Soberanes fire: Point Lobos nature reserve reopens; other parks remain temporarily closed

The popular Point Lobos nature reserve south of Carmel has reopened, though other Big Sur area state parks remain shut because of the Soberanes fire. Visitors to the nature reserve should arrive early because parking is limited to the 150 spaces inside the park with no spillover onto nearby Highway 1, a California State Park spokesman said Thursday.

“The [California Highway Patrol] has temporarily banned parking on the shoulder of Highway 1 near the park for safety reasons as lots of fire equipment and trucks are moving up and down [Pacific Coast Highway],” Dennis Weber wrote in an email.

Point Lobos State Nature Reserve, which is on a peninsula south of Carmel and Monterey, reopened Tuesday. Other state parks remain closed indefinitely.

For example, Andrew Molera State Park is being used as a helicopter base for firefighters, and campgrounds at Pfeiffer Big Sur and Julia Pfeiffer Burns state parks have been “converted to fire camps for crews and equipment,” Weber writes.

Reservations for the 120 campsites at Pfeiffer Big Sur and two campsites at Julia Pfeiffer Burns earlier had been canceled through Aug. 13.

Garrapata State Park and Point Sur State Historic Park as well as hiking trails in the area also are closed because of the fire that broke out July 22. Officials believe it was started by an illegal campfire.

The fire claimed the life of a heavy equipment operator, and has burned more than 53,000 acres and destroyed 57 homes. As of Friday morning, the fire was reported as 35% contained.

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