McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP

37 miles south of Carmel and 3 hours away from San Francisco is little paradise called Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. The park is made famous by McWay Falls, an 80-foot waterfall that drops directly from granite cliffs into the Pacific ocean. The falls can be seen from the 0.5-mile long Overlook Trail. Sadly, even though the trail is paved, it is not wheelchair accessible as it starts with a set of stairs.

The falls are magnificent and definitely worth seeing. If you would like to photograph them, then better visit the park in the late afternoon and don't forget to bring your ND filters! I regretted not having mine with me... From the Overlook Trail there are also wonderful views of the ocean and it is possible to see whales from there as well. We got lucky and saw a group of three moving close to the shore, which was amazing. They were too fast and that I did not manage to take a single good photo of them appearing at the surface of the ocean, but I'm posting one of them anyway as a proof that we in fact saw them.

There are several other trails in the park (Ewoldsen, Partington, Tan Bark) but, sadly, they were all close when we were there. I suggest that you check the park's website before you go there as it contains current information on both Hwy 1 and trails' closures.


Seven takes on McWay Falls:

Whales:

Soberanes Canyon in Garrapata SP

In Garrapata SP we initially planned to hike a 7 mile loop consisting of the following three trails: Soberanes Canyon, Peak and Rocky Ridge. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the trail we noticed a small message informing hikers that part of the loop is inaccessible due to severe trail erosion. We decided to hike there nonetheless and we opted for hiking the open part of the Soberanes Canyon Trail. At first the trail led us through cactus and chaparral-covered hills, but soon we ended up in a narrow canyon filled with redwoods. It was a nice change after hiking along the coast. It also reminded us, yet another time, how blessed we are to live in a such spectacular area of the world as California.

The hike was very pleasant, though short (3-miles round trip). I hope the other part of the trail will reopen soon and we'll have a chance to do the full loop, as I'm sure it is also beautiful. Its beginning definitely looked promising.

Garrapata SP is located on both sides of Hwy 1, 7 miles past Rio Road in Carmel. It is easy to miss it as no big signs advertise its presence. Hence, I would recommend using a GPS or following your cars mileage meter. The Soberanes Canyon Trail starts on the eastern, inland part of the park, but there are also several short trails on its western side. All of the latter lead to the Pacific ocean and offer great views of the coast.


Wildflowers along the trail:

The trail crossed Soberanes Creek several times:

Redwood Grove:

The coastal part of Garrapata park:

Wildflowers: