Home ›

Gary Hanauer

Sykes Hot Spring

Rating: A

The hike to Sykes is a whopping 10 miles long, but you'll probably love soaking in one of its six warm pools. Various hikers have found the walk in can take as little as four hours from the trail head to as long as two days, if you want to stop in the middle and take your time.Read more »

Fernwood

Rating: C

Roughly 30 miles south of Carmel, next to a creek near the Big Sur area's Fernwood Resort and its Redwood Grill restaurant, visitors will find a nude swimming hole with some telltale signs of the hippie era of the 1960s."Look for old couches on the riverbank, naked people, and a river," says Fred, of Pacific Grove."Nobody bothers you."

Legal status:

Unknown.

How to find it:Read more »

Big Sur River

Rating: C

Some 25 miles south of Carmel, off Highway 1, the central coast's oldest nude beach is also heavily used by suited visitors. Look for it at Pheneger Creek, behind the Big Sur River Inn, located at 46840 Highway 1.

Legal status:

Unknown.

How to find it:Read more »

Coyote Flat

Rating: C

Coyote Flat remains a remote, seldom disturbed oasis of skinny-dippers, even though rangers frown on nude activity in the rest of the state property.In fact, because it's easy to reach by hiking, many locals think of it as one of the best places to cool off on hot summer days."A lot of people go there, and they do sometimes go naked," says a visitor.

Legal status:Read more »

Garrapata Beach

Improved directions!

Rating: B

For now, Garrapata State Park, where rangers have posted anti-nudity signs, remains open. But it is expected to be closed, due to state budget cuts, by July 2012. The remaining nude sunbathers have been pushed to the northern edge of the beach. Officials say the nudists are vulnerable to citations if complaints are received. The property, located between Carmel and Big Sur, is breathtakingly beautiful, with picturesque coves, hidden caves, a lagoon, and hills that are bursting with spring flowers.

 Read more »