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Highway 1 through Big Sur Is Back — Are We Ready to Do It Better This Time?


From 14 January 2026 the classic California coastal road trip is back on - Highway 1 has reopened! I am pleased to see this back on the map as as we live just an hour's drive from this iconic stretch of road. What are the impacts of a return of this iconic drive?


Big Sur coastal cliffs along Highway 1

The Big Sur road has been closed since 2023 due to the Regent’s Slide, the area lies between Ragged Point and Big Sur, thus making this classic road trip cut off. There has been a huge economic impact from closure with businesses citing a 20% loss of income and a Visit California report* showing a loss of $438 million in tourism income. Lodging suffered the biggest loss seeing a 48% loss of income. There is an additional ‘ripple effect’ loss of 14% to the San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties. So for business the road being reopened is a great thing. Tourism grew by 5% across California and I am sure the businesses that lie along Highway 1 will be elated that they can now see growth again. 


But what are the environmental and experiential impacts of the closure? I’ve tried to find reports on this, however I have unearthed barely anything. Landslides along this stretch of coast are not new, according to US Geological Survey report on landslides we can’t attribute them to climate change (not enough data), however the atmospheric rivers that the Central Coast experiences are getting stronger and coupled with more wildfires and changes to watersheds the landslides may become more frequent. 


For tourism, will this lead to Last Chance Tourists flocking to tick off the bucket list road trip before another slide happens? Last Chance tourism is when people flock to a destination that is perceived to be under threat from climate change, habitat loss etc. Even before the road closed the Big Sur road was starting to suffer from overtourism, with pull ins busy, lodgings full in high season. This really lessens the experience for those coming to see this beautiful coast line. 


I have driven both the southern section of the road and northern section whilst the closure has been in place, the southern section (Morro Bay to Ragged Point) was quiet and barely any traffic (it was spring break) and the northern section (Monterey to Big Sur) was busy, it was New Years Day so a public holiday. We left Monterey early and the first state park was already full, a lot of the pull-ins were available but as we got further south it was increasingly difficult to park. It was a cold wet day, I do want to experience this in the summer to see how different it is. 


Is there a solution to combating overtourism on this iconic route? 


Ideal world solution: Close it to cars and offer shuttle services and guided tours along the route. 

In reality I can't see this happening as it's a road trip destination and most of the hikes are not point to point. However, there are some great examples of where visitor numbers are managed. Zion NP has mandatory shuttle buses in the high season which reduces congestion and carbon emissions. 


Timed tickets and daily cap on vehicles today per day

 This tourism management model works in a lot of places. And has done recently in Yosemite National Park where numbers were capped and pre booking was required in high season, sadly the NPS have not done this for the last few years. Feel free to fill in the gaps as to why. 


The road is not currently a protected area, there are state parks along the route, so the whole road would need to adopted by state or national parks for this to be managed. Entry fees can then be used to bolster funds to fix the next landslide or upgrade/manage the pull in areas.


Encourage slow travel or off season travel

Many people would do the route in a day and stay at the northern or southern end. But there is plenty to see in between with lodges and campsites along the route and this coast has an eternal spring so low season travel should be encouraged (as I write its in the mid 20soC/70soF and its January).


View of Big Sur from Ragged Point

Could this area shift from a drive to a place where people stop, enjoy and immerse themselves in the land? Rewarding people to stay longer and changing the narrative from classic California road trip to an experience could help. Including experiences in stays - guided hikes, wellness experiences make people want to stop. And if they arrive on a shuttle bus even better. As the road is a free highway there are currently no entry fees but could that change in the future with longer stays having a lesser fee?


The tourism industry had a mantra of ‘Build Back Better’ during those dark COVID years, yet we didn't see this in reality. Could still happen for the Big Sur road if tourism is managed by the DMOs? For tour operators, you can play a part in this. Don’t rush to dust off those classic road trip itineraries, slow down and make this the slow trip it deserves to be. 

Could the Big Sur road become the poster child for how to balance the environmental impacts of tourism with a thriving rural economy?

Need help creating slow travel itineraries or a sustainable tourism policy? Contact me on emily@justtourism.co.uk

Sources:


USGS Landslide report:

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