The length of San Clemente’s popular coastal beach trail is expected to reopen to the public this week after landslides and repairs have closed sections over the last two years.
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In January 2024, during a rainy winter, a hillside collapse destroyed the Mariposa Bridge north of the pier, severing the beach trail and causing another multi-month halt to train traffic through San Clemente.
The beach trail north of Casa Romantica in San Clemente on Monday, October 5, 2026. A new wall and ground level trail replaces an elevated trail that was destroyed by a landslide earlier this year. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Workers put the finishing touches on the beach trail north of Casa Romantica in San Clemente on Monday, October 5, 2026. A new wall and ground level trail replaces an elevated trail that was destroyed by a landslide earlier this year. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Workers put the finishing touches on the beach trail north of Casa Romantica in San Clemente on Monday, October 5, 2026. A new wall and ground level trail replaces an elevated trail that was destroyed by a landslide earlier this year. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Workers put the finishing touches on the beach trail north of Casa Romantica in San Clemente on Monday, October 5, 2026. A new wall and ground level trail replaces an elevated trail that was destroyed by a landslide earlier this year. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The beach trail north of Casa Romantica in San Clemente on Monday, October 5, 2026. A new wall and ground level trail replaces an elevated trail that was destroyed by a landslide earlier this year. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
After the tracks were cleared and the train resumed service, Orange County Transportation Authority put up a temporary catchment wall before work began about a year ago to install a 1,400-foot-long structure to hold back future landslides, rocks and debris from landing on the track.
OCTA removed the large, steel bridge and leveled out the trail to reconnect with the rest of the 2.3- mile beachfront path, which spans from North Beach to Calafia State Beach on the south end of the town.
The work is part of a Coastal Rail Emergency Project that addresses 7 miles of vulnerable train tracks where they run oceanfront through Dana Point and San Clemente.
The entire project cost an estimated $93 million; the beach trail cost about $24 million. Most of the funding came from state and federal sources, part of $300 million awarded to OCTA for coastal rail stabilization.
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At 9 a.m. on Friday, a celebration is planned to mark the completion of the emergency rail protection project and the reopening of the popular pedestrian trail, “reconnecting an important coastal recreational route for residents and visitors,” OCTA officials said.
The event, which will be held at Linda Lane Park, will include brief remarks from transportation and community leaders, followed by a ceremonial reopening of the trail.
The Emergency Rail Project at Mariposa Point is one piece of OCTA’s effort to protect the existing rail line, with emergency projects underway at several vulnerable locations through San Clemente that include repairing and reinforcing existing riprap, adding up to 690,000 cubic yards of sand to help buffer the railroad from wave action, constructing shoreline protection measures and safeguarding the tracks from bluff movement.
In September, the OCTA board declared an emergency along the coastal rail corridor to accelerate contracting and other actions needed, especially ahead of the forecasted El Niño weather conditions this winter.
The LOSSAN Rail Corridor through San Clemente is a critical link in Southern California’s transportation network, carrying Metrolink and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner passenger trains as well as freight and military transportation.
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