Where was Big Sur landslide?

Big Sur Landslides: A Love-Hate Relationship

Big Sur. Just the name conjures up images of dramatic cliffs, that winding ribbon of Highway 1, and views that’ll knock your socks off. It’s the kind of place you see in movies, the California dream distilled. But there’s a wild side to this beauty, a geological reality that keeps things interesting, to say the least: landslides.

Let’s be honest, Big Sur is a hotbed for these things. I mean, think about it – you’ve got these incredibly steep slopes, a real mishmash of rock and soil, and then you throw in buckets of rain, especially during those crazy El Niño years. It’s a recipe for disaster, or at least, a recipe for a whole lotta dirt moving where it shouldn’t.

Over 1,500 landslides have been mapped in the area. That’s a whole lot of earth on the move! And believe me, some of them have been real whoppers.

Take Mud Creek, for example. Back in May 2017, it wasn’t just a slide; it was an avalanche of rock and debris. Imagine six million cubic yards – that’s like, a mountain – crashing down onto Highway 1. It buried a quarter-mile of road under 65 feet of rubble! I remember hearing about it at the time; it seemed like Big Sur was going to be cut off from the world. It took over a year and a cool $54 million to fix. They finally reopened it in July 2018. Nature can be a real showstopper, but she doesn’t care about your commute. The USGS even tracked how things changed there as recently as this past spring.

Then there’s Paul’s Slide, further up the coast. This spot’s always been a bit of a troublemaker. Just last year, in January 2023, another major mudslide shut down the highway. As of now, in August 2025, it’s still under construction. Caltrans is working hard to get it fixed, putting in new drainage and raising the road to try and prevent this from happening again. They’re hoping to have it done by the end of the summer. Fingers crossed! Again, the USGS was on top of it, monitoring the changes from above.

And it doesn’t stop there. Remember the Rocky Creek Bridge? In March of 2024, part of the cliffside just… gave way. A “slip-out,” they called it. Basically, the land decided to take a swim in the Pacific. They managed to get one lane open after a couple of months, but it’s a constant reminder of how fragile things are out there.

As if that wasn’t enough, February 2024 saw two more slides – Dolan Point and Regent Slide – popping up practically next door to each other. As of September 2024, Regent Slide was still causing headaches, keeping a chunk of Highway 1 closed.

The bottom line? Landslides are a fact of life in Big Sur. Caltrans is doing its best to keep the road open, patching things up and trying to stabilize the slopes. But Mother Nature bats last. So, if you’re planning a trip to Big Sur, do yourself a favor: check the road conditions before you go, and drive carefully, especially if it’s been raining. It’s worth it to see this incredible place, but it’s always good to remember that Big Sur is beautiful, powerful, and a little bit unpredictable.