One of the most popular hiking trails in Big Sur has reopened after a huge redwood tree smashed through a 70-foot bridge over a big ravine during a winter storm two years ago, blocking public access.

The Pfeiffer Falls Trail in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, a favorite for generations of hikers, is back, state parks officials announced this week.

For decades, thousands of people every year hiked up the 1.5-mile round trip route through a redwood-lined stream leading to a 60-foot waterfall.

But the trail has been battered in recent years. Six of its wooden bridges, stairs, signs, hand railings and an observation deck were destroyed in the 2008 Basin Complex Fire.

The trail was temporarily and roughly rerouted. After years of delays from heavy winter storms, COVID, funding shortfalls, and

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