01/20/2019

Limekiln State Park – Hiking & Camping in Big Sur

Limekiln State Park is a nice stop if you’re in Big Sur. You could do a quick hike there or you could stay longer and camp there. We spent the weekend camping there and had all the time in the world to explore and relax.

Hiking

There’s a few short trails and one pretty long trail that starts at the campground.

Short Trails

The short trails combined are around 1.5 miles roundtrip from the campground. You’ll walk through lush greens and enjoy the redwood trees.

You’ll then get to choose whether you want to see limekiln first or see the waterfall. Either way it’s not much distance so you should have plenty of time to see both. If you choose to see the waterfall first, you’ll have to cross the creek and get over some rocks.

The waterfall was pretty. The water was really cold, but you could go for a dip if you’re brave. The limekiln was a bit underwhelming and I don’t think I would’ve missed anything if I didn’t see it.

Long Trail

I believe the long trail goes to Cone Peak. We basically just hiked it without knowing where it led because it also started at the campground. We walked through up a gradual incline through the woods and then was rewarded with a view of the pretty pacific ocean.

We continued from there and it was all slow gradual inclines with zero shade for the next mile or two. After that you’ll see a very steep mountain that you’ll have to hike up. Once you get past that, you’ll have beautiful views of the California coastline. I think at this point it’s good to stop here and turn back to the campsite. We continued further and higher but we didn’t see anything new so we turned around. In all it’s probably a 3-4 mile round trip hike.

Camping

Limekiln State Park has campsites near the beach and campsites near the woods. We stayed at campsite 6 near the beach. It was a good spot that had a tree so we had shade and could set up a hammock.

Campsite 4 would be the prime spot closest to the beach. Campsite 5 is also nice but it doesn’t have any shade, so it could get pretty hot during the day. The campsites are a bit close to each other, so you can hear your neighbors talking. The best part about camping here is that you’re right by the hiking trails and you get a little beach to yourself (and everyone else camping there).