The Plaskett Family

More than a century on the Big Sur coast

place history

Plaskett Rock: The Family Name, Written in Stone

· 2026

Off Sand Dollar Beach a white-crowned sea stack carries the family's name on every chart of the coast. Bill and Kim photographed it from ridge, point, and sand.

Blue-sky day on Plaskett Ridge: the whole Pacific Valley shelf — Sand Dollar's crescent, Plaskett Rock, and Highway 1 on its way south past the family's valley. LIVE
Blue-sky day on Plaskett Ridge: the whole Pacific Valley shelf — Sand Dollar's crescent, Plaskett Rock, and Highway 1 on its way south past the family's valley.

Every map of the Big Sur coast keeps a little of the family: Plaskett Creek, Plaskett Ridge, Plaskett Creek Campground — and standing alone in the swell off Sand Dollar Beach, Plaskett Rock, the white-crowned sea stack that has watched over the family’s valley since long before the family arrived to give it a name.

The rock stands off the point at the north end of Sand Dollar Beach, below Pacific Valley — in sight of the spot where William Lucas Plaskett built his first cabin in 1869, of the school at Plaskett Creek, and of the beach where the valley’s fifty children played. Seabirds keep its crown white — and the family once farmed that whiteness: Ed Plaskett and his brothers built a way to the top and scraped the guano for fertilizer (the story). Kelp forests ring it like a moat; on a grey day it broods, and on a blue one it shines.

In 2026, Bill “Bull Plaskett” Alderson and Kim Alderson gave it a full family portrait session — from the Plaskett Ridge trail high above, from the green serpentine point where Kim found an alcove out of the wind, and finally from the sand itself, where the surf runs silk around the tide rocks. The photographs here move between two days: one wrapped in coastal fog, one under a cloudless sky — the coast’s two moods, both of them home.

Sand Dollar Beach remains the largest sandy beach on the Big Sur coast, reached by the staircase across Highway 1 from Plaskett Creek Campground. Stand on the overlook and everything in view carries the family story: the rock, the creek, the ridge, the valley — the name written in stone, water, and map ink alike.

