Big Sur

Big Sur is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery.

Big Sur has been called the “longest and most scenic stretch of undeveloped coastline in the contiguous United States”, a sublime “national treasure that demands extraordinary procedures to protect it from development”, and “one of the most beautiful coastlines anywhere in the world, an isolated stretch of road, mythic in reputation”.

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Lack of restrooms

It’s a ‘scenic highway’ with piles of shit up and down the highway.

— Butch Kronlund, Coast Property Owners Association Executive Director

There are only 16 public restrooms along the entire coast to accommodate the almost 5 million annual visitors. The number of visitors far exceeds the available restrooms, and most restrooms are not available in locations where tourists frequently visit. Businesses report that the large number of visitors using their bathroom has overwhelmed their septic systems.

If visitors can locate them, they can use bathrooms within California State Parks or federal campgrounds without paying an entrance fee. But many of the bathrooms are not visible from Highway 1. This is due in part to the fact that restroom signs along Highway 1 were removed for aesthetic reasons.

As a result, visitors often resort to defecating in the bushes near locations like the Bixby Creek Bridge. Residents complain that visitors regularly defecate along Highway 1. Toilet paper, human waste, and trash litter the roadsides. Residents have taken it upon themselves to clean up after visitors. ’

The California Department of Transportation, which cleans the roadside areas about once a week, finds human waste during every cleanup. Butch Kronlund, executive director of the Coast Property Owners Association, criticized the lack of restrooms. He says, “It’s a ‘scenic highway’ with piles of shit up and down the highway.”

The 1976 California Coastal Act makes installing public bathrooms, trash bins, or even new road signs along Highway 1 extremely difficult. Several federal, state, and local agencies have jurisdiction in Big Sur, all of which must weigh in on decisions affecting residents and visitors.