[1] It is located 3 mi (4.8 km) south of Cape San Martin,[2] at an elevation of 148 ft (45 m).

[1] It is one of the three small settlements of filling stations, restaurants, and motels located along State Route 1 on the Big Sur coast.

A stagecoach stop was built and a post office operated at Gorda from 1893 to 1923, moving in 1910.

[5] Road-side services include a small hotel and cottages, restaurant, gas station, deli, espresso bar, and convenience store.

In 1979, the town attracted national attention after most of the land was purchased by Kidco Limited Ventures, a corporation owned by four minor children from Ramona, California who were heirs of the family that owned the Cessna Aircraft company.

[9][10] The only route in and out of Gorda beginning in the south was via a lengthy detour over the narrow, winding Nacimiento-Fergusson Road.

This is due in part to the cost of a diesel generator that provides electricity to the gas station and town.