Typically, the perfect place you may go is a useless finish. Particularly when that useless finish is surrounded by crashing surf on empty seashores, dramatic cliffs and lonely trails by forests thick with redwoods.
That’s the state of affairs alongside Massive Sur’s South Coast proper now.
A piece of the cliff-clinging freeway has been closed for a collection of landslide repairs since January 2023, making the basic, coast-hugging, 98-mile San Simeon-Massive Sur-Carmel drive unattainable. Caltrans has mentioned it goals to reopen the route by the tip of March 2026, if climate permits.
Meaning the 44-mile stretch from San Simeon to Lucia will doubtless be lonely for no less than six extra months. Vacationers from the close to north (Carmel, as an illustration) might want to detour inland on U.S. 101. In the meantime, many Canadian vacationers (normally keen explorers of California) are boycotting the U.S. altogether over President Trump’s tariff insurance policies and quips about taking on their nation.
And so, for these of us in Southern California, the approaching months are an opportunity to drive, hike or cycle in close to solitude amongst tall timber, steep slopes and sea stacks. The climate is cooler and wetter. However over the three October days I spent up there, the freeway was quieter than I’ve seen in 40-plus years of driving the coast.
Furthermore, those that make the journey will likely be supporting embattled native companies, which stay open, some with decreased costs. Fall charges on the Ragged Level Inn, 15 miles north of Hearst Citadel, for instance, begin at about $149 nightly — $100 lower than when the street was open.
“It’s form of excellent,” mentioned Claudia Tyler of Santa Barbara, on her means from Salmon Creek Falls to 2 nights of tenting at Plaskett Creek in Los Padres Nationwide Forest.
“I’m sorry for the companies…,” Tyler mentioned, “however it’s good for the traveler.”
Additional north, David Sirgany, 64, of Morro Bay, was on the point of surf at Sand Greenback Seaside, desirous about coastal erosion, local weather change and this second in historical past.
“To me,” he mentioned, “it looks like the tip of a time that may by no means be once more.”
The Ragged Level Inn stands on the southern finish of Massive Sur.
The closed space, often known as Regent’s Slide, begins about 26 miles north of Ragged Level, towards the south finish of Massive Sur, and covers 6.8 miles. Thus, you’d have to detour inland by way of U.S. 101 to succeed in most of Massive Sur’s best-known sights, together with the Bixby Creek Bridge, Pfeiffer Seaside, Nepenthe restaurant, Deetjen’s Massive Sur Inn, McWay Falls and Esalen Institute.
However there’s lots to discover on the stretch from San Simeon north to the roadblock at Lucia (milepost 25.3). Simply watch out of the $8.79-per-gallon gasoline on the Gorda Springs Resort. (At $6.99, the Ragged Level gasoline station isn’t fairly so excessive.)
San Simeon Bay Pier at William Randolph Hearst Memorial Seaside.
Right here, from south to north, are a number of spots to discover from San Simeon to Lucia. Make sure to double-check the climate and freeway standing earlier than you head out.
See Hearst’s fort. Or simply one in all his zebras.
I’ve been hoping to see among the Hearst zebras within the hills of San Simeon for years, and this time I lastly did — a single zebra, surrounded by cows in a pasture beneath distant Hearst Citadel.
That was sufficient to make my temporary cease on the fort customer heart (which has a restaurant, historic shows and store) nicely value it. Different vacationers, nonetheless, would possibly need to really take a tour ($35 per grownup and up) of the 165-room Hearst compound (which is formally often known as Hearst San Simeon State Historic Monument).
The state park system’s customer tallies from June by August present that 2025 was barely slower than 2024, which was barely slower than 2023.
Maybe with that in thoughts, the fort final fall added “Artwork Below the Moonlight” excursions, which proceed this autumn on choose Friday and Saturday nights by Nov. 16. The fort additionally decorates for the vacations.
If you happen to’re spending the night time, the Cavalier Oceanfront Resort has 90 rooms (for as little as $169) and firepits overlooking the ocean.
A zebra, a part of the Hearst Citadel animal assortment, is seen from the customer heart off Freeway 1 in San Simeon.
