Big Sur's free camping is up on the Santa Lucia ridges, in the Los Padres National Forest: dirt roads like Nacimiento-Fergusson, Prewitt Ridge and Plaskett Ridge climb from Highway 1 to campsites above the fog with the ocean below. For now, those ridge roads are closed. The Timber and Plaskett Fires burned through the Monterey Ranger District in August 2026, and the forest has closed the fire area, its roads and its trails through January 31, 2027. Here is what the closure covers, the rules that apply once it lifts, and where you can legally sleep in Big Sur in the meantime.

The 2026 fire closure

Two fires started in August 2026: the Timber Fire on August 8 (about 25,350 acres) and the Plaskett Fire on August 26 (about 30,120 acres, fully contained), according to CAL FIRE. To keep people out of the burned area, Los Padres issued Forest Order 05-07-51-26-11, in force from September 26, 2026, to January 31, 2027.

It closes the land, roads and trails of the fire area. Among the closed roads are the ones Big Sur's dispersed campers use:

  • Nacimiento-Fergusson Road (22S01), and the Ponderosa and Nacimiento campground roads
  • Prewitt Ridge (22S04) and Alms Ridge
  • Plaskett Ridge (23S02)
  • Central Coast Ridge Road, aka Cone Peak Road (20S05.3), the North Coast Ridge Road and most of the South Coast Ridge Road
  • Los Burros and Willow Creek (23S10)

The order also closes trails across the Ventana and Silver Peak Wilderness areas, including Pine Ridge, Kirk Creek, Vicente Flat, Cone Peak and Prewitt Loop. Breaking it can cost an individual up to $5,000, six months in jail, or both. The order runs to January 31, 2027, but the forest can extend or replace it, so check the Los Padres alerts before you go.

Not on Highway 1 turnouts

Car camping in a pullout along the coast is not dispersed camping. Monterey County code bans camping in the right-of-way of Highway 1 from the Carmel River to the San Luis Obispo County line, at any time. Turnouts along the coast are posted "No overnight camping or sleeping in vehicle".

San Carpoforo Beach, at the far south end of Big Sur, is national forest land, but a separate forest order bans overnight camping and any fire, stoves included, there through April 7, 2027.

Nacimiento-Fergusson: no roadside camping

Even before the fires, the forest banned camping within 300 feet of Nacimiento-Fergusson Road for its first 12 miles east of Highway 1. That order runs through September 5, 2027, so when the road reopens, the turnouts on the climb from the coast stay off-limits.

The ridge roads

  • Nacimiento-Fergusson Road (22S01) runs from Highway 1 at Kirk Creek up into the Big Sur high country and on toward Fort Hunter Liggett and Highway 101. Even when it's open, camping is banned within 300 feet of the road for its first 12 miles, and Recreation.gov's notice for Ponderosa Campground says RVs are not recommended on it from Highway 1.
  • Plaskett Ridge Road (23S02) leaves Highway 1 on the south coast.
  • Prewitt Ridge (22S04) and the Coast Ridge roads (20S05) are forest roads in the same closure area.

All of them are closed until at least January 31, 2027, and none of the forest's orders mentions water on the ridges. Check the forest's alerts before you go.

Rules once the ridges reopen

Stay limits. Outside developed campgrounds, Los Padres allows 7 consecutive days, and no more than 21 days in a calendar year. Developed campgrounds allow 14 days at a time, 28 a year.

Fire. Through January 31, 2027, a forest-wide order bans fires, campfires and stove fires outside designated campfire sites (developed campgrounds such as Kirk Creek, Plaskett Creek, Nacimiento and Ponderosa, all four closed right now). Dispersed campers get no campfire at all. A California Campfire Permit doesn't exempt you from the ban, but with one you may run a gas, jellied-petroleum or pressurized-fuel stove or lantern. The permit is free, and CAL FIRE issues it online at readyforwildfire.org.

Water. Plan on finding none: bring all you need, plus a way to carry out trash and human waste. See our dispersed camping guide for the general national forest rules, and California dispersed camping for free sites elsewhere in the state.

Where to camp in Big Sur instead

  • Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park reopened on October 16, 2026, campground included, though six trails stay closed: Pfeiffer Falls, Valley View, Oak Grove, Mount Manuel, Big Sur River Gorge and Pine Ridge.
  • The forest's coastal campgrounds, Kirk Creek and Plaskett Creek, have been listed as closed since the August fires. Check their Forest Service pages before booking.
  • Private campgrounds in the Big Sur River valley take tents and RVs. See Big Sur campgrounds for all of them, and RV camping in Big Sur for sites that fit a rig.

Highway 1 is open from Carmel to Cambria, with one-way traffic control at several work zones. Check Caltrans QuickMap or call 1-800-427-7623 before you drive.