Big Sur Help!!
 

Hi! My family (wife, two twenty year old boys) are leaving for San Francisco june 6. We had planned on staying in San Fran for a few days, then working our way down the coast. With the recent mudslide, I'm having a dilemma, do I proceed some of the way, is there an alternate route, etc, etc. We're unfamiliar with the area.
Thanks for your help, we"ll be traveling 10 days, leaving from LA.

Perhaps it would be easier if you first told us where your lodging was? Show long did you have planned for big sur?

Where do you currently have reservations? How many nights do you have for the drive? The alternate route between Cambria and Monterey is 46/101/68 if you're staying in either of those.

You can still see parts of Big Sur and as mentioned, there is a detour around the area. But w/o knowing what you planned originally and how many days you are talking about it is hard to give good alternatives/suggestions.

This map might help:
http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/highway_conditions.html

For the most comprehensive discussion of the road difficulties in the Big Sur area, go to the California forum on tripadvisor.com. Lots and lots of information and good links.

With two young men I would suggest Pismo Beach over Cambria, you can drive a bit north of San Simeon if you wanted to see the elephant seals. Then detour via 46 to 101 and cut over to Monterey and stay 2 nights if possible (Aquarium, kayaking, etc.) and drive as far south as Bixby Bridge then backtrack, this will let you see part of Big Sur at least.

We just drove the detour in April and really enjoyed the scenery along the way! We missed Big Sur entirely, but enjoyed so many other hikes and sites along the way.

Thanks for the responses. To be more specific, we are flying in on June 6, in San Francisco. We are staying three nights in San Francisco, then making our way south. Our departure day is June 16 from Los Angeles. I have not made any hotel reservations beyond San Francisco.

Drive to Monterey and spend a couple of days there. You can drive about 20 miles south into the Big Sur area. Don't miss Point Lobos, just south of Carmel. After that you'll have to take Hwy 68 to Hwy 101. You can exit Hwy 46 WEST in Paso Robles and pick up Hwy 1 again. From there you can head north to see Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery and/or Hearst Castle if you're interested. San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, and Pismo Beach would all be good places to stay. Lots of hiking and water activities, like kayaking.

I would make reservations for your drive south ASAP. Your trip is mid-week, so you may be successful at winging it, but high season has started and places are filling up.