In a milestone affecting one of the most scenic drives in the United States, Caltrans crews have finished clearing a massive landslide blocking Highway 1 in Big Sur.
The winding two-lane roadway reopened at noon Wednesday, allowing motorists from the Bay Area to drive to Southern California all the way along the coast for the first time in three years.
“This vital corridor is the gateway to California’s coast and the lifeblood of the Big Sur economy, and today it’s restored,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Highway 1 through Big Sur near the site of the former Regent's Slide, about 45 miles south of Carmel and 2 miles north of Lucia in Monterey County, is shown Wednesday Jan. 14, 2026. After an $82 million project involving thousands of steel rods, remote-controlled bulldozers and other equipment on the steep slopes, Caltrans crews reopened the road Wednesday. (Photo: Kevin Drabinski, Caltrans)The closure of the road — the longest in its history since it was first constructed in the 1930s — was caused when drenching atmospheric river storms in 2023 and 2024 sent millions of tons of rock and dirt collapsing off steep hills onto the breathtaking route that clings to the edges of steep cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
The biggest slide, called Regent’s Slide, occurred about 45 miles south of Carmel and 2 miles north of Lucia in Monterey County, on Feb. 9, 2024. An atmospheric river storm slammed into the coast of Central California and Southern California, dumping more than 10 inches of rain in parts of Big Sur with with winds up to 90 mph. The rain saturated soils, causing trees to collapse, sparking power outages and sending landslides into Highway 1 in multiple places.
The Regent’s Slide originated 450 feet above the roadway.
Adding to the disaster, there already was a slide nearby to the south, Paul’s Slide, which had closed Highway 1 in January 2023 and was so big it wasn’t cleared until May 2024.
As a result, the one-two punch had blocked full access along the coast since January 15, 2023. In a typical year 5 million people from across California, the United States and the world visit Big Sur, driving an economy built on tourism, from hotels like the Post Ranch Inn to famous restaurants like Nepenthe, and spectacular scenery highlighted by Bixby Creek Bridge, McWay Falls and the Ventana Wilderness.
Because it was impossible to drive from Northern California to Southern California along Highway 1 continuously, many unprepared visitors were required to turn around when they attempted to travel from the Monterey Bay Area to Hearst Castle, Morro Bay and other locations south of Big Sur, and sent on an hours-long detour inland through the Salinas Valley.
“Businesses have been impacted,” said Ryne Leuzinger, chairman of the board of directors of the Big Sur Community Association, a non-profit group. “Some people who live here had their job on one side of the closure and lived on another. There were a few kids who live on the other side of the slide than their school. Today is a happy moment. It’s a matter of convenience and resetting the connection for the community.”
He noted that this weekend included the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.
“The weather is going to be sunny,” he said. “It’s a good time to visit.”
Rockslides and mudslides occur fairly regularly in Big Sur, where the Santa Lucia mountain range rises steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Most slides are cleared and fixed within a few days or weeks.
But clearing the Regent’s Slide and rebuilding Highway 1 proved to be a huge engineering challenge.
Caltrans removed more than 500,000 cubic yards of rock, dirt and other debris from the sheer cliff face at Regent’s Slide — an amount that could fill roughly 50,000 average-sized dump trucks.
There were been times when the material continued to slide by as much as 1 foot a day, said Kevin Drabinski, a Caltrans spokesman.
About 80 workers with bulldozers, ground sensors, drones, explosives and other tools had to carefully move away tons of rock and dirt, pushing it down the side of the cliffs onto the beach below.
To reduce the risk of a catastrophic accident, they used unmanned, remote-controlled bulldozers and excavators at times.
Construction crews work in November 2025 at Regent's Slide in Big Sur along Highway 1. (Photo: Caltrans)In May, the workers, from Papich Construction, a San Luis Obispo County contractor that was recently acquired by Granite Construction in Watsonville, began driving 60-foot-long steel bars called “shear dowels” deep into the ground to try to stabilize the site, which is surrounded by ancient landslides and other problematic geology.
They drilled more than 4,600 of the steel bars into the slope, surrounding them with grout, to reinforce the hillside.
“We’ve left a stable hillside,” Drabinski said. “And there were no injuries. We’re very proud of that.”
The job was originally estimated to be finished in March, but was completed early.
“We had a run of good weather in October and November,” Drabinski said. “And with the dry weather in the past few weeks were were able to make a final push. We didn’t lose many days. As recently as yesterday were striping the highway.”
Some minor work will continue for the next few weeks, but the road will remain open, he said.
In recent years, Big Sur has been battered by landslides, wildfires and big storms.
Leuzinger, who has lived there for 9 years and who commutes to work at Cal State Monterey Bay, said Big Sur residents are hardy. His organization raised money to help residents who couldn’t get to work during the slides. This week they painted concrete barriers to help with parking near Bixby Creek Bridge so they would blend in better with the natural surroundings.
“The only constant is unpredictability,” he said. “If we’re not in a disaster we are preparing for the next one. It’s a beautiful place. But it really takes fortitude and resilience and patience to live here. People move here for the beauty of the landscape and stay for how amazing the community is. The level of camaraderie and support from neighbors is unique.”
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