Yosemite National Park is firmly among the most-visited natural wonders in the USA — it attracted 4.1 million people in 2024, making it the sixth most popular national park in the country overall. It’s easy to see why. This is the home of those iconic, though dangerous, El Capitan hiking and climbing routes, and the fleeting February “Firefall” to name just two of its bucket-list draws. But what if there was a state park that had similar natural features — towering redwoods, gurgling rivers, sweeping forests — with just a fraction of the crowds? Cue the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.
Encompassing the wooded summits of the Santa Lucia Mountains as they crash down to meet the legendary Big Sur, the park is over 1,000 acres of pure wilderness. It bucks the trend of the awe-inspiring coast itinerary that many take up Highway 1 by swapping the rugged beaches for stands of soaring redwood trees and deep river gorges; natural features more common in the high Sierra Nevada than on California’s coast. In fact, it recalls the wonders of Yosemite so well that one TripAdvisor reviewer concluded: “You could almost call it a mini-Yosemite. It has almost everything to offer, albeit on a smaller scale.”
One upside is that it’s much more accessible than the wilds of Yosemite. The main entrance is on the eastern side of the coast highway just over 30 miles south of Monterey. That puts all the hiking, wild swimming, and forest walking under a 2.5-hour drive from the San Francisco International Airport.
Hiking among ancient redwoods
The presence of giant redwoods is one of the main reasons that Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park has drawn so many comparisons with Yosemite National Park. In all, the reserve counts a whopping 800 acres of chaparral shrub meadows and coastal redwood groves, marking the southernmost extent of the mighty tree’s range in the Golden State.
Hiking among them is one of the top experiences available in the park. Take the Pfeiffer Falls Trail — often touted as the best route for redwood spotters — to begin your hike amid rare old-growth stands of the great trees. The route soon branches into two, with one way leading to a lookout over the Big Sur Valley and the other taking you to the gushing Pfeiffer Falls themselves, which plunge into pools that are also surrounded by giant redwoods.
You don’t have to pull on the hiking boots to see the mighty specimens, though. A dedicated viewing deck offers sights of some of the biggest ones beside the main entrance to the park. What’s more, there are portions of the main campsite here that are set under the shade of ancient redwoods — you’ll sleep beneath giants!
Swimming spots and hot springs
