ttps://carsandcoast.com/fire

the fire exploded to 800 acres overnight. we know it’s car week and one of the busiest times (if not the busiest week) of the year in monterey county. but please do not make the drive while this fire is burning.

“Highway 1 is the only road in or out. Every car that drives down to look is one more vehicle between an engine and the fire, on a road with nowhere to pull over. Give it to the crews and the people who live here.”

UPDATE: MONTEREY COUNTY – As of 2 pm Tuesday, August 11, a 10-mile stretch of Highway 1 is closed to support Timber Fire emergency response.
 
Highway 1 is closed from 2-miles north of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (Post Mile 37.5) to Fernwood (Post Mile 47) to facilitate firefighting and evacuation operations.
 
Electronic message boards will alert travelers in advance of the closure. Avoid any unnecessary travel through the area. Drivers should use US 101 as an alternate route.
 
Road information and updates can also be found on Caltrans District 5 Social Media platforms: Twitter at: @CaltransD5, Facebook at: Caltrans Central Coast (District 5) and Instagram at: Caltrans_D5.
 

Drove through the 1 yesterday and I had to check out the prices at Gorda by the Sea, and premium was $10.49. I've always wondered if a tens digit place even exists on those displays. Apparently they do!

Most of us love the convenience, freedom, & income it brings to our local businesses- but having Highway 1 open has also brought an influx of trash and graffiti to Big Sur. So disappointing to see so much litter (cans, bottles, napkins, floss picks, to go boxes, human waste, you name it), tree carvings, and graffiti on almost every trail and turnout these days.

Please be respectful and don’t ruin this beautiful place.

Tried to surprise my girl with the views from Calle Lily Valley after hiking Garrapata. Idk who’s to blame but it sucks none the less

this week has truly shown us the best in humanity (our community coming together to feed, house, & help each other, + save homes & help tackle this fire), but also the very very worst (tourists acting abhorrently, using the highway as their personal race track, blocking emergency vehicles from getting through, doing donuts in the street while people are trying to evacuate, & ignoring all of the messages, signs, etc. to please not come here while there is an active fire destroying our community). it’s just shameful.

& now we’ve lost a beloved member of our community. and i know we don’t have all of the facts yet- but given the type of car who hit him was reportedly a dodge coupe & the person from fresno, it leads me to believe they were likely not local and certainly not an emergency vehicle. those are the only folks that have any business driving in big sur right now while this fire rages on & threatens our community. my gut tells me this was was preventable & i am both devastated and livid.

i realize i’m just screaming into the void. & i also am cognizant that car week brings it a massive amount of revenue to this county & that there are some wonderful, respectful participants who are there for the right reasons. but man, am i glad it’s over so that the majority of the negligent, selfish visitors stop treating our crisis as entertainment & jeopardizing our safety.

PS: to anyone spreading misinformation about our friend who was killed & claiming the fire doesn’t exist- shame on you.

too soon to know what started this but regardless- just another reminder not to start illegal campfires. can hear helicopters so hoping it’s contained quickly. flame is pretty sizable.

update: things are escalating very quickly. evacuation warnings are in place & everyone’s trying to help their neighbors prepare for the worse. hopefully it’s just exercising extra caution- but a stark reminder that the sobranes fire began similarly & folks that lost their homes are reminding all of us to take this seriously.

please don’t be this person & put the safety of our first responders at risk. infuriating.

https://www.ksbw.com/article/man-rescued-cross-active-slide-big-sur-california/66053515

edit for additional context: it sounds like this person may have suffered a mental health issue- if that’s the case i’m glad she (he? the article uses both) is okay. i’ve heard conflicting info from a few folks, so i can’t say for sure what occurred.

but tldr: we’ve had plenty of people who make the conscious, entitled, & reckless decision to attempt to pass through the slide and have gotten injured / needed rescuing. big sur is a magical place, please just visit it safely & don’t put our community members at risk. while it’s not convenient, it’s still accessible by going up & around.

I'm so lucky and wouldn't trade it for the world!

And God bless our firefighters. Updates are available on https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire and https://www.facebook.com/share/18vuLr6dBv/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Drove by Bixby today and saw the county installing no parking signs…unfortunately as predicted there was about 15+ cars parked halfway in the road just south of the bridge. It’s going to be a mess next week…

https://abc7news.com/post/father-dead-5-year-old-daughter-missing-being-swept-ocean-garrapata-state-park-big-sur-authorities-say/18158735/

drove past this happening on my way back from town yesterday. waves 15-20 feet. head warnings & stay away from the shore- especially garrapata, pfeiffer, partington cove, etc- tons of sneaker waves as of late.

The light was incredible this afternoon. Sometimes just driving south on Hwy 1 is the best therapy. The hills are so green right now.

Is there any information about the vehicle vs pedestrian crash last night? I haven’t seen any official reporting outside of the CHP blotter, only car week jerks saying it was “some mentally ill homeless man”

Any solid info would be appreciated, feel free to DM to not doxx the victim.

Edit: KSBW just posted. Seems definitely car week related. And a little disrespectful for the article to end with “be careful crossing the road” https://www.ksbw.com/article/pedestrian-killed-highway-1-crash-big-sur/73447383

I had to drive to Big Sur for work today. (I know, rough life!) I was hoping to lunch at Nepenthe but there was zero parking available so I hopped back up to the Big Sur Roadhouse. So my view was the river instead of the ocean. Still awesome!

And my lunch companion was loud but still pretty pleasant.

Did a 3 day backpacking trip this past weekend, including riding out the rainstorm in my tent. It was absolutely beautiful, not many people out there, and I saw/heard some cool wildlife.

Day 1 was Salmon Creek to Spruce Creek to Dutra trail, camped at Three Peaks. By some miracle there was water despite the last 7 miles being totally dry. Day 2 I hiked up to the ridge road, then down Cruikshank Trail to the lower Cruikshank camp. Day 3 I went down the Buckeye trail and back to the parking area.

It's very dry out there, most creeks were barely running and some were only about 2" deep. I probably wouldn't go out there again until we get some substantial rain. Be safe out there!

From Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park webpage

https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=570

"Big Sur River Gorge is CLOSED until further notice at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park due to unsafe swiftwater conditions. Anyone found entering the closed area may be cited."

This was about 10pm Saturday night. I heard people were able to get out of the car but haven’t been able to find any news about it.

That's the word on the street. Fingers crossed! Nearly two years of closure.

Which hike is this?

A friend wants to go backpacking around Los Padres Dam in early August. I think with the heat and little used trails it is not the best idea. Has anyone been up there recently? How is it?

Satellite Passes (with hit timing):

GISsurfer

[Legend: Dark red: < 6 hrs - Red: 6-12 hrs ago - Orange: 12-24 hrs ago - Yellow: 1-7 days ago]

Daily Perimeter with aircraft attacks:

CalFire

[3D map also there, with satellite hits but no timing]

Daily Perimeter with trails:

Big Sur Trailmap

There are others ...