McWay Falls

McWay Falls is an 80ft waterfall that flows year-round from McWay Creek in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, about south of Carmel, California. The waterfall is one of two in California that cascade directly into the ocean, the other being Alamere Falls.HistorySaddle Rock RanchIn 1924, Lathrop Brown and his wife Hélène Hooper Brown visited Big Sur, California. They bought the Saddle Rock Ranch totalling acres from pioneer homesteader Christopher McWay. Hélène was a good friend of Julia Pfieffer Burns until Julia died in 1928.Julia's granddaughter Esther Julia Pfeiffer and her husband Hans Ewoldson were caretakers of the ranch for many years.ResidencesThe Browns first built a rough redwood cabin on a site at the top of cliffs opposite McWay Falls. They replaced that in 1940 with a modern two-story home named Waterfall House. The entryway was inlaid with an ornamental brass fish, a gold octopus, and a compass rose. The interior was decorated with fine furnishings and classic paintings.During the construction of the Carmel San Simeon Highway, Saddle Rock Ranch foreman Hans Ewoldsen worked in the machine shop of the highway construction crew to build a Pelton wheel. He used hand-split redwood from the canyon and other materials he bought. He installed the wheel on McWay Creek in 1932. The undershot wheel ran a 32-volt generator and was the first electric power in the Big Sur area. It supplied power to three residences, a blacksmith shop, and the Funicular railway.