A section of the city’s popular 2.3-mile beach trail in south San Clemente has been closed to the public following concern of a slipping slope.
The city sent out a public safety alert on Sunday, Feb. 15, about the area near Lasuen Beach, which is “being evaluated due to its potential for movement which may create hazardous conditions,” officials said.
“With forecasted weather in the coming days, the beach trail through the area has been closed,” officials said. “For the safety of the public, please avoid the area.”
The same area was closed in early January following a landslide that blocked about 150 feet of the walking trail. It was shut for more than a week as officials cleared the debris and assessed the hillside.
The latest slope movement does not pose danger to nearby oceanfront homes on the cliff, according to City Manager Andy Hall.
San Clemente, for the past two years, has been grappling with slipping slopes, some worse than others, especially when big storms soak the region.
Work at the north end of town to fix damage from a previous landslide continues, with officials announcing last month that a newly created beach path and a 1,400-foot-long catchment wall between El Portal and Linda Lane will be done by summer.
The work to build the wall, being done by the Orange County Transportation Authority and Metrolink, will “protect the community, rail passengers and rail operations from bluff erosion,” officials said in an announcement.
The Mariposa Bridge was destroyed in the landslide in 2024, it had connected the beach trail from the pier to North Beach. The rebuilt section will be a ground-level pathway that will be flat like the rest of the trail, with rock boulders on one side to protect from the ocean and the wall on the inland side to protect from the bluff.
The beach path has been closed at that point since the landslide.
Since 2021, landslides have forced a shutdown of rail service through the city multiple times. A landslide also damaged the city’s historic Casa Romantica, which has since reopened.
Late last year, San Clemente officials voted to join a coalition with other coastal cities that are facing similar landslide threats and bluff failures.
City officials hope to urge the state to add landslides as emergencies, the same way fires and floods are, for assistance when they impact the city or personal property.