Settlements View of Gorda, one of the small clusters of services in Big Sur The southern border is generally accepted to be San Carpóforo Creek in San Luis Obispo County. Most current descriptions of the area refer to Malpaso Creek 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of the Carmel River as the northern border. Members of the Harlan Family, who homesteaded the Lucia region 9 miles (14 km) south of Slates Hot Springs, said that Big Sur was "miles and miles to the north of us." : 6 Prior to the construction of Highway 1, residents on the south coast had little contact with residents to the north of them. Esther Pfeiffer Ewoldson, who was born in 1904 and was a granddaughter of Big Sur pioneers Michael and Barbara Pfeiffer, wrote that the region extended from the Little Sur River 23 miles (37 km) south to Slates Hot Springs. The various informal boundaries applied to the region have gradually expanded north and south over time. : 8 : 7 Some visitors think Big Sur only refers to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, whose environmental setting is extremely different from the overall rocky coastal environment. The region is often confused with the small community of buildings and services 26 miles (42 km) south of Carmel in the Big Sur River valley, sometimes referred to by locals as Big Sur Village, but officially known as Big Sur. Location Approximate boundaries of the Big Sur regionīig Sur is not an incorporated town but a region without formal boundaries in California's Central Coast region. The majority of the interior region is part of the Los Padres National Forest, Ventana Wilderness, Silver Peak Wilderness or Fort Hunter Liggett. About 60% of the coastal region is owned by governmental or private agencies which do not allow any development. The program protects viewsheds from the highway and many vantage points, and severely restricts the density of development. The region is protected by the Big Sur Local Coastal Plan, which preserves it as "open space, a small residential community, and agricultural ranching." Approved in 1986, the plan is one of the most restrictive local-use programs in the state, and is widely regarded as one of the most restrictive documents of its kind anywhere. The highway has been closed more than 55 times by landslides, and in May 2017, a 2,000,000-cubic-foot (57,000 m 3) slide blocked the highway at Mud Creek, north of Salmon Creek near the San Luis Obispo County line, to just south of Gorda. Along with the ocean views, this winding, narrow road, often cut into the face of towering seaside cliffs, dominates the visitor's experience of Big Sur. The region remained one of the most inaccessible areas of California and the entire United States until, after 18 years of construction, the Carmel–San Simeon Highway (now signed as part of State Route 1) was completed in 1937. The interior region is mostly uninhabited, while the coast remains relatively isolated and sparsely populated, with between 1,800 and 2,000 year-round residents and relatively few visitor accommodations scattered among four small settlements. : 2 The larger region known as Big Sur does not have specific boundaries but is generally considered to include the 71-mile (114 km) segment of California State Route 1 between Malpaso Creek near Carmel Highlands in the north and San Carpóforo Creek near San Simeon in the south, as well as the entire Santa Lucia range between these creeks. īig Sur Village is a collection of small roadside businesses and homes. With 4.5 to 7 million visitors annually, it is among the top tourist destinations in the United States, comparable to Yosemite National Park, but with considerably fewer services, and less parking, roads, and related infrastructure. The views, redwood forests, hiking, beaches, and other recreational opportunities have made Big Sur a popular destination for visitors from across the world. Big Sur has been called the "longest and most scenic stretch of undeveloped coastline in the contiguous United States", a sublime "national treasure that demands extraordinary procedures to protect it from development", and "one of the most beautiful coastlines anywhere in the world, an isolated stretch of road, mythic in reputation". It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. state of California, between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean.
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