FILE: Visitors check out Hearst Castle.
FILE: Visitors check out Hearst Castle.
Highway 1 has reopened and sent hordes of tourists, often more than the region can handle, to Big Sur and beyond.
But what was once a major destination in the region that drew 700,000-800,000 visitors annually to the unparalleled Central California coastline has seen its visitor numbers drop.
A steady conga line of events, both global and regional, has continued to impact visitorship at Hearst Castle and the tiny coastal town of San Simeon that sits directly in its shadow.
The last “normal” year at the castle for visitors was around 2019, California State Parks officials said.
FILE: Tourists stand near large marble columns on the edge of the Greco-Roman style Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle.
FILE: Tourists stand near large marble columns on the edge of the Greco-Roman style Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle.
The indoor Roman Pool at Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Calif.
The indoor Roman Pool at Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Calif.
The Savor the Central Coast event at Hearst Castle gave attendees a rare opportunity to step back in time and experience the castle much like a 1920s celebrity guest.
The Savor the Central Coast event at Hearst Castle gave attendees a rare opportunity to step back in time and experience the castle much like a 1920s celebrity guest.
In 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the castle shut down along with the rest of the world. But even as things started to open back up, Hearst Castle remained closed to complete road repairs, only reopening in the spring of 2022.
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“The Hearst Castle access road is used by tour buses, contractors, and staff and carries up to 850,000 visitors per year,” California State Parks said in a statement just prior to the castle’s reopening. “This includes approximately 22,000 bus trips per year, some running as frequently as every 10 minutes in the busy summer season. The steep, curvy road rises 1,650 feet over a distance of 5 miles.”
Social distancing signs and hand sanitizer have been placed in the visitor center for Hearst Catle on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, in San Simeon, Calif. Hearst Castle, one of California's most popular tourist attractions, was closed during the pandemic.
Social distancing signs and hand sanitizer have been placed in the visitor center for Hearst Catle on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, in San Simeon, Calif. Hearst Castle, one of California's most popular tourist attractions, was closed during the pandemic.
And though the castle’s doors were flung open again that spring, the visitors have yet to return in full force.
State Parks measures the number of visitors during the busy season (June 1 through Sept. 30). For Hearst Castle, visitor numbers experienced a recent peak in 2024, with 178,181 during that time frame. They dipped to 162,758 in 2025 and rose up again slightly this year with 168,133 visitors. But in 2019, during those same summer months, the castle saw 274,025 visitors.
“There are a number of impacts that can relate to overall attendance,” Dan Falat, district superintendent for California State Parks’ San Luis Obispo Coast District, wrote SFGATE via email. “We cannot specifically attribute any specific reason for attendance fluctuations.”
During a follow-up conversation with Falat this week, the district superintendent elaborated a little more on possible causes to the castle’s flat attendance rate: “A lot of factors come into play,” he explained. “Highway 1 [closure] comes into play. Overall tourism comes into play. We were closed for over two years, and yes, things have changed … Changes with international travelers. Domestic travel [patterns are] different. Gas prices. It’s hard to put all factors into one reason.”
Hearst Castle in its heyday.
Hearst Castle in its heyday.
The goal today, he said, is to keep the castle, which the LA Times once referred to as the “biggest consistent money maker in the entire state park system,” in the public eye. He noted that State Parks is very involved in promoting the castle with local, county and statewide tourism and promotional agencies, including Visit SLO CAL and Visit California.
State Parks has also implemented smaller tweaks, including adding new tours, like one on Julia Morgan that highlights the work that the legendary architect did to bring the castle to life.
The castle, Falat pointed out, is also a museum still filled with priceless artifacts. Some paintings are even on loan through this coming February to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
“We’re always looking at new opportunities,” he said.
The Gothic Study, Mr. Hearst’s private library and office, can been seen on the Upstairs Suites Tour at Hearst Castle.
The Gothic Study, Mr. Hearst’s private library and office, can been seen on the Upstairs Suites Tour at Hearst Castle.
Back down the hill in San Simeon, some said they’ve seen signs of life coming from traffic going to Hearst Castle, especially during this past summer. “It’s getting better,” Maura Valencia, owner of the Big Sur Restaurant in San Simeon, told SFGATE during a recent trip here. “I mean we’re not 100 percent, like we used to — but it’s better.”
Luis Gonzalez, who’s lived in San Simeon since 1989 and works in hotel management, said the recent dip in travelers coming through this region is the worst he’s seen during his entire time living here. He said it was due, at least in some part, to the castle’s prolonged closure: “The worst years in San Simeon since I lived here is after COVID,” he said. “COVID, then after COVID, the castle was closed because they had to do repairs to the road for a year. After they opened everything, we’re doing good. COVID to 2025, it was bad, a lot of business closed, there’s no business. It was hard.”
Big Sur Restaurant in San Simeon, Calif., remains quiet after several down years. Pictured here on Sept. 25, 2024.
Big Sur Restaurant in San Simeon, Calif., remains quiet after several down years. Pictured here on Sept. 25, 2024.
And while both Valencia and Gonzalez feel confident that people will want to start coming to the castle again, now that the region is open and the roads are clear, they understand they may be rapidly approaching the other side of a short-lived window of normalcy, as this year’s El Niño portends to bring historic storm totals to this area.
An empty beach at Hearst San Simeon State Park is what would potentially greet visitors.
An empty beach at Hearst San Simeon State Park is what would potentially greet visitors.
But they also have been in the area long enough to know that eventually, the lure of the castle brings people back to this storied and exquisite stretch of coastline. Folks always seem to somehow find their way back. In the case of this coming winter, however, there is a notion that the fates of travelers to the castle are in the hands of something bigger.
“There’s nothing you can do with Mother Nature,” Gonzales concluded.