Trail Review: Creamery Meadow Trail, Andrew Molera State Park
Trailhead: 45500 CA-1, Big Sur, CA 93920
Parking: $10 day use parking lot at the trailhead
Distance: 2 miles out & back
Difficulty: Easy
Andrew Molera State Park is a small park in the Big Sur area of California that includes trails that give you views and access to the coastline. The Creamery Meadow Trail is a very easy, flat, and wide trail that brings you from CA-1 to a beach. It's a nice walk that has a lot of shade and no real elevation gain. That being said, you can certainly add on the Ridge Trail and/or Bluff Trail to make it more difficult. The 2 mile out & back distance is for a straight shot to the beach and back, but it'll increase if you walk more of the beach or add on the other trails.
The Creamary Meadows Trailhead starts at the south end of the parking lot, by the attendant hut. It's $10 to park for the day in this parking lot, which was included in the cost of our lodging at the nearby Big Sur Lodge. If you don't want to pay the $10 though, it looked like there was some parking along the main road which would require some extra walking and a steep-ish hill down to the trailhead.
You'll make a right out of the parking lot and follow signs for the beach. There will be another righthand turn that'll have you pass by a gate and soon after that, a small bridge to cross the little "Big Sur River" that runs through the area.
After the river, it's a straight shot down to the beach. It was a nice day around 75 degrees when we were there so it was quite a pleasant walk. There was signage at the parking lot that warned of poison oak and we're pretty sure we saw a bunch of it along the path so don't go exploring off the trail. But the trail is so wide, you won't be in any danger of coming in contact with the leaves.
You'll definitely smell the ocean before you see it. The path will also turn into a softer, sandier ground. And then finally the trees will clear and you'll find yourself coming up on a quiet beach.
This isn't a beach I would personally want to spend a ton of time at. Beach wrack (as a sign so nicely explains on your way in) is decaying seaweed and other ocean debris that has been washed ashore and creates an interesting, not-so-pleasant smell. This particular part of the beach had a lot of it.
However, there were a handful of people enjoying the beach to the north near the peninsula. There were even a couple of people surfing not too far off shore. So it really just depends on your tolerance for the beach wrack smell in the end.
One other interesting thing to note about this beach was some fun little wooden shelters that someone had built. There were a few of them:
We wandered the beach for a little while before heading back. At this point we decided to check out the Ridge and Bluff Trail turnoff that is to the right on the way back. If you're up for a little bit of a climb (nothing that difficult), I'd recommend heading up the Ridge Trail and at the next intersection keeping to the right to take the Bluff Trail.
The Bluff Trail quickly brings you to an overlook of the beach and the ocean, and it's such a nice view, I'd say it's worth the extra effort!
If you're looking for even more of a hike, the Bluff and Ridge Trails create a 6 mile loop. More on that hike on AllTrails.com. Otherwise, head back down to the Creamery Meadows Trail and back to the parking lot.
(Yes, I took this photo at the beach in Andrew Molera State Park! I sell photos like these on Adobe Stock in case you are interested in using them!)
Bottom Line: A very easy 2 mile walk out and back to a quiet, albeit kind of smelly beach near Big Sur, California. It can be made into a longer, more difficult hike with nearby trails.
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