I'm thinking of exploring the Old Coast Rd from Bixby Bridge to Big Sur. On my Delorme SA map it shows a break in the road that it marks as a trail. On my Delorme Topo it shows a complete road. On this map I have shown the SA version and circled the trail in the road. Is this a passible area with a 4x4 or must I go out to Hwy 1 and cut around it?

The Old Coast Road normally goes all the way through and does not go back to H1 until the end, if it has changed I've not heard anything about it.
Unless it's wet, it's not a 4wd kind of road.
Either way it's a great drive, I've been meaning to go down there myself.
If you go, be sure to report back on the road situation, my guess is your SA map is wrong.

Hmmm. We were down in that exact area for CalX 1 back in 2000. On the last day, some of us did a drive on the Old Coast Road to Bixby Bridge, coming from the south, and 4WD was not needed during any part of that. Unfortunately, I can't make out the fine details of the map you posted, plus I'm at work so I can't look at my book, but I >think< we did use that "trail" you circled. If someone hasn't already answered, I'll check on it when I get home in the morning.

Thanks for the info. Were just doing the road for the scenery - call it a dry run. Now, what is it like after a lot of rain

Kinda like this but with 500' drop-offs

D'oh! I fell asleep as soon as I got home from work this morning. Hehe. Um, yah, you'll really enjoy the scenery, especially the parts where the trail is surrounded by tall evergreens. Maybe you'll even run into a herd of cows like we did. I think Cary from SCCX even made his CalX video from footage he shot when we were on the Old Coast Road.

We started at the south end of the road which is at Andrew Molera State Park and ended up here:

If you drive this road, you can also do South Ridge Road (Nacimiento Road), a little south of Lucia. You can do both in one day.

Ridge road is about twice as long as Coastal road.

Some pics I took of both places a few years ago
here

....

Here are a couple pic's from my trip down Old Coast Road. It was a pretty fun outing but would love some roads where the 4x4 is actually needed.

well...

I made the drive down today. VERY mellow... Im not complaining since all ive done to my rig is remove the rails. Although, like XterraDiver, Im ready for a bit more...

Decent day trip for sure though..

Sean