Big Sur (Workaround) Travel Guide

The great California Highway 1 drive up Big Sur from Cambria to Carmel now has a U-turn detour up the road, due to mudslides and road closures. You can’t drive all the way through, like you once could. (CalTrans says the road will hopefully re-open sometime in 2025. It had been planned for fall, 2024.)

So what to do?

I recently drove both sides, north and south, hitting every detour and going back and around to see just how onerous it was, and what I would miss if I had skipped either one.

I embarked on this journey for the latest episode of PhotowalksTV to give you an idea of what to expect.

Do me a favor and take a look at the episode, and then read on.

The easiest way is to start north and travel south, even if you live in Southern California.

–Drive route 5 to the Rt. 46 Paso Robles cut-off, switch to 101 and continue north to Salinas, then turn to the coast and head to Carmel. Google Maps says this is a five hour trip, which frankly, isn’t any longer than it would have taken for you to drive up from LA through Santa Barbara and Pismo Beach to reach Cambria, the unofficial start of the southern portion.

(However, the coastal route is a lot prettier–and windier!)

So now you’re in Carmel, and you start driving south:

Highlights:

–Bixby Bridge. The iconic bridge seen in so many TV shows and movies is the most popular tourist spot of the trip, and for good reason. It’s gorgeous.

—Point Sur Lighthouse (only open on Wednesdays and Saturdays for tours. Book ahead.) Best overhead view of the area, but only available vor visits during tour days, which are on weekends and Wednesdays.

–Andrew Molera State Park. Beautiful, deserted beach right out of Gilligan’s Island.

—Big Sur River Inn. My favorite hotel in the area, also has a fabulous restaurant, bar and gift shop, plus a fun area for walking around the riverside.

–Pfeiffer Rock. Hidden on an unmarked road that requires a two mile drive to get there, the Rock is one of photographer’s favorite photo spots, for good reason: it’s really dramatic.

–Nepenthe. The major restaurant in Big Sur, which happens to have the best view, hands down.

–McWay Falls. A teeny waterfall off the side of the road that you’ll hike to.

From there on, you’ll hit Lucia, and be asked shortly to make a U-turn and head back to Carmel and back to Salinas.

If you want to see the rest of Big Sur, you’ll need to drive about 90 minutes north to get to Salinas, and then another two hours south on 101 again, before turning on 46 to get to Cambria.

Now you can continue north:

Highlights:

–San Simeon: the famous Hearst Castle (you’ll need to pay to get in) and the Elephant Seal Rookery (it’s free) on the side of the road. Also look out for the zebras near the Castle.

–Ragged Inn. About 30 miles up the road is the Ragged Inn, which has a hotel, gas station, cafe, gift shop and a great area for walking around and seeing the view. It’s from the Ragged Inn where you get the “Welcome to Big Sur” sign.

–Last stop: Gorda is a tiny town just north of Ragged Inn with a gas station, cafe, gift shop and little else. Where I was there, I was the only person in town. It was very sad. From there, a little bit up the road, and it comes to a dead end stop. Turn around time.

These tiny towns and businesses really need your support. Please go out of your way to help them. Also, ahem–the view is awesome.