Coastal Access in La Jolla

Surfrider San Diego partnered with the Environmental Center of San Diego to advocate for and support the restoration of the historic Princess Street Coastal Access Trail in La Jolla, San Diego.  Once completed, the trail will restore public access to a stretch of the shoreline isolated by development over the years. 

The planned trail will descend 50 feet from the public street at the blufftop to the beach and State Marine Reserve and La Jolla Underwater Park and will be open between sunrise and sunset. The Environmental Center, in partnership with the San Diego Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation will maintain and monitor the trail and landscaping upon completion. “We are thrilled to have the support of the California Coastal Conservancy,” said Pam Heatherington, Board Member and Project Lead at ECOSD. “We will work with urgency to honor the decades-long efforts of local coastal access advocates that has yielded this important victory for the public.”

The trail has been the subject of a 40-yearlong effort by the community and California Coastal Commission to protect and restore the trail that had been used since the early 1900’s as a path to the beach by fishermen, skin divers, and surfers. “After years of effort by the La Jolla community and the California Coastal Commission, I look forward to seeing people using the trail again”, said local coastal access advocate Anthony Ciani.

The project is endorsed by numerous community organizations, including the San Diego Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, La Jolla Park & Beaches, WindanSea Surf Club, and the San Diego Dive Club.