Highway 1 closed in Big Sur for 65 miles due to mudslide fears after 11 inches of rainfall
California highway officials closed a 65-mile long stretch of Highway 1 in Big Sur late Saturday afternoon over concerns of potential mudslides from the weekend’s heavy rainstorms.
The internationally famous, two-lane winding cliffside road was closed from Palo Colorado Road to Ragged Point.
The decision, by Caltrans, in consultation with the California Highway Patrol, came after the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for two areas that were burned in wildfires in the region. The first is the site of the Colorado Fire, which burned nearly 700 acres near Palo Colorado Road last year. The second is farther south, where the Dolan Fire burned 120,000 acres of steep hillsides in 2020.
“We don’t want people on the road if we have a potential for mudslides in the area,” said Caltrans spokeswoman Alexa Bertola. “When we have rain and burn scars, typically the hillsides can give way.”
Over the 24-hour period ending at 8 p.m. Saturday, the Monterey County coast received some of the heaviest rainfall it has experienced in a year or more. Mining Ridge, near the Dolan Fire burn scar, received a staggering 11.23 inches from Friday evening to Saturday evening. Other parts of the Santa Lucia Range along Highway 1 received 5 to 7 inches.
The National Weather Service described the danger of rocks, mud and other debris flowing from the hillsides onto the roadway and other areas as significant.
“Life-threatening flooding of creeks, roads and normally dry arroyos is likely,” the National Weather Service reported in its flood warning. “The heavy rains will likely trigger rockslides, mudslides and debris flows in steep terrain, especially in and around these areas.”
Bertola said that after the storm passes, Caltrans will evaluate conditions Sunday morning and decide whether to re-open the road.
Highway 1 has famously washed out and been closed due to rockslides dozens of times in heavy storms since it was built in the 1930s. A 2-mile stretch of road near Dolan Point closed Monday and re-opened two days later after rain from the last storm caused rocks and debris to block the road. Last Saturday, smaller rockslides also temporarily closed the road south of Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn.