partington cove

Took this walk as a bit of a lark.Loved the vistas, then, on the way back, took a tail to the right.Enterered a tunnel, then walked to the end where there was a bench.Watched whales breaching for forty five minutes, breathtaking!

It's a great walk and...across the road from the trailhead are cliffs where Condors are often spied. Get out your binoculars and make a scan. They sometimes are even soaring over the road. What a thrill.

Enjoyed the hike down to Partington Cove and the rocky beach area. Felt the beauty emanating from the stream, forest and ocean. Found this little hidden gem to be a zen like experience!

First off you have to find the parking pull-over - not really a lot. If you go past Julia Pfeiffer state park going south you have gone too far. The hike is about a mile and 300 feet down to the ocean. Great view of the waves crashing on the rocks. There is an old tunnel that goes to an inlet where they used to unload cargo from the ships- no roads to the Big Sur area at that time. Also, it was of course used for smuggling during prohibition.There is also a great trail on the other side of the road - good forest and stream through the redwoods. Also, a turn off spur to the Tin House.

Great short hike in the Big Sur area. The trail is steep, but definitely well maintained and doable. Once you get to the bottom, its a beautiful rocky area.Please note - this is not a beach for laying out. A couple of other tourists while we were there appeared upset there was no sand.

Barely noticeable gate takes you down onto a hike right to the sea, through tunnels and trees to sea otter and crashing waves. We saw condors, dolphins and whales. Go!

The walk down to the coves is a breeze, but watch out for the walk back up! The terrain is steep and there are no handrails, but it is not problematic since the trail is very wide. The coves themselves are quite nice and picturesque.

Great spot to explore nature on the central coast. The trail is relatively steep, but manageable, switchbacking a bit from the road down to the cove. Along the way, you'll encounter a variety of vegetation, including natives (lupine & yarrow) and non-natives (mustard), redwoods, and poison oak. At the bottom of the hill, the trail splits. Veering left takes you on a trail through a tunnel beneath the cliffside out to Partington Cove. The cove was used to load bark onto ships in the 19th century, and the remains of the loading dock are visible on the rocky cliffside. Veering right takes you out to a small beach with very energetic and dramatic wave action, so I would recommend taking photos over suntanning here. Take your time to explore, because you will be huffing and puffing your way back up to the road when you're done.

While traveling down Highway 1, we came across this hiking trail. It is part of the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park but there is no fee to use it. A bit of a steep walk down but if you are reasonably normal in activity, you can do it. Kids (older than 8) would have no problem. You access it from the Partington Cove turnout on Highway 1 (if heading south on Highway 1, after Big Sur but before waterfall trail). At bottom of trail, trail spits to either a rocky beach or to a tunnel under the hill leading to the cove. We were there in early August and it was very busy on the highway but almost no one was on this trail. Nice way to see the ocean close up and something a little different. Here is a description from Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP:"The trail leads down to the Pacific Ocean from Highway 1 starting at the Partington Cove turnout. The trail is a dirt fire road that goes west from the highway. The trail goes to the bottom of the canyon where you will reach Partington Creek. The trail splits north and south. The north trail leads to a small rocky beach. Surf conditions can be very rough and swimming or wading is not advised. The south fork of the trail leads through a historic tunnel to an overlook which once was a loading dock for ships. Do not travel past the overlook bench the surf can be unpredictable and the rocks are unstable."

This beach is very hard to find, but has a nice walk down a hill. The beach is very rocky and can be challenging to navigate. There is a fun tunnel and that lets you out to another beach, rocky also. We saw a seal in the water. Lots of waves. No other people are usually here. Not much parking, but a fun little side trip. Total time you can spend here is about one hour to one hour and a half. Watch out for the poison oak! No bathrooms.

Exactly what we wanted excersize. Steep hill down on way in. Decent vistas, and a cool tunnel. Worth it if u want excersize.

There is not much of a designated parking area, so just park off the road, in the curve, above Partington Cove, below Partington Ridge.It's an easy walk down to cove, and through the tunnel, to the area which not too long ago was used to load and off load big boats.A natural harbor, and aside from being scenic also a historically important spot.helmut s.

...which you will need to going back, and have a couple hours, you will find rewards exceeded by few walks in the Sur.Partington Landing has a nice bench on which you will spend some time. Imagine seagoing sailing ships coming in there, onloading redwood and tanbark. Imagine dolphins, and a sea otter giving a 15-minute grooming show to you and you alone - maybe the alltime cutest wild animal moment of my life - and you'll have what I shared, for most of the time I was there, with no one else.A tunnel made of redwood, going right through a ridge of stone, takes you to the crashing waves of Partington Cove. Another short walk ends in an exquisite little grove of bosky redwoods.Evening is the time. If you are not alone, you will probably be close enough, particularly in the off season.

The Partington Cove trail head is located two miles north of the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Park on either side of the highway. On the coast side there is a gated-road that leads to the cove. The one-mile trail starts with a steep decent through a wooded canyon. The trail continues to a 60-foot tunnel that is tall enough to walk through comfortably. The tunnel was used in the late 1800's as part of a system to transport tanbark oak to ships waiting in the cove. Some of the old machine parts are still there. The trail to the cove ends at a bench where you can watch the tide wash in and out, hopefully with a sea otter drifting on the tide. We watched a lone otter finish a snack but after a brief time in the cove, he moved on and so did we. The climb back out was no less steep. There are a couple restrooms along the trail but no other amenities. It was a pretty walk and worth a stop.

A magical, mystical natural cove. It takes some effort to get there (and even more to get back up a fairly long and steep trail) but it's worth it.