Big Sur is a rugged, sparsely settled stretch of California's Central Coast in Monterey County, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon. It is not an incorporated town but a region without formal boundaries, generally understood to include the roughly 71-mile segment of State Route 1 that runs along its coastline and the mountain backcountry behind it. Year-round residents number only about 2,000, spread among a handful of small settlements such as Big Sur Village, Lucia, and Gorda. The region's character is defined by its dramatic landscape and by the strict protections that keep it that way. The Big Sur Local Coastal Plan preserves the coast as open space, small residential communities, and agricultural ranchland, and severely limits development. Much of the interior lies within the Los Padres National Forest and the Ventana and Silver Peak wilderness areas, while a string of state parks—Pfeiffer Big Sur, Julia Pfeiffer Burns, Andrew Molera, Garrapata, Limekiln, and Point Sur—protects the coastline and its redwood canyons. Big Sur draws millions of visitors a year to landmarks such as McWay Falls, Pfeiffer Beach, the Bixby Creek Bridge, and the Point Sur Lightstation, one of the few complete 19th-century lighthouse complexes open to the public in California. Its literary and contemplative heritage runs deep, from Henry Miller's years in the area and the Henry Miller Memorial Library to the Esalen Institute and the New Camaldoli Hermitage. The Big Sur International Marathon, held along the coast each year, is among the region's signature events. School-age children attend small coastal schools, including Captain Cooper Elementary in the Carmel Unified School District and Pacific Valley School in the single-school Big Sur Unified School District. Services and housing are limited by design, and residents trade convenience for one of the most scenic, protected coastlines in the country. Big Sur suits those seeking a quiet, nature-centered life on a stretch of coast that remains deliberately undeveloped.