Before you hike
Closures, the road, fire and air before you head for a trailhead. Where a park's own page is the only word on its trails, we link it instead of guessing.
Conditions right now
Forest closure orders · Los Padres
Loading Forest Service alerts…
Parks that post their own status
Find a trailhead
Why use Cars & Coast for hiking
Closure orders from the Forest Service
We read the Los Padres National Forest alerts page and put the Monterey Ranger District orders first, each linked to the order itself.
The road and the fire, live
Highway 1 status from Caltrans every 30 minutes, local incidents, air quality and National Weather Service alerts.
Official pages where they're the only word
State Parks Big Sur and Pinnacles post trail status on their own pages; we link them rather than repeat something that may be out of date.
Free, no account, no app
No sign-up, no paywall.
Before you go
- Closure orders carry fines. If an order and a trail sign disagree, follow the stricter one and check the agency's own page.
- Cell service is patchy south of Carmel Highlands. Tell someone your route, carry water, and plan to be out before sunset.
- Statuses here come from the agencies' own feeds and can lag; a closure can start before it shows up anywhere online.
More on the coast
Sources: USDA Forest Service, Los Padres alerts · Caltrans road conditions (every 30 min) · local incident feeds · Open-Meteo air quality (worst reading along the coast) · National Weather Service alerts · sunset from Open-Meteo.