After our long hike in Big Sur, we decided to spend the next day there taking it a little easier. We spent the day driving along the Pacific Coast Highway sightseeing with multiple options for short hikes.

We knew we didn’t have a lot of energy for any really challenging hikes, but we also didn’t want to sit in the truck all day so we figured having a handful of short hikes would be a good compromise. We would just do as many as we felt up to without having any real commitments.

We did 3 short hikes that day.

The first hike we did was incredibly short and disappointing. We went to McWay Falls via Overlook Trail at Julia Pfeiffer State Park. The trail was 1 mile loop with a view of a waterfall flowing off a cliff onto a beach. It is supposed to be one of the top rated attraction sights in Big Sur.

Unfortunately, when we were there part of the trail was closed off due to hazardous conditions. We were only able to go ¼ – ½ miles out and back. Because of it being closed off, we didn’t have a great view of the waterfall.

It was also the most crowded trail that we had done and with it being such a short trail, there wasn’t a lot of space to spread out. Everyone crowded together at the end, trying to get a view of the waterfall.. The number of people was crazy! We quickly left as we didn’t want to force our way through the crowd, especially since this was prior to the Covid vaccination.

The next trail we came across was called Partington Cove and this was our favorite of the day!

It was a short trail right off of the Pacific Coast Highway. The trailhead sneaks up on you so you have to really look for where the trail begins to know where to park. Cars just park on the side of the road as there isn’t a parking lot for this trail, but they block the sign to the trail so as long as you know roughly where the trail is located, you will be able to decipher where it is by all the parked vehicles.

This is a 1.1 mile out and back trail rated as moderate with a 347 feet elevation, according to AllTrails. The wide, gravel trail starts at the road and begins with a steep descent towards the ocean. The couple of switchbacks along the trail made the decline less steep, but considering we were already tired out, we knew the climb back up would be draining.

We made our way to the first scenic stopping point of the trail via a short side trail. It brought us to a rocky section that we could walk around on to get a close up view of the roaring ocean.

I found a comfortable rock to sit on and stare out at the body of water in front of me. There were 2 tall rock formations framing the sides of a small inlet where the large and powerful waves of the ocean would flow into and aggressively crash against the rocks.

It was humbling and peaceful to watch the intensity of the sea.

After observing the power of the waves, we continued back along the main trail to get to the final lookout point. We crossed over a wooden bridge, coming to a tunnel taking us through a mountain.

As we made our way through the far side of the tunnel, we were rewarded with the most beautiful sight of the ocean that we had ever seen. We had reached our destination, Partington Cove.

The powerful crashing of the waves against the cliff was responsible for forming the shape of the cove. As the water flowed into this inlet, it formed a whirling movement of the water creating whirlpools. We could see how if someone stood too close to the edge, they could easily fall in and the whirlpool would prevent them from escaping.

Because of this, we steered clear from the edge.

This cove is a pretty popular touristy spot. Due to the high volume of people at this location, I would recommend going early in the day so that you can try to enjoy the peacefulness prior to the crowds.

Since the area was crowded with people and dogs, we decided to make our way to the far side of the cove, scrambling over the rocky cliff. It was extremely easy to negotiate, but because it was more of a scramble, fewer people followed.

We found a moderately quiet spot to sit and enjoy the spectacular views of the glistening waters below.

This was such an incredible place. I would love to go back! Like I mentioned, the only downside of this hike is how heavily trafficked it is since it is such a short hike. Even with the fairly steep climb to return to your vehicle, it is a pretty easy adventure that has a high reward.

After departing the stunning cove, we continued our way along the PCH. We planned to go to Pfeiffer Beach around sunset as we had read about the fascinating views of the sun shining through a hole in a rock.

Pfeiffer Beach is a very popular sightseeing destination as it is famously known for its purple sand and Keyhole Arch.

In order to get to the beach, we had to drive along a narrow road that had several sections where it was one-lane. There were many pull-outs along the way, allowing for vehicles to pull to the side to allow a car to pass because of the narrow sections. Because of this, it was extremely slow going, causing a 2 mile drive to take 15-20 minutes. 

The kicker was that when we got to the parking lot, a worker was there to inform everyone that the lot was full and no spots would be available for 1 ½ hours. We decided we weren’t going to wait, so we turned around and headed back down the narrow road.

We weren’t quite ready to head back home at this point and service was limited so we couldn’t look around to see what else to do. We found another hiking trail just ½ mile down the road so we decided to go for one more hike.

The trail we found was Buzzard Roost’s Trail which was 2.6 miles. The entire hike was in the woods, which was refreshing as it was sunny and hot that day. It was nice having the shade since it had been limited on the other hikes we had done.

The elevation gain of this trail was only 810 feet, however at this point, we were starting to get run down from all our adventures that it felt more challenging. Unfortunately, we were not able to enjoy the scenery as much as we could have if we had done this hike in the morning. We were looking out towards the ocean as the sun was setting. With the sun shining so bright, it made it hard to see the views before us. If we had gone earlier in the day, the sun wouldn't have been in our eyes and we would have seen the views better. There were also telephone wires in sight which took away from the typical majestic feel of the views from summits.

The excitement we felt on this trail had more to do with the transformation we noticed among ourselves rather than the views from the top. We were happy with how much our endurance has improved, allowing us to move at a quicker pace with fewer rest breaks. It has been fun and satisfying to see the advancements we have made since starting our journey.

Once we returned to the truck, we started our drive back home. In our eyes, this was our last night of vacation. After departing this location, we were heading out to our final (albeit still temporary) destination. The next day would be spent driving the rest of the way to that location and getting set up and ready for the first day of my first travel contract!

Because it was our last night of our road trip, we wanted to have a nice dinner watching the sunset over the Pacific. Unfortunately with Covid, we were unable to go to a restaurant as they were closed for indoor and outdoor seating at this time.

So, we came up with an alternative plan prior to setting out for the day. We packed a picnic and on our way back home, we found a nice overlook on the side of the Pacific Coast Highway to set up and eat dinner.

It was a beautiful view watching the orange sun set out in the horizon.

After we were done eating and sightseeing, we finished traveling back home to rest up for the last leg of our trip.