Ewoldsen Memorial Nature Center

This small nature center sits on the south side of the Big Sur River along Warden's Path. Its exhibits focus on the park's plants and wildlife, with life-size habitat murals and a digital condor-flight station. Stop if you want more context for what the trails show; the draw here is the exhibits, not another trail or overlook.

The center is on the river's south bank, across a footbridge from the lodge, campground and picnic-area side of the park. The route is identified as accessible, and accessible parking and restrooms serving the center are at day-use lots #1 and #2. The exact walk from those lots isn't published. The separate Big Sur Lodge has a cafe and grocery store; those are not part of the center.

One Mural III panel is a four-by-five-foot acrylic-on-drywall piece. It shows a California kingsnake on a boulder, a California turkey and rocks modeled from the Big Sur River. A mounted turkey specimen stands in front of the mural, so you can compare the real feathers with the bird painted in its habitat.

The digital station is based on actual Big Sur condor flight patterns and lets visitors experience what it is like to fly like a condor. It gives the center's wildlife displays a hands-on payoff, especially if you want to do something with the information rather than only read it.

The center occupies a smaller building beside the historic park warden's house. The Civilian Conservation Corps worked in the park from 1933 to 1941 and built the neighboring house in a park-rustic style.