There’s exciting progress to share at Wavecrest! The south side beach access stairs are now complete!! Santa Cruz Mountain Trail Stewardship (SCMTS) finished the railings and final touches this week!!

Check out this picture of what it looked like before the stairs…

Coming up in September…

Next up, SCMTS will begin work on the north side beach access path at the beginning of September.

The north access will remain a compacted gravel path, but it will be modified to approximately five feet wide and will include additional drainage improvements. The path will still be quite steep (there’s no getting around the terrain here) but these modifications are designed to help the path better withstand winter rains and reduce erosion over time.

This work is particularly important because the beach access path crosses an area that was once a 120-foot-long (roughly 10-foot-wide and 10-15 foot deep) gully. That gully was repaired last year as part of the larger effort to stabilize the site and create a durable route to the beach.

After completing the north access, SCMTS will return to the south side to finish the connector and lookout trails and the landing above the stairs. Meanwhile, LD Giacomini will address erosion and install drainage improvements along a section of trail about midway through Wavecrest.

During construction, there may be times when visitors need to briefly walk off-trail around an active work area to safely pass the crew. Please follow all warning signs and instructions from construction crews and Coastside Land Trust or project representatives onsite.

This just in…

This week we’ll also be paving the entrances to both Wavecrest parking lots on Redondo Road, with work taking place one parking lot at a time this week.

Thank you for your patience as this work continues! Each of these improvements brings us closer to a durable, connected Wavecrest Coastal Trail that our community can enjoy for many years to come!

Follow trail project manager/Coastside Land Trust CEO, Sara Polgar, as she excitedly test-walks the new stairs …