Big Sur travelers no longer allowed to camp on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road

Big Sur-area travelers camping along Nacimiento-Fergusson Road during the Highway 1 closure will need to find a new place to spend the night.

As of Friday, Los Padres National Forest officials have prohibited dispersed camping along the road right-of-way from Highway 1 west to mile marker 10.3 until Aug. 10, 2018, according to a U.S. Forest Service news release.

The east-west road offers the only access to a large stretch of the coast after the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge failed at the north end in February and a landslide buried a chunk of the highway near Mud Creek in millions of cubic yards of dirt and rock at the south end in May.

With the north and south access cut off, Nacimiento-Fergussion began to attract “concentrated public camping.” This increase caused some travelers to begin using vehicle passing pull-out areas as campsites.

“Visitors will often use their vehicles to protect their sites at night, which partially obstructs the roadway, causing traffic and camping conflicts and related public safety concerns,” according to the release.

Those who violate the no-camping order could face a $5,000 fine or six months in jail. For more information, contact the U.S. Forest Service Monterey District Office at 831-385-5434.

This story was originally published August 11, 2017 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Big Sur travelers no longer allowed to camp on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road."