Fire is an integral part of the Little Sur River landscape . Upper elevations are typically covered by chaparral . In one of the first recorded fires in 1894 , most of what is now the Monterey Ranger District , including the Little Sur River watershed , was burned by a fire that was unchecked for weeks . In October , 1905 another fire raged for more than a month , consuming all of the Palo Colorado and Pico Blanco area . The Molera Fire in 1972 burned a considerable portion of the watershed , and in August , 1977 , the Marble-Cone Fire burned the entire area . This was repeated in 2008 when the Basin Complex fire involved the entire watershed . In 2016 , the Soberanes Fire once again burned through almost the entire Little Sur River watershed with the exception of areas west of the Old Coast Road
Soberanes Fire
Soberanes Fire
Little Sur River