This Big Sur waterfall drops onto a beach nobody’s allowed to touch, and the trail to see it is closed with no reopening date
Most waterfalls in California make you work for the view. McWay Falls is the opposite problem — it’s one of the easiest to see in the entire state, dropping 80 feet straight onto a sandy beach just off Highway 1 in Big Sur. Nobody’s allowed to set foot on that beach, and right now, nobody’s allowed to walk the trail that gets you close to it either.
The cove below the falls didn’t always look like this. Before 1983, McWay Creek fell straight into the ocean at high tide — no beach, no turquoise water, no postcard shot. A massive landslide that winter dumped tons of earth and debris into the cove, and the ocean spent the following decades sculpting it into the view everyone recognizes today.
We hiked the short Overlook Trail out to see it ourselves a few years back, and it’s one of those views that looks almost fake in person — turquoise water, white sand, a waterfall that never seems to slow down, even in the driest months. The beach itself has been off-limits to visitors for a while now, since the bluffs above it are unstable and the cove is closed to protect them.
Here’s what’s changed since then: the Overlook Trail itself has been closed since 2025 for a long-term retaining wall repair. California State Parks says the project is expected to run into 2026, and as of now there’s no firm reopening date on the books.
Your only option at the moment is the small pullout on Highway 1 above the cove. You’ll get essentially the same view from up there, just from a bit further back — and honestly, it’s still worth pulling over for. Just get all the way off the road before you reach for your phone; that shoulder gets busy.
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park doesn’t shut down just because the overlook trail is closed. The Ewoldsen Trail, a five-mile loop that climbs through redwoods along McWay Creek’s canyon, is still open — and it’s a far better workout than the flat waterfall walk ever was.
Entry runs $10 per vehicle, and that same fee gets you into other California State Parks for the rest of the day if you’re stringing together stops along Highway 1.
Have you swung by the Highway 1 pullout since the trail closed? We’d love to hear whether the view still holds up from up there.
Trip tips: grab a rental car to make the Highway 1 drive on your own schedule, and lock in a hotel nearby since Big Sur’s handful of in-park campgrounds book out fast.
Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.
