Talk:Big Sur

Trivia
If this section is to be limited to local trivia connected to the land than it might be made more explicit. But the title Trivia indicates that it will be a collection of insignificant items that amuse readers. I would argue, however, that given the spiritual and artistic energy associated with Big Sur, songs that reference the place are something more than insignificant. I would argue further that a song reference to Big Sur could tell you a lot more about the place than the fact that Orson Wells bought a house that he never lived in.

You make a very good point, which is why I haven't taken down any of the new trivia items that have been added.--Scooterboss 12:14, 8 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Why thank you.Nepal Tree 19:54, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Gallery
Is it just me, or are most of the images in the gallery not functioning? Stephenjh 17:24, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm able to see them. Scooterboss 20:27, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

What's the criterion for calling a link "spam"?
I restored the link that was removed twice previously - what's the definition of "link spam" anyway? I found that site to be useful and informative. I'd be curious to know if anyone can point to a specific answer. Scooterboss 00:57, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

I added a link to http://71miles.com/destinations/big-sur in the External Links section and called it "Hotels, restaurants, and activities in Big Sur." I believe the link is truly useful to Wikipedia users who want to learn more about this entry. 71Miles' writers have been published by publications like The New York Times and have written dozens of Lonely Planet books.

I then received this note from another Wikipedia user who I assume removed the link:

Please stop adding spam links to Wikipedia articles. Your edits will be reverted. - Dudesleeper · Talk 21:42, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

How do I put the link back up. I am the owner of the 71Miles. Thanks.


