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Big Sur is a thinly-settled region of the central California coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean . This geology produces stunning views and has become a magnet for global Tourism . Although Big Sur has no specific boundaries, most definitions of the area include the 90 miles (145km) of coastline between Carmel and San Simeon , and extend about 20 miles (32km) inland to the eastern foothills of the Santa Lucias. Cone Peak, the second-highest mountain in the Santa Lucias, features the steepest coastal elevation increase in the lower 48 states, ascending nearly a mile (5,155 feet/1.6km) above sea level, only 3 miles (4.8 km) from the ocean.Henson, Paul and Usner, Donald. ''The Natural History of Big Sur'' 1993 , University of California Press; Berkeley ; page 11 The mountains trap most of the moisture out of the Cloud s, often in the form of morning fogs, creating a favorable environment for Forest s, including the southernmost habitat of the Coast Redwood . Farther inland, in the Rain Shadow , the conifer forests disappear and the vegetation becomes open oak woodland, then transitions into the more familiar fire-tolerant California Chaparral scrub. HISTORY Three Native American tribes were the first people to inhabit the area now known as Big Sur: the Ohlone , Esselen , and Salinan . Archaeological evidence shows that they lived in Big Sur for thousands of years, leading a nomadic, hunter-gatherer existence.Elliott, Analise. ''Hiking & Backpacking Big Sur'' 2005 , Wilderness Press; Berkeley ; page 21 Few traces of their material culture have survived. Their arrow heads were made of Obsidian , which indicates trading links with tribes hundreds of miles away, since the nearest sources of obsidian are in the Sierra Nevada mountains and the northern California Coast Ranges. Bedrock mortars, large exposed rocks hollowed out into bowl shapes that were used to grind oak acorns into flour, can be found at sites throughout Big Sur.Henson and Usner, pages 269-270 The first Europeans to see Big Sur were Spanish mariners led by Juan Cabrillo in 1542 , who sailed up the coast without landing. Two centuries passed before the Spanish attempted to colonize the area. In 1769 , an expedition led by Gaspar De Portolà were the first Europeans known to set foot in Big Sur, in the far south near San Carpoforo Canyon.''Ibid.'', page 272 Daunted by the sheer cliffs, his party avoided the area and pressed far inland. Portolà landed in Monterey Bay in 1770 , and with Father Junìpero Serra , who helped found most of the Missions in California, established the colony of Monterey , which became the capital of the Spanish colony ''Alta California''. The Spanish gave Big Sur its name during this period, calling the region ''el país grande del sur,'' or the "Big South Country" because it was a vast, unexplored, and impenetrable land south of their capital at Monterey. The Spanish colonization devastated the Native American population. Most tribe members died out from European diseases or forced labor and malnutrition at the missions in the eighteenth century, while many remaining members assimilated with Spanish and Mexican ranchers in the nineteenth century.''Ibid.'', pages 264-267 Along with the rest of California, Big Sur became part of Mexico when it gained independence from Spain in 1821 . In 1834 , the Mexican governor José Figueroa granted a 9000-acre ''rancho'' in northern Big Sur to Juan Bautista Alvardo, and his uncle by marriage, Captain J.B.R Cooper, soon after assumed ownership. The oldest surviving structure in Big Sur, the so-called ''Cooper Cabin,'' was built in 1861 on the Cooper ranch.California Department of Parks & Recreation In 1848 , as a result of the Mexican-American War , Mexico ceded California to the United States . After passage of the federal Homestead Act in 1862 , a few hardy pioneers moved into Big Sur, drawn by the promise of free 160-acre parcels. Many local sites are named after the settlers from this period - Pfeiffer, Post, Partington, and McWay are common place names. From the 1860's through the first decades of the twentieth century, lumbering cut down most of the , The Boxwood Press; Pacific Grove ; page 72 There were no reliable roads to supply these industries, so local entrepreneurs built small boat landings at a few coves along the coast. None of these landings remain today, and few other signs of this brief industrial period are visible to the casual traveler. The rugged, isolated terrain kept all but the sturdiest and most self-sufficient settlers out. A 30-mile trip to Monterey could take three days by wagon, over a rough and dangerous track.Eliott, page 24 After the industrial boom faded, the early decades of the twentieth century passed with few changes, and Big Sur remained a nearly inaccessible wilderness. No residents had electricity until the 1920's, and even then, it was available at only two homes in the entire region, locally generated by water wheels and windmills.Henson and Usner, page 328; Woolfenden, page 64 Most of the population lived without power until connections to the California electric grid were established in the early 1950's. Big Sur changed rapidly when Highway 1 was completed in 1937 after eighteen years of construction, aided by New Deal funds and the use of Convict Labor . Highway 1 dramatically altered the local economy and brought the outside world much closer, with ranches and farms quickly giving way to tourist venues and second homes. Even with