Bixby Creek starts at the confluence of Mill Creek and Turner Creek, which flow from an elevation of 2,500 feet (762 m) on the west flank of Skinner Ridge, for a total run of about 7 miles (11 km) through the Santa Lucia Mountains to the Big Sur coast, between Hurricane Point to the south and Division Knoll to the north, about 16 miles (26 km) south of Monterey and 9 miles (15 km) northwest of the community of Big Sur, California. The creek is named after Charles H. Bixby, who arrived in California in 1852 and filed a land patent in 1889 for 160 acres (65 ha) south of the creek, later buying additional tracts north to Palo Colorado Canyon. The Santa Lucia Mountains are part of the Coast Ranges, and at Bixby Creek the geology is dominated by the Salinian Block, comprising granitic and metamorphic rocks, in contrast to surrounding areas underlain by the Franciscan Complex and more prone to land sliding. The granitic rocks in the Bixby Creek watershed are mostly quartz diorite or granodiorite; the metamorphic rocks are mostly gray biotite schist and gneiss. The lower western slopes of the Santa Lucia Mountains have a marine climate, with precipitation confined to the winter months. Coast redwoods dominate canyon bottoms on seaward-facing slopes, and tanbark oaks occur at all elevations in the watershed.

Before the arrival of Europeans, the Big Sur coast was inhabited by the Esselen, a hunter-gatherer culture that seasonally followed local food sources. In winter they lived near the coast, subsisting on marine mammals and intertidal invertebrates such as mussels, limpets, and abalone; in summer they moved inland to harvest acorns from the black oak, canyon live oak, and tanbark oak. During the Spanish Franciscan mission period (1769–1833), the Esselen were conscripted for labor and relocated to the missions at San Carlos, Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, and San Antonio de Padua. Their population was virtually extinguished in the 19th century through disease, hard labor, and intermarriage. Following Mexican independence in 1821, mission lands were secularized and land grants given to distinguished citizens and military veterans. Rancho San José y Sur Chiquito extended north from Palo Colorado Creek to the Carmel River; Rancho El Sur was granted from the Little Sur River south to the Big Sur River. The land between the Little Sur River and Palo Colorado Creek remained vacant until Bixby arrived and built a sawmill to cut redwood logs into shakes, shingles, railroad ties, and trench posts. He also harvested tanbark oak bark for tanning cowhides. With no safe boat landing at the creek mouth, he built a lumber chute to transfer products to coastal schooners anchored offshore. Bixby also discovered limestone deposits in the watershed. In 1906 he sold the land to the Monterey Lime Company; lime kilns were built 3 miles (4.8 km) up Bixby Canyon and operated until 1911. In 1919 US Army Captain Howard G. Sharpe and his wife Frida bought the Bixby Creek canyon property, which included a ranch house, barn, corral, dance hall, stable, outbuildings, and cabins that they rented to visitors.

The Old Coast Road preceded the current Big Sur Coast Highway. It began as a trail used by the Rumsen and Esselen peoples to travel along the coast, was later improved by settlers for horse-drawn wagons, and in 1855 Monterey County declared it a public road. In 1886 Charles Bixby improved the road between his ranch and Monterey, and William B. Post extended it further south to his ranch. The road was impassable in winter and, even in good weather, could not be used to transport goods in bulk, so coastal schooners and steamers were chartered instead. In 1920 the 26-mile (42 km) journey from Carmel to Bixby Creek by horse-drawn wagon took about 11 hours. The road detoured inland at Palo Colorado Creek and Bixby Creek because the canyons were too deep. In 1932 the Bixby Creek Bridge was completed; it is one of the tallest single-span concrete bridges in the world. The new highway bypassed the lodge on Bixby Creek operated by Sharpe, who built a new lodge on the western shoulder of the highway immediately north of the bridge; the original lodge was abandoned and the land eventually subdivided and sold. Today the region is protected by the Big Sur Local Coastal Plan of 1986, regarded as one of the most restrictive land-use management plans in the country. The plan protects viewsheds from the highway and many vantage points and severely restricts development density. About 60% of the coastal region is owned by governmental or private agencies that permit no development. Read more here and here. Explore more of Bixby Creek and the Big Sur coast here: