Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Henry Miller Memorial Library
INTERNET
11am-6pm;
)
Free wi-fi and public internet terminals (donation requested).
Post Office
POST OFFICE
800-275-8777;
www.usps.com
;
47500 Hwy 1;
8:30-11am & 1-4pm Mon-Fri)
Just north of Big Sur Bakery.
Getting There & Around
Big Sur is best explored by car, since you'll be itching to stop frequently and take in the
rugged beauty and vistas that reveal themselves after every hairpin turn. Even if your driv-
ing skills are up to these narrow switchbacks, others' aren't: expect to average 35mph or
less along the route. Parts of Hwy 1 are battle-scarred, evidence of a continual struggle to
keep them open after landslides and washouts. Check current highway conditions with
Carmel and Point Lobos as far south as Nepenthe restaurant, stopping en route at Andrew
Molera State Park and the Big Sur River Inn. Buses run three times daily between late
May and early September, and twice daily on Saturdays and Sundays only the rest of the
year.
Point Piedras Blancas
Many lighthouses still stand along California's coast, but few offer such a historically
evocative seascape. Federally designated an outstanding natural area, the jutting, wind-
adult/child 6-17yr $10/5; tours usually 9:45am Mon-Sat mid-Jun-Aug, 9:45am Tue, Thu & Sat
Sep-mid-Jun)
- one of the tallest on the West Coast - have been laboriously replanted with
native flora. Picturesquely, everything looks much the way it did when the first lighthouse
keepers helped ships find safe harbor at the whaling station at San Simeon Bay. Guided
tours meet at the old Piedras Blancas Motel, 1.5 miles north of the lighthouse gate on Hwy
1. No reservations are taken; call ahead to check tour schedules.