 * See WP:NOT and look at section 2.7, or go directly to, where you will find this:"Travel guides. An article on Paris should mention landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, but not the telephone number or street address of your favorite hotel or the price of a café au lait on the Champs-Élysées. Such details are, however, very welcome at Wikitravel, but note that due to license incompatibility you cannot copy content wholesale unless you are the copyright holder.". Then go to Spam and read the External link spamming section.  Then go to... (there's lots more).--Hjal 05:22, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

````-- I believe you are misreading the rules. "An article on Paris" - I put a link in the External Links section, but did not change the previous Wikipedia entry in any other way. For a non-resident looking for current information (not history) on Big Sur, 71Miles article is arguably more useful than the entire Wikipedia entry. http://71miles.com/destinations/big-sur

That said, I did not change the Wikipedia entry at all. I simply added an external link at the bottom of the page. I came across many link to the New York Times travel section in these same external links sections. Is there a bias against independent publishers?

I added a link in the External Links section to a 71Miles' article, but did not change any other part of the entry. 71Miles is my company. Our articles are a valuable resource to Wikipedia readers when presented in the appropriate context. Our articles are written to inform readers about a destination. To include them in the External Link section is to use that section exactly as it is intended. I have seen multiple instance where links to The New York Times articles and other prominent publications are included in External Link sections on similar topics. Since our writers have been published by the New York Times and other prominent publications, and 71Miles articles are of equal quality, it would have to be bias against independent publishers not to include our links while allowing the Times' links to remain. (Asruge 18:20, 4 July 2007 (UTC))


 * Also, besides our links guidelines, please read WP:COI - using wikipedia to promote your company is not appropriate.  AK Radecki Speaketh  23:16, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:External_links#What_should_be_linked

I won't put the links up anymore. However, the policy is simply flawed. A company owner, book author, or other self-interested party could be the best source of information about a topic. If a self-interested person posts links to his own website, it should certainly be subject to review, but should not be removed simply because the source of the contribution is motivated by self interest. In this case, the links I posted provide better, more objective sources of information than the links that currently exist. (Asruge 17:05, 6 July 2007 (UTC))

Etymology
This should be a no brainer: why "Big Sur?" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.96.67.186 (talk) 01:11, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

It's there! "El Pais Grande Del Sur", the Big Land of the South. Wikivek (talk) 19:23, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

External links modified
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Coastal mountain
The page says: "Big Sur's Cone Peak is the highest coastal mountain in the contiguous 48 states"

As far as I can tell this is meaningless. What qualifies a mountain as a "Coastal Mountain"? The Coast Mountains are a specific rage, referring to the range running along the pacific coast. Is the idea that "Cone Peak," is the largest mountain in the Pacific Coast range between the Mexican-UnitedStates and United States-Canadian borders? Why are the "contiguous 48 states" involves, since so few of them are on the Pacific Coast. Does the comment refer to any mountain at all that is near any coast? What is the distance before your a Continental Mountain? I just feel the sentence brings up a fair bit of unanswered questions without adding anything. My vote is to just strike anything about Cone Peak. If not that, why not make this less opaque. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.219.129.12 (talk) 06:58, 7 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Good point, appears to be original research and as you say, meaningless. Fettlemap (talk) 00:19, 7 September 2016 (UTC)

Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge
The article has been sprinkled with repetitive references to the February 2017 condemnation and subsequent demolition of the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge. I've gathered them into one place, under "Soberanes Fire and mudslides", but they should be consolidated into a couple of sentences. Although it is probably a vital topic for people who live along California State Route 1, this article is about Big Sur, not a highway condition report, nor a detailed history of the regular mudslides and rock falls along that highway — Quicksilver (Hydrargyrum)T @ 20:36, 18 April 2017 (UTC)

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The lack of restrooms and lack of signs for them
I tagged a couple of assertions re this that need sources. But the problem is certainly real: "It's a 'scenic highway' with piles of shit up and down the highway." Amen!

It's hard to imagine that once-existing signs pointing to public restrooms were removed "for aesthetic reasons". Since it's not exactly "aesthetic" to be confronted with piles of human waste on the roadside. But, this is California.... --Pete Tillman (talk) 05:03, 29 December 2018 (UTC)

Big Sur landslides of 2017
Interesting remote-sensing study of the slides: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/144518/drought-then-deluge-turned-a-stable-landslide-into-disaster?src=eoa-iotd "Drought then Deluge Turned a Stable Landslide into Disaster" Compares the Mud Creek disaster to the Pauls Slide mini-disaster. --Pete Tillman (talk) 08:41, 13 February 2019 (UTC)

2021 Collapse of Big Sur
As far as I can tell, the collapse on Highway 1 at Big Sur isn't mentioned in the article. Is this intentional (like is this information not good for the article), or should this information be added? If the latter is true (that the collapse should be added), the following links should help: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/06/california-highway-1-landslide-climate-crisis https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/30/us/highway-one-mudslide.html https://www.greenmatters.com/p/highway-1-big-sur-collapse https://www.insider.com/landslide-causes-massive-chunk-big-sur-highway-fall-into-ocean-2021-1 VeganMartians (talk) 23:26, 1 March 2021 (UTC)User:VeganMartians
 * Mudslide occurs often on this part of Hwy 1, and that is already mentioned in the article. IMO, unless a slide closes the highway for months or causes dramatic change in scenery or safety, it's not worth mentioning specifically. --Happyseeu (talk) 05:30, 12 December 2021 (UTC)
 * For details about the many times the road has been closed by slides, including the 2021 closure, see Big Sur Coast Highway. — btphelps (talk to me) (what I've done) 07:26, 19 December 2021 (UTC)

Railway line
Why is there no mention of the railway line close to the beach? Peter Horn User talk 20:04, 6 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Because you haven't written about it yet? --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 20:25, 6 September 2021 (UTC)
 * That has nothing to do with me. I'll rephrase my question. Why has nobody mentioned this? Peter Horn User talk 23:48, 6 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Because you hadn't yet. Seriously. Nobody has seen fit to mention it, much less put it in the article, until you just did. What can you tell us about it? Are there some good sources about it we could draw on to expand the article? --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 01:23, 7 September 2021 (UTC)
 * It is the main line from say Berkeley, California or Oakland, California to Los Angeles which Amtrak California uses. At some point the passengers can actually see the beach. The ride is nicknamed the X rated train ride. I have added the map Peter Horn User talk 18:01, 7 September 2021 (UTC)
 * But it's nowhere near Big Sur. Amtrak follows the coast from Oxnard to Pismo Beach, and then goes inland to San Luis Obispo from there, with a mountain range in between. Closest it gets after that is Salinas. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 18:18, 7 September 2021 (UTC)
 * SNS on the map (click on it to enlarge it) is Salinas, California, see List of Amtrak stations. It is just a bit north of there that the Coast Starlight gets close to the coast along some distance.
 * That's not Big Sur. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 20:47, 7 September 2021 (UTC)
 * And Pinole isn't even close. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 20:58, 7 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Then OK, how close is Salinas? Is the Big Sur north of San Luis Obispo?
 * Let's see. San Luis Obispo is 40 miles as the crow flies (or about 50 miles by road) from San Simeon, which this article considers the southern extent of Big Sur. Salinas is 20 miles (by crow, or 30 by road) from Carmel Highlands, the northern extent. The picture of Pinole is about 80 miles (or 150 by road.) Perhaps you're were mistaking something for the nude beach Amtrak goes near south of Santa Barbara. But there is no active passenger or freight railway within visual range of Big Sur, nor can I find any indication of any historically. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 21:53, 8 September 2021 (UTC)
 * So the beach south of Santa Barbara is not part of Big Sur. Thanks for the geographic clarifications. Peter Horn User talk 02:15, 9 September 2021 (UTC)
 * 125 miles away. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 03:58, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

Moved section
Placing this here for an editor more knowledgeable on the subject to include the information in one of several possible sections where it beongs. It doesn't belong in the first paragraph of the introduction.

"The region receives about the same number of visitors as Yosemite National Park, but offers only limited bus service, few restrooms, and a narrow two-lane highway that for most of its length clings to the steep coastal cliffs. North-bound traffic during the peak summer season and holiday weekends is often backed up for about 20 miles from Big Sur Village to Carmel Highlands. Due to the large number of visitors, congestion and slow traffic between Carmel and Posts is becoming the norm. " Amandajm (talk) 18:41, 30 May 2022 (UTC)


 * It's not hard to see that "Driving popularity" is a suitable place for this info. — btphelps (talk to me) (what I've done) 21:52, 31 May 2022 (UTC)