Everybody photographs this bridge, and there is a reason. Bixby Creek Bridge is a concrete arch that leaps across a deep canyon on California's Big Sur coast, and it has been the signature view of Highway 1 since it opened in 1932. It stands roughly eighty-five metres above the creek, and its single span, pale against dark green hills and a steel-blue ocean, looks almost too neat to be real. It was built partly to replace an older, winding road that dipped inland round the canyon, and in its day it was a feat of engineering in a place where nothing came easily.
Highway 1 here is one of the great coastal rides, though it asks for attention. The road clings to the cliff, with the Pacific on one side and a steep hillside on the other, and the curves come one after another, many of them blind. There is little in the way of shoulder, and the sea is a long way down. The tarmac is mostly good, but rockfall, mudslides and patchy repairs are part of life on this coast, and winter storms have closed sections of the road for months, so check the state of the highway before setting out. Fog can roll in suddenly, especially in summer, hiding the very views you came for. Early morning or late afternoon gives the best light and the thinnest traffic.
The best photographs are taken from the pullout on the north side of the bridge, where you can see the arch against the cliffs. Park carefully, since cars and people share a small space and the traffic passes close. Behind the headlands, Big Sur is a place of redwoods, condors and mountain lions, and its remoteness was jealously protected by residents who campaigned for decades against development. Writers and artists including Henry Miller made their home in this region, and the myth of Big Sur as a refuge persists.
For fuel, do not count on the coast. The reliable stations are in Carmel and Monterey to the north, about twenty kilometres from here, and Big Sur village, further south, has some at premium prices. Top up in Carmel before you start. Bring layers, because the coastal air is cool even on a sunny day, and allow far more time than the map suggests, since you will want to stop at almost every turnout.