Hearst Castle and a stretch of Highway 1 are closed. So why do visitors keep coming?
Would you vacation at a place where two of the most popular attractions are closed?
On San Luis Obispo County’s North Coast, closures have cut off access to Hearst Castle in San Simeon and a section of Highway 1 near Big Sur.
The former estate of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst shuttered in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s not clear when it will reopen. And a mudslide damaged part of Highway 1 at Rat Creek in late January, preventing travelers from being able to drive directly from Cambria to Carmel via the scenic roadway.
So why are visitors still traveling to the North Coast? A Tribune reporter took a 140-mile round trip up Highway 1 from Cambria to the highway closure at Rat Creek in Monterey County to find out.
Most of the travelers interviewed by The Tribune said they knew that stretch of Highway 1 was closed before they arrived. But a few said they hadn’t known until they reached the area that the road and Hearst Castle were closed.
Tiffany Nareau, senior park aide at the San Simeon Creek Campground at Hearst San Simeon State Park, estimated that the Highway 1 closure comes a surprise to about 50% of the people with whom she interacts — especially those making reservations for campsites by phone.
What’s it like traveling up Highway 1?
On a recent trek up Highway 1, traffic was light. Bright orange poppies were blooming on bluffs, heralding the arrival of spring.
Landward slopes were full of dry pampas grass stalks reminiscent of celebrity chef Guy Fieri’s hair, with spring-green shoots growing up through the straw.
The sky was blue, the sea mostly teal near the shore and the breeze would turn into a strong wind later in the day.
There were quite a few cars parked at most trailheads, but about 1 p.m., all the occupants were probably out hiking. Several campgrounds had “full” signs out, and a server at Ragged Point Inn & Resort said the business had been really busy that day, a little earlier in spring break than they’d expected.
Bill Godbey, traffic safety specialist on duty at the southern end of the Highway 1 closure, estimated that about 50 vehicles come up to the site each day. Travelers have told him they’d either hoped to get a look at the roadwork — which is actually about 3 miles further north — or that they’d find an alternate route to Big Sur nearby.
A couple of women from Los Angeles, who declined to give their names, told the Tribune that they knew Highway 1 was closed when they planned their trip, knowing they’d enjoy the drive to and from the closure in part because “the views are so different going each way.”
Highway closed in Big Sur due to mudslide, road repairs
The scenic, 100-mile stretch from the North Coast of San Luis Obispo County to Carmel is closed for repairs 30 miles north of the line between San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties.
That section of the All-American Highway is acclaimed for its jaw-dropping views, usually drawing millions of visitors each year.
Part of Highway 1 washed out in late January after a winter storm dropped a massive amount of rain on the area over the course of two days. That rain pushed debris from the Dolan Fire into the area’s drainage pipes, clogging them and creating a backup of water.
Heavy runoff and debris flows blew out a 150-foot section of the two-lane roadway.
About five miles of the road are currently closed to all vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
The northern turnaround is two miles north of Rat Creek at the Lime Creek Bridge at PM 32.1, and the southern closure is at Big Creek Vista Point at PM 27.3.
Until Caltrans finishes fixing the roadway, visitors, residents and others heading north from San Luis Obispo County can’t get through to the Monterey Bay area.
Road repairs won’t be complete at Rat Creek until about July 1, according to Caltrans’ latest estimate.
Some North Coast businesses are booming despite closures
Combined with the yearlong closure of Hearst Castle, which drew 607,462 visitors in 2019, the Highway 1 washout could deter tourists.
However, most Cambria shops, restaurants and lodgings seem “busy, busy, busy” now, according to Mel McColloch, Chamber of Commerce board president. “We went downtown (March 25) and couldn’t find a parking place. We parked blocks away to get to the pharmacy.”
McColloch feels that Cambria and the North Coast have become vacation destinations on their own — thanks to attractions including the Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery, tidepools, scenic boardwalks, hiking trails and cycling routes. The region also offers plenty of restaurants and hotels, he said.
San Simeon businesses haven’t been quite as packed during the pandemic as Cambria ones, McColloch said, perhaps because they’re located 6 miles closer to Hearst Castle.
Visitors call roadway closure a bonus
The Highway 1 closure had a side benefit for Ed and Susan Wancewicz of San Diego, who visited Ragged Point just south of the border between Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties as part of a three-day cycling trip.
The retired couple had pedaled that morning from San Simeon, and were debating whether or not to go all the way to the closure location by bike, about 33 miles to the north.
“We might go back and get our car and drive back up,” Susan Wancewicz said.
When asked why they’d decided to visit the North Coast when the highway was closed, her husband quipped, “We came because the road is closed,” something they’d done during a previous road closure in 1983.
Less traffic means a safer, easier ride for cyclists, he explained. “Drivers here seem to be pretty good about bicyclists, but it’s so much nicer if there aren’t as many” cars on the road.