San Simeon Bay Pier or hike San Simeon Level Path
My southernmost hike was on the San Simeon Bay Pier. From the car parking zone there, stroll north on the seaside and comply with a path up right into a eucalyptus grove. That places you on the two.5-mile round-trip San Simeon Level Path (owned by Hearst Corp. however open to the general public.)
At first, the route is uneventful and surrounded by imported eucalyptus (now being thinned) and pines. However there’s a payoff ready on the level, the place tides lap on somewhat sand seaside, waves crash on dramatic black rocks and pelicans perch on sea stacks. Look again and also you see the seaside, the pier and the hills of the central coast sprawling past them.
Then, in the event you’re as hungry as I used to be, you quickly retrace steps and head to the Seaside Meals deli counter in Sebastian’s Basic Retailer, a block from the pier. (I like to recommend the Coastal Cowboy tri-tip sandwich, $21. However you would additionally take your meal throughout the road to the Hearst Ranch Vineyard tasting room.)
Discover the Piedras Blancas elephant seal viewing space, then transcend it
California’s coast is a catalog of uncertainties, from rising tides and crumbling cliffs to non-public landowners discouraging public entry. However we will rely on the elephant seals of Piedras Blancas.
Elephant seals collect at Piedras Blancas, north of San Simeon.
When you pull off Freeway 1 into the commentary space car parking zone, regardless of the time of yr, you’re prone to see no less than a number of hulking sea creatures flopped on the sand and skirmishing for place.
As a result of it’s an ideal spectacle and it’s free, there are normally dozens of spectators alongside the shore. However most of these spectactors don’t trouble to comply with the boardwalk north and proceed on the Boucher Path, a 1.9-mile path alongside the bluff tops and throughout a meadow, resulting in hanging views of sea stacks and Piedras Blancas Mild Station.
Alongside Boucher Path, simply north of the elephant seal viewing space at Piedras Blancas.
(BTW: Guests want an advance reservation to tour the Piedras Blancas Mild Station. At press time, all excursions had been canceled due to the federal authorities shutdown.)
At Ragged Level, that Massive Sur vibe kicks in
About 10 miles past the elephant seals, the uncooked, horizontal coastal panorama morphs right into a extra vertical scene and the freeway begins to climb and twist.
Proper about right here, simply after San Carpoforo Creek, is the place you discover the Ragged Level Inn, a useful place to cease for an hour or a night. It has 39 rooms, flat area for youths to run round, cliff-top views, a restaurant, present store, gasoline station and a snack bar that’s been closed because the freeway has been blocked.
Proper now, this stretch of the freeway “is a good place to cycle,” mentioned Diane Ramey, whose household owns the inn. “I wouldn’t do it at a standard time. However now the roads are uncrowded sufficient.”
To get well from the “scary” drop in enterprise when the street first closed, the inn has put extra emphasis on Sunday brunch, the present store and dwell music on summer time weekends, Ramey mentioned.
At Salmon Creek Falls, roaring water meets tumbled rocks
On the Salmon Falls trailhead, 3.6 miles north of Ragged Level, there’s room for about 10 vehicles within the parking space on the shoulder of the freeway.
When the freeway is open, these spots are sometimes all full. Not now. And it’s solely about 0.3 of a mile to the bottom of the 120-foot falls, the place there’s loads of shade for the weary and boulder-scrambling for many who are daring. Within the hour I spent scrambling and resting, I encountered simply two {couples} and one household, all having fun with the uncrowded scene.
In order for you an extended, more difficult hike, the falls trailhead additionally results in the Salmon Creek Path, a 6.6-mile out-and-back journey by pines, oaks and laurels that features — gulp — 1,896 ft of elevation achieve.
The yurts and quirks of Treebones Resort
Treebones, about 14 miles north of Ragged Level and a couple of miles north of the country, sleepy Gorda Springs Resort, is an train in model and sustainability, producing its personal energy and drawing water from its personal aquifer.
Treebones Resort, simply off Freeway 1 within the South Coast space of Massive Sur.
Born as a household enterprise in 2004, Treebones has 19 off-the-grid models, largely yurts, whose rounded interiors are surprisingly spacious. Its Lodge restaurant gives chef’s-choice four-course dinners ($95 every) and a sushi bar.
