Pfeiffer — purple sand beach

The incredible purple beach of Pfeiffer is truly an amazing sight. This wonder of geology is located in a remote region and is famous for its purple sand. Pfeiffer is part of the Los Padres National Forest in California, USA. Fortunately, the beach located near Big Sur remains little known among tourists, which contributes to its conservation.

Even road signs do not announce his presence in any way. Interestingly, the unique purple color seems to be most visible in winter, after seasonal storms. Moistened sand glistens in the light due to its mineral composition.

The unique purple sand beach owes its distinctive color to the neighboring mountains. They were formed in close proximity to the sea coast with rich deposits of the mineral manganese garnet. As you may have guessed, this delicate mineral also has a lilac-purple color. Local rains wash the fine mineral crystals to the nearest sea coast, providing a natural renewal of the beach’s pigmentation. While pure purple dominates here, traces of lilac and purple can also be seen. Such features make Pfeifer one of the strangest beaches in the world, which is not at all surprising.

The beautiful purple sandy beach is not just a marvel of geology. Its brilliant colored sand is not the only distinguishing feature of this place. Several sea caves are located right along the coastline. However, they are still extremely difficult to obtain. In addition, only in the coastal zone is the famous Keystone arch with a natural hole in the center. Due to the particular angle of the location, the setting sun shines directly through the keyhole during the winter solstice week.