Big Sur closure

[kath6144]

I have another thread on long haul re accommodation relating to trip to California/Nevada in July.

We are now sorted apart from a hotel in Monterey/Santa Cruz area, which I have been browsing for in the last week. We pick a car up at SF airport, 5 days after arriving, the intention was 3 nights in Monterey/SC area, then drive Big Sur, then we have a night in Cambria booked then across to Yosemite (and onto Las Vegas, GC etc).

Last night at end of dinner, my DD picked up my iPad , browsed on web, then showed us a page she had seen earlier, about Big Sur being closed till at least Sept for re-build of the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge. I read it in disbelief, thinking What now?

So the point of this thread is to ask any MN Californians, or anyone with knowledge of that area, what we should do?

Should we abandon idea of Big Sur, not book Monterey and just head inland from SF, maybe to Lake Tahoe, before Yosemite?

Should we still go to Monterey, but less nights, drive top part of Big Sur, back to Monterey, then go the long way to Cambria, but with an extra night there to maybe see some of Big Sur below closure? I think it would be a big detour this way, although haven't done mileages.

Is there any way to detour around the closure without going all the way down the 101 - any cut-across routes?

Any advice welcome! I really wanted to see the Big Sur, but hey ho, there's always next time if not feasible!

Arghhh! We are driving LA - SF in July and this was on the list- though fortunately I hadn't got round to booking accommodation yet. Thanks for the heads up - and yes looking at the map and the suggested detour, there really isn't a way to cut in and out is there. poo.

Aaghh - exactly Patricia!

I have posted a query on TripAdvisor and the advice so far seems to be do the top part from Monterey, and bottom part from Cambria, so looks like we may have 2 nights in Monterey, 2 in Cambria. The main drive between them on Highway 101 is saying 140 miles, which I guess wont take any longer than 100 miles would have done on the more windy Big Sur.

Hopefully some nice Californian may come on this thread too, there was a lady from N California who posted on my previous thread about the Monterey area.

If it's any consolation, we drove the Big Sur last year in July and it was mostly covered in mist anyway. The whole coast is very nice but a little overrated and not that warm in July.

As you're heading to Yosemite afterwards I would just do the northern bit. Looks like you should be able to see a fair bit and get as far south as Pfeiffer Beach. You can take a bit more time and check out places like Point Lobos as you head south. The stuff you'll miss is nice, and doing the whole drive is nice, but I think you'll still see the most impressive bits from the north.

It might be worth considering staying somewhere in Big Sur (as well as Monterey). We stayed at Big Sur Cabins and Campground and really enjoyed it. There are a few other cabin options and it may also be worth a look on Airbnb.