An active landslide on a beachfront cliff in north San Clemente this week has shut down more of the popular beach trail.
The slope movement did not impact homes along the coastal stretch, but enough of the slope slipped for city officials to close the section of beach trail from the North Beach parking lot to Dije Court beach accesses.
“The stability of the slope is being evaluated,” reads a city alert sent out on Wednesday, Nov. 26. “For the safety of the public, please avoid the area.”
An update on Friday morning showed there was no movement, said City Manager Andy Hall, and the section of the trail remained closed.
Signs reading “beach trail closed due to active landslide” were posted at the trail’s northern entrance, and fences blocked pedestrians and bikers from accessing the area.
Hall said there was some slippage on Tuesday, but it was when a few boulders came down on Wednesday that officials decided to shut down the portion of the trail.
The unstable slopes are likely due to the recent, heavy rainfall that slammed the region, Hall said.
“These things are so unpredictable, it’s just unfortunate,” Hall said.
The rail line is not impacted, he said, and no homes were threatened.
The closure comes as the Orange County Transportation Authority works in the troubled area to build a 1,400-foot-long reinforcement wall — at the cost of about $7.2 million — on the inland side where the Mariposa Bridge once stood before a landslide last year destroyed the structure.
“It’s just the constant movement of the slope, and hopefully the new retaining wall OCTA is putting in will cover the majority of these small sides,” Hall said. “That wall is going to be very helpful … that whole area is kind of active.”
The work already impacts access to the beach trail, with closures in place where the bridge once stood, which typically spans 2.3 miles to connect the north and south ends of town.
The new slide also comes just as San Clemente officials are open to joining a coalition with other coastal cities that are facing similar landslide threats and bluff failures.
Rancho Palos Verdes leaders contacted the city about participating in a coalition that could lobby for legislation to address landslides as emergencies that would qualify for state disaster assistance.
The continued slope movement shows the need for ongoing diligence, he said.
It also shows the importance of state assistance to qualify landslides as emergencies the way fires and floods are, Hall said.
The state legislature passed a bill this year that classified landslides as emergencies that could gain state assistance, but it was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. In his veto message, Newsom said the bill was “unnecessary” because existing law already gives the governor broad authority to proclaim a state of emergency because of landslides and mudslides.
“My administration has exercised and will continue to exercise the authority to respond decisively to landslides and associated hazards; adding ‘landslide’ as a separate enumerated condition in statute would not expand these powers or provide additional tools for communities or first responders,” Newsom said.
But Hall said the veto was “really disappointing,” noting other coastal areas, including Dana Point, Malibu, Palos Verdes and several San Diego coastal cities, are facing similar threats.
“Those handful of communities that have landslides kind of get left out in the cold, and we don’t get funds. … Anything we do to try and be preventive is literally on the backs of local governments,” Hall said.
There have been several landslides in the Southern California region in recent years, with San Clemente facing four separate large incidents in the past five years that threatened homes, buildings and shut down the coastal rail line for weeks at a time.
Under current laws, San Clemente can not seek financial assistance from the state for impacts from recent landslides, including when the hillside below Casa Romantica, a city-owned historic property, gave way in 2023. The property suffered severe damage, costing the city upwards $8.5 million. The landslide also affected the tracks below.
Previously, in 2021, the rail line was shut down in the southern end of the city for months following track damage from both a landslide on the inland side and the ocean battering the tracks.
Landslides in the North Beach area, one in 2023 and another in 2024, threatened homes and shut down the rail line for weeks.