This article is about the present-day ranch. For the Spanish land grant, see Rancho El Sur.
El Sur Ranch
Industry
Cow-calf operation
Predecessor
Rancho El Sur
Founded
1955
Founder
Courtlandt Hill
Headquarters
Big Sur, California, U.S.
Area served
United States
Products
Beef
Revenue
$243,000 to $760,000
Owner
James Jerome Hill III
Number of employees
2-5
Website
www.elsurranch.com
Lands of the El Sur Ranch between Highway 1 and the Point Sur Light Station.
The El Sur Ranch, located on the Big Sur coast of California, has been continuously operated as a cattle ranch since 1834. The approximately 7,100 acres (2,873 ha) ranch straddles Highway 1 for 6 miles (9.7 km) from the mouth of the Little Sur River to the mouth of the Big Sur River and Andrew Molera State Park. Both the ranch and the park originally comprised the Rancho El Sur land grant given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Juan Bautista Alvarado. It has been owned by the Hill family since 1955, who operate a commercial cow-calf operation.
Upon inheriting the ranch while still in college and pressed by increasingly high property taxes, the ranch's current owner James Hill began plans to develop two percent of the property. His plans were protested by Big Sur residents whose efforts persuaded the California Coastal Commission to deny his permit. In 1997, after being denied a permit to build a 200-room hotel at the mouth of Little Sur River, he agreed to a conservation easement covering the western-most parcel of land, at a cost of $11 million to California taxpayers. Most of this parcel is visible from Highway 1. The land to the west of the highway has historically used water from wells drilled in 1949 and 1984 near the Big Sur River. Hill has sought to increase water drawn from the wells to levels that according to one conservation group might harm endangered steelhead trout.
The ElSurRanch, located on the Big Sur coast of California, has been continuously operated as a cattle ranch since 1834. The approximately 7,100 acres...
up sur or sûr in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Sur, SUR or ElSur may refer to: Sur (film), a 1988 Argentine film directed by Fernando Solanas Sur, a...
one-half of Rancho ElSur is still an operating cattle ranch. Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito In 1839, Alvarado granted Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito, also...
volume on the Big Sur coast. Water is diverted to a small group of homeowners, and the state claims that wells owned by the ElSurRanch are diverting underflow...
month-long camping trip in Arizona, with Orville Cox, the head wrangler at Ghost Ranch, as their guide. Both artists created new work during this trip. Adams made...
It also went inland to circumvent the Little Sur River. It then led to the Post Ranch on the Rancho ElSur near present-day Andrew Molera State Park.: 4–2 ...
Lathrop Brown and his wife Hélène Hooper Brown visited Big Sur. They bought Saddle Rock Ranch, a 1,600-acre (650 ha) property that included a seaside promontory...
Hill and crossed the Little Sur River where its two forks diverted. The road entered the Cooper Ranch (formerly Rancho ElSur) and continued south about...
worldwide. With his earnings, Brautigan bought a house in Bolinas and a ranch in Montana. He and his wife had separated when their daughter was two, and...
protected by the Big Sur Local Coastal Plan, which preserves it as "open space, a small residential community, and agricultural ranching." Its intention is...
Portions west of the national forest and Old Coast Road lie within the ElSurRanch. Some portions of the North Fork are on land owned by Granite Rock Company...
Hollywood in Beverly Glen, before settling in Big Sur in 1944. While Miller was establishing his base in Big Sur, the Tropic books, then still banned in the...
California condors were released in 1991 and 1992 in California at Big Sur, Pinnacles National Park and Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge and in...
southernmost naturally occurring grove of redwoods is found within the Big Sur region in the Southern Redwood Botanical Area, a 17 acres (6.9 ha) reserve...
acres (1,800 ha) Palo Corona Ranch, also known as Fish Ranch, was once a private ranch located on the northern end of Big Sur, California, between Garrapata...
is a non-profit American retreat center and intentional community in Big Sur, California, which focuses on humanistic alternative education. The institute...
mother living with her young son Danny in an isolated beach house in Big Sur, California. She makes a modest living as an artist and homeschools her son...
Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch is a memoir written by Henry Miller, first published in 1957, about his life in Big Sur, California, where...
Big Sur Station is a multiagency visitor center and ranger station operated by Caltrans, the Los Padres National Forest, and California State Parks. It...
Pfeiffer Beach is located in the Big Sur region of California. It is one of the most popular beaches on the Central Coast and is well known for Keyhole...
California. The lower western slopes of the mountain are the property of the ElSurRanch. The Old Coast Road built in the early 1900s cuts across its western...
own cabin on the north bank of the Big Sur River in 1884. The family supported themselves by farming, ranching, logging, and beekeeping. John produced...
Global Information