The western U.S. is home to some of the most awe-inspiring landscapes in the world, from deep alpine forests to dramatic coastlines. Even more impressive
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A section of California’s scenic Highway 1 near Big Sur that collapsed during a winter storm has reopened, just in time for Memorial Day travel.
The highway has been closed since Jan. 28, when heavy rain unleashed torrents of mud and debris left over from a wildfire, washing a 150-foot chunk of roadway into the sea. The slide occurred about two miles south of Big Sur’s Esalen Institute, blocking northbound coastal travelers from such Central Coast sites as Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Nepenthe restaurant and Big Sur Campground & Cabins.
McWay Falls drops over an 80-foot cliff at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur.
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Ask anyone who lives in Big Sur about the changes the region has seen in the past five years and they’ll tell you horror stories about photo-obsessed “selfie tourists” clogging Highway 1 at Bixby Creek Bridge parking in the narrow roadway, causing hours-long traffic delays and dangerously posing for pictures on the landmark bridge.
“It’s a goat rodeo,” says Butch Kronlund, executive director of the Community Association of Big Sur especially on holiday weekends, he says. A resident of the famously beautiful region for 31 years, he’s witnessed an alarming regression in visitor behavior since the advent of camera phones and Instagram.