Salmon Creek Falls Swimming Hole, Big Sur

Salmon Creek Falls is a beautiful spot. You park at the dirt pullout, where the highway goes deep into a canyon, then take the Salmon Creek Trail- the sign doesn't mention the waterfall, but you must persist! Once you get to another sign marking two different paths, follow the left path to the falls, as noted on the sign. You come to a large clearing with huge boulders that is quite impressive. Continue on. Once you get to the creek, it is pretty! The path is not easy- I don't know why alltrails says it is! It has lots of poison oak (some on the rocks you want to touch to try to not fall), slippery tree roots even when dry, and slippery (despite being dry) rocks to maneuver over. It is a knee cruncher for sure. You have to climb some big rocks, and tight rope walk a fallen tree, to get to the swimming hole- some hikers won't be able to do this! A huge boulder blocks your view of the larger falls and the swimming hole unless you can climb up. The swimming hole has clear, cold water and is beautiful!

Six minutes drive north, check out Nathaniel Owings Redwood Grove, a supremely peaceful spot that is also a very short walk to get to.
This is a stop when you do the Big Sur Drive from San Simeon. The trailhead is a 22 minute drive north of the Elephant Seal Vista Point in San Simeon. Download the offline google maps before you go and input the name of the falls, allowing the GPS feature to guide you even though there is no cell phone coverage.

Directions

Download offline maps before you leave, so that you can type in "Salmon Creek Trailhead" and let the GPS on google maps guide you even though there's no cell phone coverage. 
The trailhead is where the road goes deep into a canyon and there is a dirt pullout, just north of Ragged Point Inn.

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