SAN DIEGO — An existing historic landslide at Beacons Beach reactivated Monday night or Tuesday morning, according to the City of Encinitas.
The northern portion of the landslide moved downslope to the west, creating several visible cracks in the existing slope, as well as damage to the existing access trail from the Beacons parking lot.
Effective immediately, the parking lot and the beach access trail will be temporarily closed to all persons until further notice.
An inspection conducted Tuesday showed that the landslide movement was slow, and that the movement has stopped. However acting in an “abundance of caution,” City geotechnical and engineering staff will monitor and evaluate the landslide area for potential future instability for the next 30 to 90 days.
Residents and visitors that typically access the beach via the switchback trail are prohibited from using the trail until both the landslide monitoring is complete and access is granted again by the City of Encinitas. Beach goers are encouraged to use Stonesteps or Grandview beach access until the Beacons trail is reopened. There were no reported injuries Monday.
In a press release sent to CBS 8 Monday evening, the City of Encinitas reported that the coastal bluff at Beacons Beach has experienced episodic instability associated with a large historic landslide. Landslide movement damaged previous beach access stairways during winter storms in 1982 and 1983, prompting access to the beach via a switchback trail leading down from a public parking lot along the west side of Neptune Avenue. The coastal landslide encompasses virtually all the coastal bluff below the parking lot at Beacons. Additional movement of the landslide was experienced again in 1990. Other than the current landslide movement, the area has seen very little movement for the last approximately 30 years.
Watch Related: Bluff collapse in Torrey Pines causes safety concerns (Jan 2, 2021)