Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park |
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IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)
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Pfeiffer Beach at the mouth of the Big Sur River in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, Big Sur, California
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| Location | Monterey County, California, United States |
| Nearest city | Big Sur, California |
| Area | 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) |
| Governing body | California Department of Parks and Recreation |
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is a beautiful state park in Monterey County, California. It's located near the famous area of Big Sur on California's Central Coast. The park covers about 1,006 acres (4.07 km2) of land. The Big Sur River flows right through the middle of it. Some people even call it a "mini Yosemite" because of its amazing nature!
Giant redwood trees grow here, and they can live for a very long time. Some redwoods are known to live up to 2,200 years! There's a special tree in the park called the Colonial Tree. Experts think it's between 1,100 and 1,200 years old.
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Who Lived Here First?
The first European person known to settle in the Big Sur area was George Davis. He arrived in 1853 and claimed land along the Big Sur River. He built a small cabin near where the Mount Manuel Trail starts today. Later, in 1868, two Native Americans named Manual and Florence Innocenti bought Davis's cabin and land.
The park is named after John Pfeiffer. He started living in a cabin on this land in 1884. John was part of the Pfeiffer family, who came from France. His family was one of the first European families to settle in this part of California.
In the winter of 1869, John's parents, Michael and Barbara Laquet Pfeiffer, were traveling to the southern coast of Big Sur. But they had to stop for the winter in the Sycamore Canyon area. They loved the place so much that they decided to stay! They had four children with them: Charles, John, Mary Ellen, and Julia. Later, they had four more children: William, Frank, Flora, and Adelaide.
The United States government passed a law called the Homestead Act of 1862. This law allowed people to claim land if they lived on it and improved it. John's father, Michael Pfeiffer, used this law to get official ownership of his land in 1883 and 1889. Many places in Big Sur are named after the Pfeiffer family because they were so important to the area's early history.
How the Park Was Saved
In 1930, a company from Los Angeles wanted to buy John Pfeiffer's land. They offered him a lot of money, $210,000, to build houses there. But John Pfeiffer wanted to protect the beautiful land that his family loved so much. Instead of selling to the developers, he sold about 700 acres (2.8 km2) of his land to the state of California in 1933. This is how Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park was created, making sure everyone could enjoy its natural beauty.
Camping and Staying Overnight
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is a great place to stay overnight. It has both a hotel, called the Big Sur Lodge, and a campground. The campgrounds have showers that work with coins, bathrooms, and a small store where you can buy things. The store also has WiFi if you need to connect to the internet.
Sometimes, the campgrounds have to close. For example, they were closed in the winter of 2008–2009 because of a big wildfire called the Basin Complex Fire.
Hiking and Trails
The park is famous for its amazing redwood groves and a trail that leads to Pfeiffer Falls. After the Basin Complex Fire, some of the trails were damaged by mudslides. This meant the Pfeiffer Falls Trail had to be changed. But plans were made to fix the old trail, including its wooden bridges, starting in 2016.
Fire Impact on the Park
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park has been affected by wildfires. The Basin Complex Fire in June and July 2008 burned a very large area in California. Most of the damage to the park was on its edges. Luckily, the campgrounds were able to open again by the end of July that year.
Another fire, the Chalk Fire, happened in September and October of the same year. This fire caused more serious damage to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Because of this, a large part of the park was closed from September 2008 to May 2009.
Images for kids
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Sierra Nevada at the Golden Gate in 1857. This ship was wrecked shortly after the Pfeiffer family got off it.
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Kate Pfeiffer and cattle around 1900.
See also
In Spanish: Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park para niños
