Hwy. 1 businesses stretched thin after years of Big Sur slide closures cut traffic
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Highway 1 closure since Jan. 2023 slashed business up to 60% in some areas
- Caltrans aims to release Highway 1 reopening date by mid-September 2025
- Tourism-dependent businesses reduce staff, hours and offerings to survive slump
As the summer tourism season fades into back to school, fall and the holidays, some North Coast business owners fear they might be facing a third consecutive year with the crucial Highway 1 connection to Big Sur still cut off.
That could spell bad news for businesses already barely holding on.
Business for some in San Simeon and Cambria — areas that rely heavily on that scenic highway’s traffic for customers — is down as much as 60%, sources told The Tribune.
“For Californians, Cambria is a spur-of-the-moment trip. But not being able to drive to Big Sur hurts,” Sea Chest Oyster Bar owner Steve Kniffen said. “With the highway closed, we lose up to 20% of our business. That’s the money, the financial boost, we live on during the summer and winter months.”
In light of that, some entrepreneurs have cut staffing to the bone and made other modifications, hoping to hang on until the world-famous highway route reopens.
“A one-year Highway 1 closure is OK. Two years is harder,” Kniffen said. “By three years, it’s fish or cut bait. If you’re not making it yet, you’re not making it.”
When does Caltrans plan to reopen Highway 1 at Regent’s Slide?
Business owners, employees and travelers got a whisper of possible good news and hope in mid-July, when Caltrans officials —including state Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin and others — gathered at the fragile site of the long-running Regent’s Slide, about 28 miles north of the San Luis Obispo/Monterey county line.
“(Highway 1) is more than just a road. It is part of California’s rich culture,” the secretary said as he vowed that the road alongside the majestic section of coastline would reopen as quickly and safely as possible.
Thanks to the still geologically active slide and the since-reopened Paul’s and Dolan slides, travelers have been prevented from fully driving Highway 1 since January 2023.
If new repair techniques, “shear dowel” anchors and equipment continue to work as expected, Omishakin estimated at the July gathering that, by early fall, Caltrans may be able to set a tentative date for reopening the highway for direct trips from Cambria to Carmel.
“Caltrans plans to announce a refreshed date for the full reopening of Highway 1 at Regent’s Slide in mid-September,” agency spokesman Kevin Drabinski said Aug. 14.
Kniffen said he understands what the state road agency is facing, especially after he attended the July 18 meet-and-greet at Regent’s Slide.
“Caltrans is trying to build a road across the face of a sand dune, and that’s what’s taking so long,” he said.
So far, crews have used more than 3,000 shear dowels, drilled and grouted into the cut slope above the work area, to help stabilize the slide, Drabinski said.
Remotely controlled and crewed bulldozers have also worked steadily, in tandem, to help get the slide stabilized and, ultimately the road segment reopened, he said.
As always, any such date estimate has a weather-permitting caveat.
Heavy storms, rainfall and runoff often provide the impetus for the earth movement and landslides that slam the door shut on through traffic on the All-American Road and National Scenic Byway.
In the meantime, according to the online Caltrans road report, travelers departing from San Luis Obispo County can still get to businesses and vistas as far north as the Lucia area. Those traveling from the Monterey Bay area can go as far south as just beyond the Esalen Institute retreat center.
But the off-limits gap of 6.8 miles in the middle is dissuading travelers who had hoped to drive through from San Luis Obispo County to the Monterey Bay area.
Hearst Castle is the canary in the tourism coal mine
The long-held adage is that, in terms of tourism business, as Hearst Castle goes, so goes the county.
Castle attendance over the past three years is probably down roughly 15% to 20%, according to California State Parks coastal district superintendent Dan Falat.
He reported that attendance in July — classically the busiest month of the year at the state park that used to be the luxe estate of wealthy media magnate William Randolph Hearst — was 61,729 in 2023, 58,405 in 2024 and 52,502 in 2025.
That represents a drop of nearly 15% between 2023 and this year.
Despite that decline, tourism is still strong in the area, he said.
“The campgrounds are full, and there are plenty of folks on the beaches,” he said. “The numbers of travelers overall, however, are definitely less.”
How North Coast businesses are adjusting to multiple years of Highway 1 closure
Until the shuttered road segment reopens, the issue for some businesses in the area, especially mom-and-pop shops and eateries, is how to keep going until then.
