| Big Sur River | |
|---|---|
 Big Sur River as it passes the campgrounds | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | California Central Coast |
| County | Monterey County |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | Pacific Ocean |
• coordinates | 36°16′49.87″N 121°51′35.84″W / 36.2805194°N 121.8599556°W |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Length | 15.7 mi (25.3 km) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Pacific Ocean |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Ventana Creek, Lion Creek, Cienaga Creek |
| • right | Post Creek, Terrace Creek, Logwood Creek, Delores Creek, Mocho Creek |
| Type | Wild |
| Designated | June 19, 1992 |
The Big Sur River is a 15.7-mile-long (25.3 km)[1] river on the Central Coast of California. The river drains a portion of the Big Sur area, a thinly settled region of the Central California coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. The upper river and watershed lies within the Ventana Wilderness and encompasses the headwaters downstream to the area known as the Gorge. The lower river flows roughly northwest through Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, the Big Sur village, several private camp grounds and Andrew Molera State Park where it flows through a lagoon and sandbar into the Pacific Ocean at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Major Tributaries of the river include, in order: Redwood Creek, Lion Creek, Logwood Creek, Terrace Creek, Ventana Creek, Post Creek, Pfeiffer-Redwood Creek, Juan Higuera Creek, and Pheneger Creek.[2][3]
Most of the river's 60-square-mile (160 km2) watershed is in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest. Precipitation increases with altitude at Big Sur and the higher elevations can receive over 50 inches (1,300 mm) per year, about 10 inches (250 mm) more than lower areas. The average yearly runoff on the river is 65,000 acre-feet (80,000,000 m3).[citation needed] It is the largest river by volume on the Big Sur coast. Water is diverted to a small group of homeowners, and the state claims that wells owned by the El Sur Ranch are diverting underflow from the river.[citation needed] There are no dams or reservoirs.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 15, 2011
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Big Sur River
- ^ Big Sur River Watershed Management Plan