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 Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

in a small bay north of

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

on the Central Coast of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. 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 (California), Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from th ...

region of

Central California Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the U.S. state of California, north of Southern California (which includes Los Angeles and San Diego) and south of Northern California (which includes San Francisco and San Jose, ...

History

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

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

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

pinole Pinole, also called pinol, is roasted ground maize. The resulting powder is then used as a nutrient-dense ingredient to make different foods, such as cereals, baked goods, tortillas, and beverages. For example, it can be mixed with a combination ...

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

Santa Lucia Mountains The Santa Lucia Range (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Mountains 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 fro ...

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, 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 external party. In ...

. There is a trail and coastal access point just north of the bridge over the creek on California Highway 1. 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