Jamie Rossetti of Los Osos had brought her friend Anne Pauley of Ensenada, Mexico, to Ragged Point on their road trip to celebrate the latter’s birthday. Pauley said she hopes to relocate to the sea.
Rossetti said the pair’s itinerary included “going up to Lucia, Salmon Creek and Gorda,” with their last destination being Treebones Resort in Big Sur.
“We have all day, the day off. We chose the weekday because traffic would be lighter,” she said.
She gestured toward the hills and the sea, adding, “It’s so beautiful here.”
Meanwhile, further north, a family group from Carlsbad had pulled into a viewpoint with a gorgeous view just south of the road closure. They were enjoying a light tailgate picnic.
Jovanka Ilic, Philip Raymond, his daughter Christine Raymond, her son Alastair Raymond and their dog Alfred were on a four-day vacation, staying in Morro Bay.
“We wanted to see the end of the road, turn around and go back,” Christine Raymond said. “And with Mom fully vaccinated now, we’re able to be here with her.”
Raymond described their trip: “We’ve been doing a lot of driving around the area … Santa Rosa Creek Road, La Purisma Mission, the Guadalupe Sand Dunes. We didn’t go to Oso Flaco, although we wanted to, because we couldn’t take the dog.”
They especially enjoyed the Elfin Forest in Los Osos, with “the trees and such a beautiful boardwalk,” Philip Raymond said.
Ilic said the North Coast is “one of our favorite places to come, for the view, the peace, the otters, the elephant seals, the boardwalks, walking on the beach,” so not being able to go up the road to Carmel wasn’t a problem.
San Marcos resident Sierra Falmo was on a solo venture, and her North Coast home base was the Ragged Point Inn. “I needed some time for peace and quiet. I’m blessed to have the time and the funds to explore and get that peace.”
“Yes, I knew the road was closed,” Falmo acknowledged. “I wanted to see Salmon Creek Falls, the elephant seals, the kilns at Limekiln.” For three years starting in 1887, the Rockland Lime and Lumber Co. processed thousands of barrels of lime they’d extracted from Limekiln Canyon.
Falmo said she also visited the monarch butterfly grove and the otters in Morro Bay, and did some shopping.
“Tomorrow, I’ll probably go around to Monterey and down to Big Sur, then maybe to Sequoia (National Park),” she added.
At Limekiln State Park, Phyllis and Bob Conlan had scored a ocean-view campsite for their pop-up camping van and their new rescue pup.
Being from Carmel Valley, the Conlans also took the roundabout route to the southern Big Sur coastline.
But they said it was worth the extra miles to stay at their favorite spots, Limekiln and San Simeon Creek Campground. Both offer flush toilets and shower facilities.
San Simeon campers say closures aren’t a big deal’
At the San Simeon campground a couple of days later, campers bundled up against the cold temperatures and stiff winds as they fixed dinner and wrestled with tents they were trying to set up.
Despite those downsides, the campers seemed upbeat and happy to be there.
Roman Guzman, his mom, Margaret Guzman, and her fiancé, Manuel Villa Nueva, were loading the last things into their four tents as the sun was going down.
The group from Tulare didn’t know Highway 1 was closed about 60 miles to the north until a Tribune reporter told them.
Ramon said he was surprised, said but the highway closure didn’t matter. In addition to camping, his group had plans to go to William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach in San Simeon.
Ventura couple Barry and Meredyth Leafman and Orange County resident Sid Alpert, a 94-year-old World War II Coast Guard veteran, had set up a cozy camp around the firepit at San Simeon Creek Campground.
Barry Leafman was splitting wood as his wife began to cook pasta on a camp stove, and Alpert absorbed the peaceful atmosphere. Even though there were quite a few campers in the park, it was quiet enough to hear the fire popping, the birds fluttering in the trees and a squirrel rustling through the brush.
The trio knew the road was closed, Leafman said. They come to the North Coast regularly because they love everything the area has to offer, including the elephant seals at Piedras Blancas.
Before the Leafmans got their sleek, 25-foot Airstream trailer five years ago, the retirees said they stayed at Airbnb properties, including lodgings near Montana de Oro State Park and in the back country of Cayucos.
On their trips to the North Coast, “we walk every day on the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve and on the Moonstone boardwalk,” and go wine tasting and sightseeing, Barry Leafman said.
Across the way, campers Eden Ettenger and Signe Harvout from the Los Angeles area learned “right after we got here,” that the highway was closed, Ettenger said.
“It wasn’t a big deal. We just changed our plans and stopped a bit short” of their original itinerary, which included a visit to Big Sur, she said. “Instead, we hiked one day, and then headed up north.”
In a way, the road closure proved a happy blessing, both women said.
Why? Because “we found Salmon Creek and hiked up the trail,” Ettenger said. “The waterfall was amazing. If we’d driven all the way up, we might not have stopped there.”
Ettenger said she grew up coming to the North Coast every year until “life interrupted” when she was a mid-teen. “I love everything here, the town of Cambria, the park, the area,” she said. “Now I’m trying to come up here to camp more often.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
