First, it was a series of strong atmospheric rivers that set off a troublesome landslide in January 2023, again splitting up the world-famous drive along Big Sur’s iconic coastline.
Then, a second winter of drenching storms triggered two more slides, including one that completely buried another section of California’s Highway 1 under 300,000 cubic yards of dirt, rock and debris.
To make matters worse, weeks later Mother Nature appeared to take a bite out of a cliffside lane near the Rocky Creek Bridge.
But now, for the first time in three years, the coastal two-lane highway is completely open for an uninterrupted drive of the roughly 100 miles between Carmel and Cambria.
“This vital corridor is the gateway to California’s coast and the lifeblood of the Big Sur economy — and today it’s restored,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement Wednesday announcing the reopening. He thanked crews for helping pull off the early completion of extensive repair work that the California Department of Transportation had initially estimated wouldn’t be finished until March.
“This will be a return to normalcy,” said Ryne Leuzinger, chair of the board of directors for the Big Sur Community Assn., calling the reopening a reunification of north and south Big Sur and a much-needed boost for local businesses. “2026 will be a really nice time to visit Big Sur.”
Despite several closures at different locations throughout the past three years, the last stretch of the highway that remained closed was a remote, 6.8-mile span from just north of Lucia until about a mile south of the Esalen Institute, according to Caltrans.
Officials had been working to finalize repairs in that area, known as Regent’s slide, which is part of a particularly steep section of the coastline that faces persistent pressure from an unrelenting ocean and harsh weather.
The Regents Slide north of Lucia closed this section of Highway 1 for years.
While closures are a recurring feature of life in Big Sur — routinely forcing begrudging drivers to detour inland on Highway 101 or even the 5 Freeway — this was the longest stretch of time in recent history that travel along Highway 1 had remained truncated in some way.
Luckily, no businesses or communities were completely cut off by the years-long work on and around Regent’s slide, but it still made for difficult or impossible commutes for many residents and drastically reduced the number customers frequenting local businesses without the allure of the full, famous road trip. Some restaurants estimated they experienced a 30% drop in business since early 2023.
“We are lucky enough to have business year round, but we definitely have been struggling a bit the last three years,” said Zehya Hay, a supervisor at Nepenthe, a well-known restaurant and bar in Big Sur. “There’s not a day we don’t get phone calls asking about when the road is reopening, if you can drive up from the south. … It will be good to be able to tell people they can take that road trip again.”
On Tuesday, she said their staff was already getting ready for a spike in traffic on Wednesday.
“We’re anticipating our summer to start Jan. 14, 2026,” she said. “We’re excited.”
Caltrans spent an estimated $162 million on roadway repairs, landslide stabilization, debris clearing and complicated engineering since January 2023, projects that finally allowed for Highway 1’s reopening Wednesday, according to agency spokesperson Kevin Drabinski. That total could still rise by several million as crews finalize construction in the area, he said.
Caltrans workers remove signs indicating that California Highway 1 is closed near Lucia on Wednesday.
But it’s a price that California officials and locals have routinely defended, citing the area’s status as a global destination and vital thoroughfare.
“Highway 1 is the Eiffel Tower of California — if Highway 1 is out, the international business dries up,” said Mike Freed, managing partner of Passport Resorts, which owns the Post Ranch Inn. He expects the reopening will not only boost business in Big Sur, but across the state.
“There are few, if any, more iconic routes not just in California but anywhere in the world,” Caltrans Director Dina El-Tawansy said in a statement. “Restoring access for residents and tourists boosts regional economies and reinvigorates the pride and cultural identity associated with one of the most scenic and picturesque roadways on the planet.”
A recent analysis estimated Highway 1’s lengthy closure amounted to more than $438 million in economic losses across the region, according to a September report by Visit California, a nonprofit focused on the tourism in the state.
And while many locals celebrated Wednesday’s reopening, most remain very cognizant that there’s always the looming threat of another rockfall or landslide, particularly during a rainy winter, as this one has been.
“That’s always something in the back of all of our minds out here in Big Sur,” Hay said. “Whenever there’s wet weather, you kind of have that risk.”
California officials said that future temporary closures and full closures are possible depending on the winter storms.
California officials on Wednesday even tempered the reopening announcement, mentioning the possibility for future temporary closures after more storms, and even occasional full closures.
But with the world again re-imagining trips across California’s majestic, oceanside cliffs, Hay said she will do what she can to ward off the next closure.
She’ll be knocking on wood.
