Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

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Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
A view of the park beach
Location	Monterey County, California, USA
Nearest city	Monterey
Coordinates	36°10′15″N 121°40′23″W / 36.17083, -121.67306
Area	3,762.16 acres (15.2249 km²)
Established	1962
Governing body	California State Parks

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park is a state-protected park in Big Sur, located in Monterey County, California. The park is administered and maintained by California State Parks. It is located 37 miles (60 km) south of Carmel and covers over 3,000 acres (12 km²) of land. A main feature of the park is McWay Falls, which drops over a cliff 80 feet (24.4 m) into the Pacific Ocean. The park is named after Julia Pfeiffer Burns, a respected resident and rancher in the Big Sur region in the early 20th century, who lived in the area for much of her life until her death in 1928.

1 Location and history
2 References
3 See also
4 External links
5 Further reading

[edit] Location and history

The park is located on land that was originally called the Saddle Rock Ranch, because of the rock formation that resembles a saddle in McWay Cove. Christopher McWay and his wife Rachel originally settled the area in the late 19th century. The land passed through several owners until former U.S. House Representative Lathrop Brown and his wife Helen acquired it in 1924. The Browns constructed an elaborate stone house in McWay Cove, one of the first electrified dwellings in Big Sur, powered by the McWay stream. They befriended Julia Pfeiffer-Burns, a local resident, and dedicated the property to her memory in their 1961 bequest to the State of California. The house was torn down as the Browns requested in their will, but some of the walls and fragments of stone staircases remain. ^[1]