Big Sur

Landslides in Big Sur, 1937-2000

Since we are on the subject of landslides, see the Highway Management Plan, 2001, for this listing and the history of Highway One here: https://www.cahighways.org/caltrans-resources/big-sur/history_road_closures.pdf or, if you just want the charts, here they are. The slides are arranged by mile post marker, starting at the San Luis Obispo/Monterey County line and proceeding northward, not by date or alphabetically by slide name, so it helps if you know where you want to look. It has been 23 years since this Highway Management Plan. Isn’t it time for a new one? (I think it is in process.)

bigsurkate

Appointed appellate counsel for indigent defendants (retired.) I have lived in Big Sur since 1984, first on the north coast, and on the South Coast since 1989.

Next March, 1983 - Slides everywhere »

Previous « Road Closures, 1935 thru 2000

View Comments

Trey says:

August 20, 2024 at 9:31 am

Thanks Kate for sharing this. Brings back a lot of memories and interesting to know the history. I think a review and update of the Big Sur Coast Highway Management Plan is important. The plan took 7 years to create so I don't think writing a new one is the thing to do. Is there something specific in the plan that you think needs updating?
bigsurkate says:

August 20, 2024 at 9:37 am

Trey, I haven’t really given that any thought. I’ve been focused on landslides and road closures.
Colleen says:

August 20, 2024 at 12:51 pm

Thanks for this interesting read, I think that I will save as a pdf.

I would like to quote from the memorable winter of 1978:
“The slides slid, the slipouts slipped and the sinks sank.“

…and that winter our beautiful Arroyo Seco River at Sycamore Flats filled in with rocks and mud which changed it forever, or at least for the last almost five decades.

~ Colleen