 hectares of mountainous terrain between the Sycamore Canyon and the Big Sur River. In 1884 he moved into a cottage on the Big Sur River Gorge, which is now reconstructed as a " Homestead Cabin " at the Gorge Trail. In 1908 the family opened a Pfeiffer Ranch Resort inn mentioned. John Pfeiffer sold or gave away his farmland in 1933 to the state, which thus forms the core of state parks. The Civilian Conservation Corps built in the 1930s, the rustic lodge and other park facilities.

2008 parts of the park were destroyed by the Basin Complex Fire.

Tourist Facilities

The park has a campground with 218 parking spaces are located, which are partially along the Big Sur River, and the Big Sur Lodge with 61 rooms. The park is crossed numerous hiking trails, some of which are not yet usable again because of the destruction caused by the forest fires currently ( 2011).