When did you last drive north on Highway 1 in October and keep going past Ragged Point? For three years the full route between Cambria and Carmel was impossible while crews repaired two large slides. Caltrans reopened it in mid-January, and the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce's September 14 update says the highway is fully open through Big Sur. That makes this month the first Cambria Scarecrow Festival since the closure ended. The 2026 map hugs that same coast road, and the festival's one brand-new display sits at its northern end.
The scarecrow route is a Highway 1 route
The festival runs October 1 through 31, and the organizers' FAQ says there is no fee to view the scarecrows. The organizers' 2026 release names the locations: throughout Cambria Village, along Moonstone Drive, and on Castillo and Hearst drives in San Simeon. Visit Cambria lists the East and West Villages as separate stops, along with Moonstone Beach and San Simeon.
Trace those stops on a map and you get a line running north from the Main Street villages, out along Moonstone, and up to San Simeon. That is the stretch every Big Sur road-tripper drives coming south, or heading north out of town.
From south to north, the route goes like this:
- East Village and West Village. The Main Street core, where the scarecrow displays share sidewalks with this year's new storefronts, covered below.
- Cambria Center for the Arts. The festival's September newsletter says 16 children's fish creations will be on display there all month.
- Moonstone Drive. The oceanfront row of displays, running parallel to the highway.
- Castillo and Hearst drives, San Simeon. The northern end, and the home of this year's new display.
The new display went to the town that gained the most
The 2026 release brings back two familiar set pieces. Fantastical Cove has a unicorn, a sea serpent, colorful mushrooms and gnomes. Crowchella is a music display with KISS, Sunny and Sher, Taylor, and Ozzie. The only display the release calls brand-new is "PJ's in the Patch," a sleep-themed scene in San Simeon with bedtime storytelling, a granny pillow fight and an overnight camping adventure.
San Simeon is also where the earliest post-reopening numbers jumped the most. Caltrans cited Visit SLO CAL figures in May:
| Visit SLO CAL measure, 2026 | Year-over-year change |
|---|---|
| San Simeon occupancy, February | up 37% |
| North Coast region, February | up nearly 20% |
| Cambria weekly occupancy, mid-March | up 25% |
| San Simeon weekly occupancy, mid-March | up 43% |
| Countywide weekly occupancy, mid-March | up 9% |
The same release said northbound traffic at Ragged Point was up more than 900% year over year, according to Visit California. These numbers are winter and early-spring snapshots, so they say nothing about how busy Moonstone will be on a given Saturday this month. They do show that the north end of the festival map is the part of the North Coast where the reopening first showed up most clearly.
The festival is in its 18th year, according to the organizers' August newsletter. The release says it began in 2009 with 30 scarecrows and now has more than 200. Visit Cambria's calendar puts the count higher, at more than 400, so "hundreds" is the honest number either way.
"Every year we look forward to surprising visitors with new scarecrows and displays while bringing back some of the characters people have grown to love." Shelley Holden, President of the Cambria Scarecrow Festival
The festival is produced by Cambria Scarecrow Festival, Inc., a 501(c)(3). Its Friends of the Cambria Scarecrow Festival Program takes tax-deductible donations and lets individuals and businesses adopt a scarecrow.
Cambria's other October events stay inland
If the scarecrows line the coast road, most of the town's other October events sit a few blocks back from it.
Saturday, October 10: Harvest Festival on Center Street. The Cambria Historical Society holds its 28th Annual Harvest Festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2251 Center St. The listing includes live music, soup flights, vendors and children's games.
All month: 46 Ranch Pumpkin Patch on Eton Road. Cambria Nursery and Florist, 2801 Eton Road, runs a free pumpkin patch October 1 through 31, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Mid-October: Oktoberfest and the scarecrow winners. Visit Cambria's calendar says the festival's award winners will be announced at Oktoberfest at the Pinedorado Grounds. It lists the date as "Saturday, October 19," but October 19 falls on a Monday this year. A regional Highway 1 tourism guide describes the event only as mid-October at the Pinedorado Grounds. Confirm the date with the organizers before planning around it.
The Pinedorado Grounds at 940 Main St. hosted Pinedorado Days just last month, September 5 through 7. The Scarecrow Festival group marched in the September 5 parade with an entry marking America's 250th anniversary. The Cambria Lions' September 6 car show honored its founder, Nate Fearonce, who died May 10 at 91.
Fiscalini Ranch is mid-project this month
Anyone planning a quiet walk away from the festival traffic should know that the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve scheduled forest-health work from September 1 through mid-October. The preserve says forest trails may close temporarily while the work goes on, and the Buff Trail was to stay open throughout. As of October 4, the work is in its final stretch, so the bluff is the more reliable option for the next week or two.
The Main Street storefronts that opened this year
The East and West Village stops also pass three businesses that opened this year, after the highway reopened in January.
- Salty Pages, 2024 Main St., opened March 20. Its April 4 gathering was a separate celebration, not the opening.
- The Mincing Mockingbird, 783 Main St. in the West Village, opened in roughly late March. The Cambrian's May 3 profile said it had been open about five weeks.
- Cambria New Diner, 4090 Burton Drive, opened July 1. Its entrance is around the corner on Center Street. It closed for several days in late July to restock and add freezer space, then reopened.
KSBY reported the earliest local reaction to the reopening just a week after the highway opened. A Cambria shop owner described more foot traffic, and a gallery owner said clients were coming from farther north and south. That was January. October will be the first time those storefronts, the scarecrows and a fully open coast road all overlap.
After dark, and after October
Hearst Castle lists its Art Under the Moonlight tour for October through mid-November. It is a 100-minute evening tour priced at $50 for adults and $25 for children, with about 300 steps. California State Parks introduced the series in 2024, so the format isn't new this year. The castle page does not give specific 2026 dates, so check availability before you go. It sits just up the road from San Simeon's new scarecrow display.
When the scarecrows come down on October 31, the Cambria Christmas Market takes over on select dates from November 27 through December 31. If your plans this fall include driving north past Ragged Point, check Caltrans' live District 5 conditions first. The September 14 "fully open" update was accurate on that date, and coastal road conditions can change.
When the coast road reopens and the busiest festival stops sit right along it, the change matters to more than weekend plans. For homeowners in the Village, along Moonstone or up toward San Simeon, it can also affect how a home shows and when it makes sense to list. If you'd like to talk through how this year's reopening affects your part of Cambria, Jan Sanderlin is glad to sit down with you. Start Your Concierge Consultation.
