Photo: California State Parks
Repairs are scheduled to address major erosion of the dirt road leading to San Onofre State Beach, which closed access to the popular surf spot “indefinitely” back in February. On Thursday, California State Parks and Camp Pendleton announced that the process would begin on March 25 and should last only a week.
“It’s impassible. You can not drive a vehicle around that right now,” California State Parks Superintendent Scott Kibbey told the OC Register when a massive section of the road was washed away in a winter storm on February 3. While it wasn’t the first time the road to SanO had been closed, the devastation caused to a storm drainage system running under the road forced State Parks officials to close the road indefinitely.
With plans finally in place to address the drainage system and road now, officials say access to the road should be fully restored for vehicles by April 1, weather permitting.
“Challenges are not only to have the road accessible to vehicles, but for us to maintain the restrooms down there,” State Parks Superintendent Kevin Pearsall told the OC Register this week. “It is important, because it is an incredibly popular and well-known area for surfers and it is a lot of effort on State Parks to make sure it is accessible. It is an ever-growing battle.”
While surfers have been enjoying the wave since the 1930s, it was Governor Ronald Regan who helped establish San Onofre as a state park in 1971. That move gave official access to the public for San Onofre, the area known as Trails, and Trestles, while the U.S Military maintains ownership of the land and California State Parks leases the area. The current lease extension between the two groups is set to expire on August 31, 2024.
View this post on Instagram
