Ghost Tree (17-Mile Drive)

Along the famed 17-Mile Drive, a disfigured Monterey Cypress grows at Pescadero Point, known as Ghost Tree. This twisted tree stands on land once owned by Maria del Carmen Barreto Garcia Madariaga, who controlled some 45,000 acres of the California Central Coast until her death in 1856. The scenic spot is marked with a sign acknowledging its haunted reputation.

The Ghost Tree, also known as the "Witch Tree," is a striking skeletal cypress along the 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach. Its bleached, weathered branches twist against the Pacific sky, creating an eerie silhouette that has inspired its ominous name. The tree marks the 13th stop on the famous drive—and for ghost hunters, it marks something far more sinister.

The Ghost Tree's name extends to the massive surf break offshore at Pescadero Point, where waves can tower up to 60 feet on rare winter days. Carmel surfer Don Curry named the break after the bleached trunks of dead cypress trees that haunt the coastline. These waters are considered among the most dangerous in the world—a slab wave with massive boils, strong currents, bull kelp, and an underwater labyrinth of rock pillars that have claimed the lives of even experienced surfers.

But it is the "Lady in Lace" who truly haunts this coastline. On foggy nights, a spectral woman in white is said to drift in and out of the mist near the Ghost Tree, her presence unsettling motorists and beachgoers alike. Some witnesses report hearing her crying, seeing her sad expression as she wanders the cliff's edge.

Multiple theories exist about her identity. Some attribute the Lady in Lace to La Llorona—the Weeping Woman of Latin American folklore who roams waterfront areas mourning her drowned children. Others believe she is Dona Maria del Carmen Baretto, a wealthy landowner who once controlled much of the land around Pebble Beach and may still be watching over her former property.

A more romantic legend holds that she is a jilted bride in her wedding dress, wandering in sadness for eternity after being abandoned on her wedding day. Others insist the Lady in Lace is the phantom of a drowned surfer, forever trying to catch one last epic wave at the deadly break that shares the Ghost Tree's name.

Local legend maintains that the area is a gathering place for spirits. Visitors have reported ghostly whispers and inexplicable chills even on warm days. The combination of the twisted, spectral tree, the deadly waters, and the weeping woman in white has made this stretch of 17-Mile Drive one of California's most hauntingly beautiful locations.