Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Landscape painter Francis McComas called it "the greatest meeting of land and water in the world," and the designation holds. Point Lobos State Natural Reserve sits at the northern edge of the Big Sur coast, where Monterey Cypress — native to only two places on earth — grow against the Pacific wind. The Whalers Cabin at Whaler's Cove, built by Chinese fishermen and later used by Japanese and Portuguese whalers, now serves as a museum. Underwater, the adjacent marine reserve is considered one of the best scuba diving sites on the California coast.