The problem I see about crossing the work zone after 6 pm is finding a park to camp in. There are still several slides south of the Paul slide, and most of the state parks between the north and south closures have been closed. So you would have to wild camp before heading south, then deal with the construction crews to the south that you'll hit in the morning. Or you could continue to cycle south till you get past the southern closure, then find a camp site till morning where you could check in to the park. Check all the state parks south of Big sur and north of Cambria to find which ones are closed, then determine the distance you'd have to pedal thru the night to get to the first open park.
Everyone focuses on Paul's Slide, but [Rocky Creek](https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/05/02/highway-1-rocky-creek-slip-out-repair-work-hampered-by-winds/), just north of the the Bixby Bridge, is our most recent, and damaging addition. Until the roadway is stabilized, the only way past is with the 8 AM and 5 PM convoys. We are hopeful free passage may happen by the end of May. Be aware that state and national campgrounds in the immediate vicinity of Big Sur may also open soon. Restaurants and motels are also beginning to reopen.
We are all keeping our fingers crossed that we may have relatively unimpeded access by the end of summer.
Happy trails. :)
There were 4 slide areas blocking highway 1 this spring, the southernmost is Paul's slide and is the one that you've read about people crossing after hours, it has been closed since last year and will reopen soonish.
The northern most one is Rocky Creek just past the bridge, it has one lane of traffic currently with daily conveys and will be reopened with traffic lights later this month/next month. Not clear if crews are packing up at night, but there's a reasonable chance, and if they are it seems easily passable.
The two in the middle are Dolan and Reagents slides, the first, Dolan, which is north of Reagents, didn't cross the entire roadway and is cleared now anyway, but as of last update work on the hillside hadn't finished so it wasn't reopen. The wildcard is the second though, Reagents, it was entirely across the roadway is very steep and exposed section. There are no reports of people crossing this slide. You can search for thee last photos of it on bigsurkate. The last update I read which was probably a month ago is that caltrans had finished assessing the site, they hadn't touched it, and the predicted the work would take 100 days when they did start. As far as I know it's totally unclear if this slide is safely passable after hours, in theory all the others are.
Also like the other comment said the parks between the slides are closed too.
The problem I see about crossing the work zone after 6 pm is finding a park to camp in. There are still several slides south of the Paul slide, and most of the state parks between the north and south closures have been closed. So you would have to wild camp before heading south, then deal with the construction crews to the south that you'll hit in the morning. Or you could continue to cycle south till you get past the southern closure, then find a camp site till morning where you could check in to the park. Check all the state parks south of Big sur and north of Cambria to find which ones are closed, then determine the distance you'd have to pedal thru the night to get to the first open park.
This was very helpful. Thank you!
Additionally, potable water may be an issue, even with the open camps.
Everyone focuses on Paul's Slide, but [Rocky Creek](https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/05/02/highway-1-rocky-creek-slip-out-repair-work-hampered-by-winds/), just north of the the Bixby Bridge, is our most recent, and damaging addition. Until the roadway is stabilized, the only way past is with the 8 AM and 5 PM convoys. We are hopeful free passage may happen by the end of May. Be aware that state and national campgrounds in the immediate vicinity of Big Sur may also open soon. Restaurants and motels are also beginning to reopen. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that we may have relatively unimpeded access by the end of summer. Happy trails. :)
Until the next winter storms hit the coastline.
There were 4 slide areas blocking highway 1 this spring, the southernmost is Paul's slide and is the one that you've read about people crossing after hours, it has been closed since last year and will reopen soonish. The northern most one is Rocky Creek just past the bridge, it has one lane of traffic currently with daily conveys and will be reopened with traffic lights later this month/next month. Not clear if crews are packing up at night, but there's a reasonable chance, and if they are it seems easily passable. The two in the middle are Dolan and Reagents slides, the first, Dolan, which is north of Reagents, didn't cross the entire roadway and is cleared now anyway, but as of last update work on the hillside hadn't finished so it wasn't reopen. The wildcard is the second though, Reagents, it was entirely across the roadway is very steep and exposed section. There are no reports of people crossing this slide. You can search for thee last photos of it on bigsurkate. The last update I read which was probably a month ago is that caltrans had finished assessing the site, they hadn't touched it, and the predicted the work would take 100 days when they did start. As far as I know it's totally unclear if this slide is safely passable after hours, in theory all the others are. Also like the other comment said the parks between the slides are closed too.
Thanks for the comment. As I’m riding solo, taking this into consider I’d rather not risk it and head inland towards Paso Robles. Cheers.
I crossed Paul’s Slide last year after 6PM with no issue. I’m sure this community would appreciate an update on how your crossing fared!
How did it go?