San Carpóforo Creek flows throughSan Carpóforo Canyon and into thePacific Ocean in a small bay 20 miles (32 km) north ofSan Simeon on theCentral Coast ofCalifornia. The creek is generally considered to be the southern border of theBig Sur region ofCentral California.[1]
The first Europeans to visit the canyon was an expedition led byGaspar de Portola on September 13, 1769. They rested for two days at the foot of the mountain range which at this point is very high and terminates in the sea. He was charged with exploring California and finding the city ofMonterey. While camping there, they were visited by six indigenous people who offeredpinole and fish and received beads in exchange. The Spanish sent scouts north and east. They found theSanta Lucia Mountains to the north were too rugged and blocked them from proceeding north. They decided to turn east where they thought they saw a break in the mountains and were forced to "make a road with a crowbar and pickaxe".[2]
The canyon and creek are named afterSaint Carpophorus, an earlyRomanmartyr.[3]
There is a trail and coastal access point just north of the bridge over the creek onState Route 1 (SR 1).[4] In the early 20th century, the canyon was nicknamed "Sankypoky" by the locals, which is a variant of the Spanish name.[5] Another variant was "San Carpojo"—tradition holds that someone at the Williams Ranch, which is situated at the mouth of the creek, could not pronounce "Carpóforo" and changed it to "Carpojo".[6]
35°45′53″N121°19′29″W / 35.7647°N 121.3247°W /35.7647; -121.3247