Sykes Camp is located 12 miles (19.3 km) miles from the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is a state park in Monterey County, California near the town of Big Sur on the state's Central Coast. It covers approximately of land. The park is centered around the Big Sur River. It has been nicknamed a "mini Yosemite."...

 trailhead along the Pine Ridge Trail

Pine Ridge Trail

The Pine Ridge Trail is a popular hiking route in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest. It can be hiked both ways, but the consensus route is China Camp to Big Sur Station since that is the downhill direction.-Trail Guide:...

. Campsites are spread along both sides of the Big Sur River

Big Sur River

The Big Sur River is a river on the Central Coast of California. The river drains a portion of the Big Sur area, a thinly settled region of the Central California coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean...

, both upstream and downstream from where the trail intersects the river. There is a toilet downstream of this intersection as well.

There are three small man-made pools fed by a natural hot springs, carved out of the southern hillside about 0.25 mile (0.402335 km) downstream from where the trail intersects the river. The campsite and hot springs can be very crowded on busy holiday weekends.