Big Sur Is Back in Business—and Better Than Ever

When a million tons of rocks tumbled down the coast of Big Sur, Calif., on May 20, the landslide added 13 acres of land to the region and buried scenic Highway 1 in 40 feet of dirt and gravel—the equivalent of 800 Olympic-sized swimming pools. It was just the latest blow for a tiny community: The Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge had already begun to fail in February after heavy winter storms caused slides up and down the coast, and it will remain closed until October.

Taken together, the weather events shut off access to an entire region of central California that’s otherwise known for its postcard-perfect vistas, switchback hiking trails, lighthouse-dotted beaches, and, lately, as the setting of HBO’s breakout hit Big Little Lies. Now it’s known colloquially as “Big Sur Island”—bounded by the closure at Pfeiffer Canyon on the north and landslide-related barriers to the south.