“It’s definitely challenging” “With the road closed, our business drops down about 60%,” said Miguel de Alba, owner of the Manta Ray Restaurant in San Simeon. “The first thing you have to do is shorten your staff and crew, then minimize your menu as much as possible.”
They have continued to be closed on Sundays to reduce staff and other costs.
De Alba also owns Las Cambritas Mexican Restaurant in downtown Cambria, where business is down between 15% and 20%, he said.
It’s less of a hit, but de Alba said those customers provide the financial buffer “that helps us get through the winter.”
It’s not just restaurants feeling pinch of Highway 1 slide closure
To combat the reduced tourist traffic, Rebecca “Becky” Biskaduros has reoriented the business model for her Sea + Green shop at 2380 Main St. in Cambria.
“We’re focusing more on functionality, longevity, a more utilitarian aspect,” she said, although they still offer nature-based, sustainably sourced modern items and decor, plus vintage treasures.
They’re making more of the things they sell now, growing their line of wholesale goods, and expanding into curated vintage clothing and items at Mollie’s Resale Station.
The latter is a small pop-up at which customers can fill their own containers with products like body wash, shampoo and other toiletry items, laundry detergent and more.
“Most goods I carry are not affected by tariffs, but they are chipping away at people’s money,” Biskaduros said.
Even so, she said her “numbers are significantly down” from when she opened in 2020 and 2021, although she didn’t specify a percentage for the drop.
“It makes me wonder if I’ll have to move my store to a larger, more central area than Cambria,” she said. “Downtown businesses here need the tourism to survive.”
Lodgings can be among the hardest hit by a lack of tourists
“This is the slowest summer the owners have had since they purchased the property in 2016,” said Kylee Delgadillo, on-site manager for the historic Bluebird Inn on Cambria’s Main Street.
“It’s been an unfortunate series of events: The highway closed, economic uncertainty and the downturn in travel, especially for international guests,” she said.
They’ve also seen travel from Europe and Canada dry up, Delgadillo said.
“A lot of internationals want to come here to travel Highway 1 on their California adventure,” she said. “Some are willing to cut over from Highway 101, but … this has also impacted travel plans for people who come from Mexico to visit family in town.”
Cool, foggy weather in the early summer and economic uncertainty are also playing into the impacts, she said.
“We’ve reduced our rates during certain times of the year, significantly, even in summer,” Delgadillo said.
Fortunately, “some people have been staying on this property off and on for 50 or 60 years,” she said. “We’re super, duper grateful for them.”
And then there’s Ragged Point Inn, the resort that’s closest to the slide from the south.
According to server Gabby Bucio, who’s worked at Ragged Point for seven years, “we’ve been doing OK.”
“A lot of people get to Ragged Point but don’t know the road is closed,” she said. “They get to us, then stop and turn around.”
Before the travelers go back, however, some of them stop at the resort to shop, dine, fuel up or immerse themselves in the dramatic views and Big Sur vibe.
Ragged Point also recently added some live summertime concerts with barbecues, which “have been doing really well,” she said.
One barbecue “sold out in 45 minutes,” Bucio said.
Ragged Point Inn management did not respond to Tribune requests for comment.
Economic crunch hits hard north of Highway 1 landslide closure
Big Sur has also felt the cumulative impacts of many factors affecting tourism levels.
“There are cascading effect of the highway closure, economic uncertainties, weather, the tariffs,” resident Kirk Gafill said. “But the big kahuna is Highway 1.”
Gafill is a longtime Big Sur resident who chairs the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce and is a frequent spokesperson for the area and manager of the cliffside Nepenthe restaurant, which is the closest business to the slide.
“When the road is closed, it reduces traffic in Big Sur by 30 to 35%,” Gafill said. “It’s a constant when people cannot drive through south.”
He’s holding onto hope.
“Caltrans seems to have ID’d a successful strategy that has allowed them to keep working. We’ll have to see if the soil-nail approach remains as successful as it seems to be now,” he said.
Diana Ballantyne of Big Sur’s Fernwood Resort and Campground acknowledged that “it has been a tricky few years,” but said she prefers to focus on the positive, like what a great time this is to visit Big Sur and the North Coast.
“There is so much magic to be found here,” she said. “With the road closure, there is less traffic, more availability and the hiking trails and beaches are surprisingly less crowded.”
They will persevere, she said.
“Big Sur is no stranger to natural disasters and hardship,” Ballantyne said.
