Andrew Molera State Park still recovering from winter storms

Visitors in Big Sur love the views, but are missing out on State Parks that are still closed.

“It’s pretty disappointing because we were looking forward to it, but there’s beautiful stuff anyways anywhere on this route,” said Georgia visitor Monisha Verma.

Mukesh, Amit, & Gautam are visiting from India and New York.

“If we’re able to do it, definitely coming from New York, we definitely want to go to all the places to go where we want to visit. If it’s open, we have to go.”

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park will fully reopen on Saturday, while Andrew Molera State Park started clean up Thursday afternoon.

“It eroded our main camp road, and the river is now essentially in that road footprint, so it created what would be pretty much a river site in much of the campground,” said Big Sur Sector Superintendent John De Luca.

That means camping won’t re-open this season at Andrew Molera, so the parks department is focusing its efforts on restoring access to the beach and hiking trails.

“That’s what the community has said would be most helpful for stimulating visitation for our partners in the community, but also we know that in state parks, looking for what the visitors come for, they really like to see the beach here,” said De Luca.

Starting Saturday, the main parking lot at Andrew Molera will also be used as a pick-up and drop-off spot for those traveling in between the downed Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge.

“It’s sort of a test run to see if this will be a benefit to the community. The goal is to move people from the north part of the bridge to the south side…via shuttle,” said De Luca.

Visitors can expect access to beaches and hiking trails at the park in late July or early August.

“We’re excited to get back to regular business, serving the public, and helping them access their state parks,” said De Luca.