I just finished a week-long road trip to California with my husband, Brian and our dog, Merle. We spent a total of 51 hours in the car over seven days. It was a lot of driving, but the beautiful scenery and my dog’s excitement upon experiencing his very first beach made it all worthwhile. Big Sur was our very first major road trip and we learned many lessons along the way.

This is a also a story of how we found ourselves traveling through Big Sur on a holiday weekend with no cell reception and no clue where to eat or sleep. The good news is you can learn from our mistakes! I’m going to share a few tips that will make your Big Sur road trip run a bit more smoothly than ours!

The Basics

Big Sur is a rugged, undeveloped section of coastline in California’s Central Coast. It’s known for a winding two-lane highway that offers sweeping views of its rocky beaches, redwood forests and majestic cliffs.

1) Check out the Elephant Seals

This vista in San Simeon was by far my favorite roadside stop while driving up Highway 1! The elephant seals are wonderful creatures to watch. They wrestle, scratch, swim, and snuggle all within ten minutes of visiting. If you want good photos, I suggest bringing a lens with zoom because you it’s important to keep your distance. Another great aspect of this attraction is that it’s free!!

2) Campgrounds and Cabins Fill Up Fast!

Coming from New Mexico, we were used to being able to roll into campgrounds with no reservations. That is absolutely not the case for coastal California! The major campgrounds, particularly around Big Sur, were completely filled. I learned that people typically reserve campsites online as far as six months to one year in advance through ReserveCalifornia.com/Web. The six main state parks in Big Sur are Andrew Molera, Garrapata, Pfeiffer Burns, Pfeiffer Big Sur, Point Lobos and Point Sur state parks. The last two do not permit camping and are for day use only. You can find more info on parking, passes and fees through the CA State Parks app. Limited private camping options are also an option through apps like Hipcamp.

3) Be wary of traveling on a holiday weekend

We traveled on President’s Day weekend and nearly every single hotel was booked in Santa Barbara excluding the ones with rooms that cost 500 dollars a night or more. And as mentioned earlier, campsites were all taken! I recommend weekday travel that steers clear of holidays and weekend traffic.

4) Dogs aren't allowed at a lot places in Big Sur

Unfortunately for dog owners/lovers, dogs aren’t allowed on many of the trails in Big Sur. The rules are posted and enforced by park rangers. But don’t worry, there is one trail where dogs are permitted. Pine Ridge Trail is a 19.5 miles out and back hike. We did a shorter version of it at just 4.5 miles. Along the trail, there is a sign that points to an overlook that takes you off the main path. The overlook was underwhelming so I suggest you skip that first sign and continue on the main trail for better views! Also note, a day pass is 10 dollars, but you can use that day pass at other parks!

Online there are resources indicating that Prewitt Creek Trail also allows dogs. Unfortunately, the road is closed due to damage from the massive fires that occurred earlier in 2022. The last update from the Forest Service was on March 8th, 2022 and the roads remained closed.

5)Dog Beaches are the best beaches

There are designated dog beaches in Santa Barbara and in Carmel-by-the-Sea. These just aren’t beaches where your dog can be free because there are no other people around. These are literal dog parks that happen to be on the beach. The joy of watching all the dogs play and explore was amazing. The dog beaches were definitely the highlight of the trip! The humans on the beach were quite social too, so we made new friends!

6) Beware of Spotty Phone Reception

Between Ragged Point and Big Sur, the phone reception for Verizon and T-Mobile ranges from non-existent to very spotty. For some reason, this surprised me. I assumed that since California is so populous that all of the roads near big cities would have good reception. I was very much wrong. So make sure you have downloaded maps and know where to go and what you want to do in advance.

7) Eat at Nepenthe

While panicking about food and shelter in the Internet free zone, we came upon a single open restaurant. We decided to stop at Nepenthe for food and for advice because surely someone could tell us our options for lodging. The food was really good and the atmosphere was fantastic. If you have Verizon, you can actually get internet there too!

Conclusion

The main takeaway is to plan in advance—far in advance! It is difficult to make a spontaneous trip to Big Sur! It’s not impossible, but you might end up tired and hungry with no cell phone reception and nowhere to sleep. Plan six months to a year in advance if you want to secure a campsite. Avoid holiday or weekend travel if you want to stay at a hotel. And this might be a trip where it’s easier to leave the pups at home. If you do end up going, I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments! What trails did you visit? What did you think?