San Carpóforo Creek flows through San Carpóforo Canyon and into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

in a small bay north of

San Simeon San Simeon (Spanish: ''San Simeón'', meaning "St. Simon") is a village and Census-designated place on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Its position along State Route 1 is about halfway between Los Angeles ...

on the Central Coast of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The creek is generally considered to be the southern border of the

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...

region of

Central California Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the state, north of Southern California, which includes Los Angeles, and south of Northern California, which includes San Francisco. It includes the northern portion of the S ...

History

The first Europeans to visit the canyon was an expedition led by

Gaspar de Portola Gaspar is a given and/or surname of French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish origin, cognate to Casper (given name) or Casper (surname). It is a name of biblical origin, per Saint Gaspar, one of the wise men mentioned in the Bible. Notable peopl ...

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 of

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

. While camping there, they were visited by six indigenous people who offered

pinole Pinole, also called pinol or pinolillo, is roasted ground maize, which is then mixed with a combination of cocoa, agave, cinnamon, chia seeds, vanilla, or other spices. The resulting powder is then used as a nutrient-dense ingredient to make di ...

and fish and received beads in exchange. The Spanish sent scouts north and east. They found the

Santa Lucia Mountains The Santa Lucia Mountains (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range in coastal central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than from t ...

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".

Etymology

The canyon and creek are named after Saint Carpophorus, an early

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

. There is a trail and coastal access point just north of the bridge over the creek on

California Highway 1 State Route 1 (SR 1) is a major north–south state highway that runs along most of the Pacific coastline of the U.S. state of California. At , it is the longest state route in California, and the second-longest in the US after Monta ...

. In the early twentieth century, the canyon was nicknamed "Sankypoky" by the locals, which is a variant of the Spanish name. 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.”VWA San Carpofóro Trail Condition Report
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Notes

External links

San Carpoforo
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Carpoforo Canyon Monterey Ranger District, Los Padres National Forest Big Sur