If you happen to e book a yurt (they start at $385), you’ll discover your headboard is a felted wooden rug from Kyrgyzstan (the place yurts return no less than 2,500 years). The resort additionally has 5 campsites ($135 nightly, advance reservation required) that include breakfast, scorching showers and pool entry.
A deck at Treebones Resort.
“For the final 20 years, we had been principally 100% occupied from April by October,” assistant basic supervisor Megan Helpful mentioned, main me on a tour. Because the closure, “we’ve stayed booked on the weekends, however we’ve seen no less than a 40% decline midweek.”
When you’re north of Treebones, seaside and path potentialities appear to multiply.
Stand by the sting (however not too shut) on the Pacific Valley Bluff Path
A number of individuals advised me I shouldn’t miss the Pacific Valley Bluff Path, a flat route that begins simply north of Sand Greenback Seaside. It runs about 1.6 miles between the roadside and the bluffs over the Pacific. Right here you’ll see sea stacks in each form, together with a dramatic, solitary tree to the north. In about 45 minutes of strolling amid a land’s finish panorama, I by no means noticed one other soul. Loads of cow patties, although, and some patches of poison oak, which turns up usually close to Massive Sur trails.
Just a little farther north, I did run into 4 individuals strolling the seaside at Mill Creek Picnic Space. I discovered much more at Kirk Creek Campground, which was booked stable as a result of it has among the greatest ocean-view campsites within the space and it’s on the ocean aspect of the freeway.
Waves crash close to Sand Greenback Seaside.
Massive timber and a meandering creek at Limekiln State Park
Limekiln State Park is one California’s youngest state parks, having been put aside within the Nineteen Nineties. However its occupants, particularly the redwoods, have been round a lot longer.
And now, after park closures over storm injury and infrastructure points and a reopening early this yr, we’ve an opportunity to benefit from the place once more. Or no less than a part of it. The park’s campground, Hare Creek Path and Falls Path stay closed.
However there’s nonetheless loads of alternative to take a look at the uncommon overlap of species from northern and southern California. Because the Save the Redwoods League notes, “You may’t discover each yucca and coast redwoods in very many parks.”
The park is about 4.4 miles south of the Freeway 1 closure. Entrance is $10 per automobile. I savored the 1.5-mile out-and-back Limekiln Path, which is without doubt one of the greatest methods to see redwoods within the space. And as soon as once more, no fellow hikers.
Freeway nonetheless too busy for you? How about an remoted lodge or a silent monastery?
Simply south of the freeway closure, the country, remoted Lucia Lodge and the New Camaldoli Hermitage, a Benedictine monastery, stay open for in a single day visitors.
However not everybody is aware of this. Until anyone at Google HQ has simply made a repair, Google Maps will inform you incorrectly that the hermitage and lodge are past the street closure. Nope. They’re each on the south aspect of the street closure, accessible to northbound site visitors. They usually’re each actually quiet.
“Folks come right here for silent, self-guided retreats,” mentioned Katee Armstrong, visitor ministry specialist at New Camaldoli Hermitage. Its lodging, excessive on the slopes above the freeway, embrace 9 single-occupancy rooms and 5 cottages with kitchenettes ($145 nightly and up).
In the meantime, on the ocean aspect of the freeway, the Lucia Lodge’s 10 very fundamental models are seen from the street. 4 of them are cabins that return to the Nineteen Thirties, when Freeway 1 was new.
Some nights, there are just one or two visitors, and people visitors usually see no lodge staff, as a result of there’s no foyer and the workers is right down to a skeleton crew. (The lodge’s restaurant and foyer burned down in 2021.) The closest restaurant is at Treebones, about 10 miles south.
“We have now to have a dialog with each visitor who books with us,” mentioned Jessie McKnight, the lodge reservationist. Many “find yourself canceling as soon as they perceive the state of affairs,” she mentioned. “You’re form of by yourself.”
Advert but, she added, “it’s so uncommon to expertise Massive Sur like this. As soon as the street opens, I believe it’s going to be proper again to being a zoo.”
The street to Ragged Level Inn.
