SLO County News BlogGolf, Wine, Real Estate, Business & Travel NewsSLO's "Million Dollar View"Monday, December 13, 2004 With news about another landslide last week on Highway 1 and the challenges faced in keeping Highway 1 open to the millions of locals and tourists who travel it each year, we thought we'd mention one of the highlights along this coastline right here in San Luis Obispo County - Ragged Point.
Towering high above the Pacific on a promontory with 400 foot sheer cliffs, Ragged Point offers one of the finest ocean vistas in the world, often called the "Million Dollar View". It is also one of the few places on this coast where there is a trail down the face of a cliff. The trail ends at a breathtaking, black-sanded pocket beach. The Santa Lucia Mountains parallel the central California coast. For a stretch of about 100 miles, starting at Ragged Point in the south, and ending at Big Sur in the north, the mountains drop straight into the ocean forming an almost unbroken line of cliffs the entire distance. In a fabulous engineering feat, Highway 1 has been built onto the cliffs generally about 400 feet above the water. This section of Highway 1 is considered by many to be the finest scenic drive in the world. The section of coast, often called the "Big Sur", is considered by many to be the most beautiful in the world. Ragged Point is actually a privately owned resort property. The Ramey family has owned the site for nearly forty years turning a gas station and snack shop into a beautiful and tasteful resort featuring a motor inn, an excellent restaurant (terrific soups), gardens, vista points, and of course the trail to the beach. There are few services between here and Big Sur so it has been a popular place to stop for generations of travelers. The trail to the beach at the base of the cliffs is short (1/2 mile) but steep with about a 400 foot change in elevation. Views of the beach below are spectacular as are the ever changing views of the cliffs to the north. This cliff face is well-watered and hence very lush in vegetation. In the summer, there are wildflowers everywhere. The dampness makes the trail somewhat slippery. The beach is rather exotic with the black sand. It is a rather common phenomenon on this section of the coast. The view of the cliffs is all the more imposing looking from the bottom up. Few tourists are willing to brave the trail so it's also very private. Ragged Point also features the largest waterfall on the Big Sur coast. Ragged Point - The Million Dollar View Read More
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