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Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, Carmel, CA

Photo: Kai Schreiber from Jersey City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & Outdoors

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Coastal state reserve on the Monterey Peninsula known for headlands, coves, meadows, and a rich offshore marine habitat.

Route 1 Box 62 Carmel, CA 93923 · Carmel, CA

About Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Point Lobos sits on the central California coast in Monterey County, about three miles south of Carmel along Highway 1. Visitors come for scenic headland and cove views, photography, painting, nature study, picnicking, and hiking. The reserve has rare plant communities and unique rock formations on land. Its offshore waters are part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and are open to certified divers at two coves. The land was once used for whaling, quarrying, and a large abalone cannery, and it has since recovered ecologically. The reserve is day use only, with no camping and no dogs allowed.

  • #coastal
  • #hiking
  • #scuba diving
  • #photography
  • #wildlife viewing

What's around here?

The closest stops to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sightseeing
    Iconic

    Bixby Bridge

    No admission fee

    See the 1932 concrete arch of Bixby Bridge carry Highway 1 high over Bixby Creek on the Big Sur coast.

    10 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sightseeing

    Point Sur State Historic Park

    Under $25

    A preserved 1889 lighthouse station on a volcanic rock above the Big Sur coast, open only on guided tours.

    15 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sightseeing
    Local Gem

    Salinas City Center

    No admission fee

    Downtown Salinas improvement association promoting Old Town's restaurants, shops and events.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    19 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Museums

    National Steinbeck Center

    Under $25

    A Salinas museum that honors the life and writing of novelist John Steinbeck.

    19 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Iconic

    Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

    Under $25

    Look down on McWay Falls, an 80-foot waterfall that drops onto a Big Sur beach, from a trail above the cove.

    29 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Outdoor Adventure

    Pinnacles National Park

    $25–$50

    Hike among volcanic rock spires, scramble through talus caves and watch for California condors overhead.

    43 mi awayMore like this

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