Photographs
The Pacific Valley shelf from Plaskett Ridge on a grey day — Sand Dollar Beach curving below, Plaskett Rock offshore, and Highway 1 threading the family's old valley. LIVE
The Pacific Valley shelf from Plaskett Ridge on a grey day — Sand Dollar Beach curving below, Plaskett Rock offshore, and Highway 1 threading the family's old valley.
Kim Alderson on the Plaskett Ridge trail, the coast her husband's family settled spread out behind her. LIVE
Kim Alderson on the Plaskett Ridge trail, the coast her husband's family settled spread out behind her.
Kim Alderson in a wind-sculpted oak grove on Plaskett Ridge. LIVE
Kim Alderson in a wind-sculpted oak grove on Plaskett Ridge.
Looking south over Sand Dollar Beach and Plaskett Rock from the ridge, fog riding the Santa Lucias toward Gorda. LIVE
Looking south over Sand Dollar Beach and Plaskett Rock from the ridge, fog riding the Santa Lucias toward Gorda.
Surf lines wrap into Sand Dollar Beach — surfers in the water where Plaskett children once hauled kelp. LIVE
Surf lines wrap into Sand Dollar Beach — surfers in the water where Plaskett children once hauled kelp.
Bill "Bull Plaskett" Alderson above the coves south of Sand Dollar Beach, sea stacks and Plaskett Rock beyond. LIVE
Bill "Bull Plaskett" Alderson above the coves south of Sand Dollar Beach, sea stacks and Plaskett Rock beyond.
Plaskett Rock up close from the point — seabirds whitewash the crown, kelp beds ring the base. LIVE
Plaskett Rock up close from the point — seabirds whitewash the crown, kelp beds ring the base.
Panorama from the point at Sand Dollar Beach, Kim Alderson perched on the serpentine rocks, Plaskett Rock holding the center of the bay.
Panorama from the point at Sand Dollar Beach, Kim Alderson perched on the serpentine rocks, Plaskett Rock holding the center of the bay.
From the point, looking back across the cove to Pacific Valley and the wall of the Santa Lucias. LIVE
From the point, looking back across the cove to Pacific Valley and the wall of the Santa Lucias.
Plaskett Rock square-on across the kelp, from the green serpentine shelf of the point.
Plaskett Rock square-on across the kelp, from the green serpentine shelf of the point.
Plaskett Rock from the point, the jade-green serpentine of the shoreline in the foreground. LIVE
Plaskett Rock from the point, the jade-green serpentine of the shoreline in the foreground.
Full sweep of the bay from the point: Plaskett Rock, the sea stacks, and the coast running north toward Cone Peak country.
Full sweep of the bay from the point: Plaskett Rock, the sea stacks, and the coast running north toward Cone Peak country.
Kim Alderson tucked into a serpentine alcove at the point above Sand Dollar Beach. LIVE
Kim Alderson tucked into a serpentine alcove at the point above Sand Dollar Beach.
Kim Alderson among the green rocks of the point — the same stone that names Jade Cove, one cove south. LIVE
Kim Alderson among the green rocks of the point — the same stone that names Jade Cove, one cove south.
Panorama from the point with Plaskett Rock centered in the bay.
Panorama from the point with Plaskett Rock centered in the bay.
The photographer at the edge of the frame: panorama across the kelp-streaked bay to Plaskett Rock and the southern coast.
The photographer at the edge of the frame: panorama across the kelp-streaked bay to Plaskett Rock and the southern coast.
From the bluff trail: Plaskett Rock, the point, and the coves running south toward Jade Cove. LIVE
From the bluff trail: Plaskett Rock, the point, and the coves running south toward Jade Cove.
From high on Plaskett Ridge, Plaskett Rock rides the blue water off the point. LIVE
From high on Plaskett Ridge, Plaskett Rock rides the blue water off the point.
Ridge-trail panorama: Highway 1 below, the point and Plaskett Rock beyond, and the coast fading south into haze.
Ridge-trail panorama: Highway 1 below, the point and Plaskett Rock beyond, and the coast fading south into haze.
The great sweep of the South Coast from Plaskett Ridge — all of it once Plaskett range.
The great sweep of the South Coast from Plaskett Ridge — all of it once Plaskett range.
A camp clearing on Plaskett Ridge frames Plaskett Rock far below — someone's fire ring holds the best view on the coast. LIVE
A camp clearing on Plaskett Ridge frames Plaskett Rock far below — someone's fire ring holds the best view on the coast.
Plaskett Rock through the pines from the ridge trail. LIVE
Plaskett Rock through the pines from the ridge trail.
Sand Dollar Beach, the point, and Plaskett Rock from the ridge on a cloudless afternoon. LIVE
Sand Dollar Beach, the point, and Plaskett Rock from the ridge on a cloudless afternoon.
Sand Dollar Beach in full sun — the biggest sand on the Big Sur coast, with Plaskett Rock standing guard offshore. LIVE
Sand Dollar Beach in full sun — the biggest sand on the Big Sur coast, with Plaskett Rock standing guard offshore.
From the Sand Dollar overlook stairs: the whole crescent at once, surf stacked in rows, Plaskett Rock at the north end.
From the Sand Dollar overlook stairs: the whole crescent at once, surf stacked in rows, Plaskett Rock at the north end.
Sand Dollar panorama from the access trail — beach umbrellas below where supply boats once landed for the valley families.
Sand Dollar panorama from the access trail — beach umbrellas below where supply boats once landed for the valley families.
On the sand at last: sea stacks, a washed-up kelp stipe, and Plaskett Rock in the channel beyond. LIVE
On the sand at last: sea stacks, a washed-up kelp stipe, and Plaskett Rock in the channel beyond.
Plaskett Rock framed between the dark stacks at the north end of Sand Dollar Beach, a gull overhead. LIVE
Plaskett Rock framed between the dark stacks at the north end of Sand Dollar Beach, a gull overhead.
Silky surf around the tide rocks at Sand Dollar Beach, Plaskett Rock brilliant white against the blue. LIVE
Silky surf around the tide rocks at Sand Dollar Beach, Plaskett Rock brilliant white against the blue.
Where this story happened