After California gained statehood, the trail from Carmel to Mill Creek (present-day Bixby Canyon) was declared a public road by the county in 1855. But the California coast south of Carmel and north of San Simeon remained one of the most remote regions in the state, rivaling at the time nearly any other region in the United States for its difficult access. It remained largely an untouched wilderness until early in the twentieth century.
