All photos taken at River Inn on Friday, May Day. I would rather give my dollars to a local business who has no big corporate overlord and who has given so much back to our community over the 90 years it has served us and the traveling public. It was also great to have a wonderful lunch out on the deck with Nadine and Patte, whom I haven’t seen IRL in months, if at all, so far this year!

The Big Sur River Inn is featuring a massive 2026 sand sculpture created by The Sand Guys (Rusty Croft and Kirk Rademaker)

Flowers by Connie Willet.

Date:	Thursday, April 30, 2026
District:	05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:	Kevin Drabinski or Ashton Harris
Phone:	(805) 549-3138 or (805) 556-5820

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

REPAIRS TO GRANITE CANYON BRIDGE SET TO BEGIN MONDAY, MAY 4

WITH DAYTIME TRAFFIC CONTROL

MONTEREY COUNTY – Crews are set to being repairs to the Granite Canyon Bridge and its bridge rail which were damaged after a recent traffic collision.

Travelers on Highway 1 at Granite Canyon Bridge will encounter one-way reversing traffic control starting Monday, May 4, on a Monday thru Friday basis, from 9 am to 1 pm. Repairs to the bridge are expected to take four weeks.

The Granite Canyon Bridge is located approximately 8 miles south of Carmel at Post Mile 64.4. Crews will be working beneath and on top of the bridge and will be reforming the bridge rail to match its original design.

Travelers can expect delays of up to ten minutes. Please allow for extra time during your commute through the area.

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. 

Our crews deserve to get home safely too.

Drive slowly and carefully in work zones.

CHP Traffic Incident Information Page: http://cad.chp.ca.gov

Traveler information at: https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/

| #BeWorkZoneAlert | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

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my first native iris this year…

And a sunset taken Wednesday…

You can find more of her photographs here: https://dellahuff.smugmug.com/Big-Sur

Hello!

This is a courtesy notification regarding the upcoming Big Sur International Marathon, which will take place on Sunday, April 26, 2026. The race will be held along Highway 1 from Big Sur Station to the finish at Rio Road in Carmel and will have a significant impact on both north and southbound traffic throughout the morning, until the course reopens at approximately 1:00pm, per public safety.

Due to the single traffic lane at Point Sur, traffic flow through this section is especially limited on race morning. To help ensure the safety of participants and minimize disruptions, we kindly ask for your cooperation in limiting or avoiding northbound travel on Highway 1 during this time. Road closures and controlled access points will be in effect, and delays should be expected for all vehicular traffic.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Travelers must be north of the Big Sur Post Office by 5:45am. The next opportunity for northbound travel will be in the northbound convoy departing Pt Sur at approximately 10:00am.  Anyone wishing to travel northbound should plan to arrive at Pt Sur by 9:30am to queue for the CHP-escorted convoy.

Residents entering Highway 1 from a driveway or access road (east side only) will be allowed to join in at the back of a scheduled caravan. 

For more information on race day road closures or to download a PDF, please click the link below: 

Traffic Information – Big Sur International Marathon

We appreciate your understanding and support in making this fundraising event safe and successful for all involved.

5 days ago, you may recall I reported on a dog that had been left behind when his owner was airlifted out of the back country and the dog was scared off by the helicopter. Good news. Thank you, VWA for your diligence on this. Here is the recovery story:

Hi All,

As most/all of you know, a dog named Ruger was left behind at Cienega Camp when his sick owner was airlifted to the hospital. Many of you have been wondering/worrying about Ruger.

Colleen, Gino, and one other volunteer hiked in on Sunday to try to find and rescue Ruger, but had no luck. Another backpacker heard a dog near Cienega Camp Sunday afternoon, just before Colleen and crew got there; he stayed the night hoping to attract the dog, but did not see or hear anything more of Ruger. Ruger’s owner (Garrett) recovered and was released from the hospital and went back in to Cienega on Monday (with help from Connie and Joaquin) to try to locate his dog. I just received a text from Garrett’s mom saying that Garrett found Ruger and that both have made it out to PBSSP campground in Big Sur.

I am still crying…I am a sucker for a happy dog reuniting story.

Date:	Thursday, April 16, 2026
District:	05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:	Ashton Harris or Heidi Crawford
Phone:	(805) 549-3237 or (805) 549-3318

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHWAY 1 NEAR ROCKY CREEK BRIDGE SET FOR 

DAYTIME LANE CLOSURE ON APRIL 22-24 & APRIL 27-29

MONTEREY COUNTY – Travelers on Highway 1, near Carmel-By-The-Sea at Rocky Creek Bridge, will encounter daytime one-way reversing traffic control for three days next week and three days the following week.

The lane closure will take place from 7 am to 5 pm on Wednesday, April 22 through Friday, April 24 and resume Monday, April 27 through Wednesday, April 29 near Rocky Creek Bridge. The lane closure will not take place on Sunday, April 26 to accommodate the Big Sur Marathon.

Work will consist of placing staging equipment and construction signage in the area and performing temporary restriping in preparation for an upcoming major construction project. 

Travelers can expect delays of up to 10 minutes.

Bicycles are instructed to join the traffic queue through the reverse traffic-control zone.

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. 

Our crews deserve to get home safely too.

Drive slowly and carefully in work zones.

CHP Traffic Incident Information Page: http://cad.chp.ca.gov

Traveler information at: https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/

| #BeWorkZoneAlert | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

###

   

Please see the message below from Caltrans.

Caltrans Planning Division is excited to collaborate with partners and the Big Sur community on the update of the Big Sur Coast Highway Management Plan (CHMP). Created collaboratively in the early 2000s as a set of documents (including a Corridor Management Plan and a series of management guidelines), the CHMP has provided a vision and guidance for decision makers in managing the impacts of tourism and ensuring safe operations and consideration of resources along a roughly 100 mile stretch of State Highway 1 for the past several decades. An update to the CHMP is timely to bring the documents into alignment with other local land use plans, current conditions, and community needs and priorities.

We see the Big Sur Byways Organization as a key partner in helping with engaging interested parties and the public. In the spirit of partnership, we invite you to share your thoughts and expectations for the update of the CHMP, ensuring the vision for the update effort continues in the spirit of the original process as collaborative and stakeholder driven.

To aid with communication and engagement, Caltrans has prepared and launched a Public Engagement Portal website, available at the following link:

Coast Highway Management Plan – PublicInput

A survey is included on the “Participate” tab of the website to gather feedback on the CHMP for the update – impressions, successes, and areas for improvement.

Please consider filling out the survey, and share with all your contacts, encouraging them to do the same. The survey will be available through June 2026.

For reference, Caltrans has also included a link to the original CHMP from 2004 on the “Documents” tab on the website. The link goes to the location on the County of Monterey’s website where the 2004 CHMP is hosted.

All taken this week