1 active Pfeiffer Big Sur alert
- ClosurePfeiffer Big Sur State Park closed for fire impactsPfeiffer Big Sur State Park is currently closed; do not enter.Official details
Overview
About Riverside Picnic Areas A, B and C
Why stop
- Shelters and stonework connect a simple lunch stop to the park’s CCC history.
Map
Where it is
Loading the Pfeiffer Big Sur map
Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Pfeiffer Big Sur Tour Guide
Your drive to Riverside Picnic Areas A, B and C, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Colonial Tree and the Riverside Picnic Areas0:00 / 0:16
“Colonial Tree is ahead near Day Use Lot Four, an easy stop at the park's biggest redwood. It's estimated to be around eleven hundred years old.”
Plays as you drive up to Riverside Picnic Areas A, B and C in the Parkwolf Pfeiffer Big Sur Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Big Sur River Gorge: Beyond the Paved Path
- Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground and Camp Store
- Big Sur Station: Gateway to Pine Ridge
- Mount Manuel Trail: A Full Day Above the Gorge
- 10 audio storiesacross Pfeiffer Big Sur’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor California Condor, Wild Turkey, Mule Deer, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 11 trails, 20 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about Riverside Picnic Areas A, B and C
Three areas, one riverside clusterPicnic Areas A, B and C are three separate picnic spots beside the Big Sur River, near the…
Picnic Areas A, B and C are three separate picnic spots beside the Big Sur River, near the softball field and beyond the main campground. The park map groups them together, but they are separate areas rather than one single table or stop.
Make it a meal breakThis is a place to settle in for a picnic rather than add another viewpoint.
This is a place to settle in for a picnic rather than add another viewpoint. Day-use Lots 3 and 4 sit alongside the cluster, with Lot 4 beside the picnic areas. Keep to the designated parking.
Built in the CCC yearsThe Civilian Conservation Corps worked in the park from 1933 to 1941 and built all three picnic…
The Civilian Conservation Corps worked in the park from 1933 to 1941 and built all three picnic areas. The historic layout included stone-base tables, some stone cook stoves, and large shelters in B and C; many tables and tabletops were later replaced. Individual build dates for each structure are not known.
Water and restroomsDrinking water and public toilets are not mapped specifically to A, B or C, so check what is…
Drinking water and public toilets are not mapped specifically to A, B or C, so check what is available before relying on either for a long stop.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Pfeiffer Big Sur
10 sightingsCalifornia CondorMost seen around 1 PMSighting map
55 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
100 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
36 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around 1 PMSighting map
46 sightingsAcorn WoodpeckerMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
11 sightingsGray FoxMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Pfeiffer Big Sur. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
