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Big Sur California Map

Explore Big Sur, California, with this interactive street and satellite map.

This page also offers TOPO MAPS — the official USGS topographic sheets — plus USGS aerial imagery, a labelled USNG grid overlay, a distance and bearing tool, and a GPS grid-reference readout. See How to Use This Map below.

Interactive Map of Big Sur, California

How to Use This Big Sur, California Map

This interactive map shows the street layout and satellite imagery for Big Sur, California. Use the Map and Satellite buttons above to switch between street map and aerial imagery views. Use the + and − buttons to zoom in or out, or scroll your mouse wheel while holding the Control key to zoom. On a touchscreen, use a two-finger pinch gesture. Drag the map to pan to any area of California or beyond.

Click ⛶ Fullscreen to expand the map to fill your screen. To return to the normal page view, press the Escape key, click the ✕ Exit Fullscreen button that appears above the map, or on a mobile device tap the back button (Android) or the close icon (iOS).

TOPO MAPS — NEW. Click the green 🔍 Search Maps button below the map to open a second map with a Base map row offering three choices. OSM is the standard OpenStreetMap street map. Topo shows the official USGS topographic maps from The National Map — contours, hydrography, land cover and shaded relief, the same mapping used for hiking, hunting and back-country navigation in the Adirondacks, the Catskills and the Finger Lakes. Imagery shows USGS aerial photography, mostly 1-metre NAIP. The search box finds any US town, county or landmark by name, so you are not limited to Big Sur.

Reading the map like a paper quad. Click Grid to overlay the U.S. National Grid (USNG), labelled along the edges exactly as a printed topographic sheet is — at normal zoom the squares are one kilometre across, so you can read a six-figure grid reference by eye and judge distance directly off the map. Click Measure, then tap two points, to get the distance between them together with the grid bearing in degrees and mils, the true bearing, and the magnetic bearing to set on a compass.

Click 📍 My position to take a single GPS reading from your device. It marks where you are and reports your position as a USNG grid reference as well as plain latitude and longitude — USNG being the format FEMA and US search and rescue teams work from — with a Copy position button so you can paste it straight into a text message. It takes one reading and stops, rather than tracking continuously, to conserve your battery. Note that map tiles need cell coverage, but a GPS reading does not — your coordinates stay correct even where the map itself cannot load.

City	Big Sur
State	California (CA)
County	Monterey County
Country	United States of America
Timezone	Pacific Time (America/Los_Angeles)

Latitude	36.270241
Longitude	-121.807454
Population	940
Density	5.0 /km²
Incorporated	N/A
ZIP Code	93920
Area Code	760
County Seat	Salinas

🌦 Goto Big Sur Weather Page: Big Sur, California — Weather Warnings, Forecast, Radar, Satellite & Current Conditions

About Big Sur, California

Big Sur is a locality in Monterey County, California, United States. It is a small community with a population of 940. The population density is 5.0 people per km². Big Sur is located at 36.2702°N, 121.8075°W. It observes the Pacific Time (America/Los_Angeles) timezone. ZIP code: 93920.

Big Sur defines itself through the relentless, rhythmic passage of Pheneger Creek, which carves a path through the landscape toward the nearby Pacific Ocean. It lies 22.4 miles south-southwest of Fort Ord, CA (from Fort Ord, CA: bearing 194°T), and is situated 15.6 miles south-southwest of Carmel Valley Village. The terrain rises in sharp, defiant swells toward the distant, hazy silhouettes of the Coast Ranges, while the immediate ground surrounding the creek sustains a quiet, shadowed moisture. Near the edge of the land, the Franciscan Rocks break the surface of the water, marking the boundary where the earth concedes to the tide. High above the water, the mist often clings to the slopes, softening the jagged edges of the cliffs and muting the brilliant, late-afternoon light that illuminates the expanse of Coyote Flat.

Andrew Molera State Park serves as the primary steward of this rugged territory, preserving the wild character that has defined Big Sur since long before the first travelers arrived. The local economy persists in a delicate tension between the preservation of these untamed acres and the quiet, intermittent movement of visitors seeking the seclusion of the Boundary Trail or the singular, cascading spray of Pfeiffer Falls. Life here follows the slow, seasonal turn of the earth, far removed from the frantic pace of the interior, and while White Rock Lake sits ten miles distant in the quietude of the backcountry, the presence of the coast remains the dominant force. The residents maintain a rhythm dictated by the fog and the shifting tides, honoring a landscape that demands respect for its scale and its enduring, elemental silence.

Nearby Outdoor Places

Andrew Molera State Park (State Park) — 0.1 mi, 270° W
Los Padres National Forest (National Forest) — 0.3 mi, 036° NE · 1.8M acres
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park (State Park) — 0.7 mi, 114° SE
Albino Redwood Tree (Attraction) — 1.0 mi, 132° SE
Ventana Wilderness (Wilderness Area) — 1.4 mi, 016° N · 236k acres
Pfeiffer Falls (Attraction) — 1.7 mi, 123° SE
Point Sur State Marine Reserve (Marine Protected Area) — 1.9 mi, 240° SW
Campfire Center (Theatre) — 1.9 mi, 135° SE
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (Marine Protected Area) — 2.1 mi, 200° S
California Coastal National Monument (National Monument) — 2.1 mi, 199° S · 8,946 acres
Big Sur, California Wild and Scenic River (Wild & Scenic River) — 3.0 mi, 114° SE · 5,913 acres
Tractor (Historic Ruins) — 5.5 mi, 126° SE
Skinner Ridge Viewpoint (Viewpoint) — 6.3 mi, 006° N
The California Sea Otter State Game Refuge (Nature Reserve) — 8.6 mi, 136° SE
Bixby Creek Bridge (Monument) — 8.8 mi, 323° NW
Joshua Creek Canyon Ecological Reserve (State Conservation Area) — 9.3 mi, 355° N
Tin House (Historic Ruins) — 9.4 mi, 132° SE
Ventana Wilderness Area (Wilderness Area) — 9.6 mi, 016° N · 731 acres
Pelton Wheel (Attraction) — 10.9 mi, 135° SE
Esalen Institute (Attraction) — 13.8 mi, 137° SE
Suzuki-Roshi (Monument) — 14.4 mi, 100° E
Bill Cotta Memorial (Monument) — 16.1 mi, 120° SE
Picard Trade Bead Museum (Museum) — 17.4 mi, 360° N
Puente Big Creek Bridge (Public Artwork) — 18.0 mi, 140° SE
Landels-Hill Big Creek Nature Reserve (Nature Reserve) — 18.1 mi, 140° SE
Center for Photographic Art (Museum) — 20.4 mi, 342° N
Forest Theater (Theatre) — 20.5 mi, 343° N
Kevin Milligan (Gallery) — 20.7 mi, 342° N
Fort Ord National Monument (National Monument) — 21.1 mi, 009° N · 15k acres
Pinnacles National Park (National Park) — 35.2 mi, 063° NE · 27k acres

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