these modernizations, Big Sur was spared the worst excesses of development, due in no small part to foresighted residents who fought to keep the land unspoiled. The Monterey County government won a landmark court case in 1962 , affirming its right to ban billboards and other visual distractions on Highway 1.''National Advertising Co. v. County of Monterey'', 211 Cal.App.2d 375, 1962 The county then adopted one of the country's most stringent land use plans, prohibiting any new construction within sight of the highway. In the mid-twentieth century, Big Sur's relative isolation and natural beauty began to attract a different kind of pioneer - writers and artists, including Henry Miller , Robinson Jeffers , Edward Weston , Richard Brautigan , Hunter S. Thompson , and Jack Kerouac . The region also became home to centers of study and contemplation - a Catholic monastery, the New Camaldoli Hermitage , founded in 1958 , and the Esalen Institute , a workshop and retreat center established in 1962 . Esalen hosted many figures of the nascent " New Age ," and in the 1960's, played an important role in popularizing Eastern philosophies, the "human Potential Movement," EST and Gestalt Therapy in the United States. Big Sur acquired a bohemian reputation with these newcomers. Henry Miller recounted that a traveler knocked on his door, looking for the "cult of sex and anarchy."Miller, Henry. ''Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch'' 1957 , New Directions Publishing; New York ; page 45 Apparently finding neither, the disappointed visitor returned home. Big Sur remains sparsely populated, with fewer than 1500 inhabitants, according to the encompasses the inland portions and the higher mountain areas. The mountainous terrain, environmentally conscious residents, and lack of property available for development have kept Big Sur almost unspoiled, and it retains an isolated, frontier mystique. CLIMATE It is impossible to generalize about the weather in Big Sur, because the jagged topography causes many separate microclimates. This is one of the few places on Earth where redwoods grow within sight of cacti. Still, Big Sur typically enjoys a mild climate year-round, with a sunny, dry summer and fall, and a cool, wet winter. Coastal temperatures vary little during the year, ranging in the 50's to 70's (Fahrenheit) from June through October, and in the 40's to 60's from November through May. Farther inland, away from the ocean's moderating influence, temperatures are much more variable. Annual precipitation in the Big Sur Valley is about 40 inches (100cm), but the rainfall diminishes further to the south to about 25 inches. More than 70% of the rain falls from December through March, while the summer brings drought conditions. Snow is uncommon during the winter months in the coastal areas, although the mountaintops can receive heavy snowfalls. During winter, the abundant rains cause rock and mudslides that can cut off portions of Highway 1 for days or weeks, but the road is usually quickly repaired. TOURISM Although some Big Sur residents catered to adventurous travelers in the early twentieth century,Woolfenden, page 10 the modern tourist economy began when Highway 1 opened the region to automobiles, and only took off after World War II-era gasoline rationing ended in the mid-1940's. Most of the 3 million tourists who visit Big Sur each year do not venture far from Highway 1, because the adjacent Santa Lucia mountain range is one of the largest roadless areas near a coast in the lower 48 states. The highway winds along the western flank of the mountains almost completely within sight of the Pacific Ocean, varying from a few dozen to a thousand-foot sheer drop to the water. Since gazing at the views while driving is not advisable, the highway features a number of strategically placed turnouts allowing motorists to stop and admire the landscape. Indeed, the section of Highway 1 running through Big Sur is widely considered as one of the most scenic driving routes in the United States, if not the world. The land use restrictions that have preserved Big Sur's natural beauty also mean that tourist accommodations are limited, often expensive, and fill up quickly during the busy summer season. There are fewer than 300 hotel rooms on the entire 90-mile stretch of Highway 1 between San Simeon and Carmel, and no chain hotels, supermarkets, or fast-food outlets.Big Sur Chamber of Commerce Lodging tends to be rustic cabins, motels, and campgrounds, or costly, exclusive five-star resorts frequented by Hollywood types (and those who can afford to live like them), with little in between. Most lodging and restaurants are clustered in the Big Sur River valley, where Highway 1 leaves the coast for a few miles and winds into a redwood forest, protected from the chilly ocean breezes. Besides sightseeing from the highway, Big Sur offers hiking, mountain climbing, and other outdoor activities. There are a few small, scenic beaches that are popular for walking, but usually unsuitable for swimming because of unpredictable currents and frigid temperatures. Big Sur's nine state parks have many points of interest, including one of the only waterfalls on the Pacific Coast that plunges directly into the ocean, the ruins of a grand stone cliffside house that was the region's first electrified dwelling, and a nineteenth century lighthouse complex on a lonely, windswept hill that looks like an island in the fog. List of state parks (north to south)
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