"This is the treasure of San Clemente, going from one end to the other and looking at this beautiful ocean every day," Mayor Rick Loeffler said at the ribbon cutting on Friday, Oct. 9, as the San Clemente Times reported.
Since a January 2024 landslide damaged the rail corridor and destroyed part of the Mariposa pedestrian bridge, the beach trail had a gap in it. That cut North Beach off from the pier and everything south of it. Our summer notebook followed North Beach as it filled back in while the trail sat half-closed. That has now changed. North Beach and the rest of the coast are back on one walk, and nearly everything on San Clemente's fall calendar happens somewhere along it.
What actually changed at Mariposa Point
The Orange County Transportation Authority's Coastal Rail Emergency Project Area 3 was finished in October 2026. The work included a 1,400-foot catchment wall on the bluff side of the tracks at Mariposa Point, running from the El Portal Beach access point to Linda Lane, plus restoration of the beach trail itself.
The San Clemente Times put the cost at about $93 million. The wall is 10 to 20 feet tall, and it's built to keep falling rock, soil and debris off the tracks. OCTA CEO Darrell E. Johnson said construction took about 13 months, and much of the early work was underground drainage that walkers never saw. So the visible build took a bit over a year, inside a closure that Councilmember Victor Cabral described as "three long years" of waiting.
If you remember the old crossing, the new one looks different. The former pedestrian bridge is gone. In its place is an elevated trail that runs beside the railroad tracks and keeps the ocean views. Orange County Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley said local contractors designed the wall to look like part of the natural bluff. Congressman Mike Levin said the trail "reopened better than ever."
The walk, north to south
The city lists the Beach Trail at 2.3 miles, from North Beach to Calafia Beach, with stops at the pier and T-Street. With Mariposa open again, here's the full route:
- North Beach. The trail starts near the Metrolink San Clemente station at 1850 Avenida Estacion. Metrolink lists 142 parking spaces there. Commuters arriving between 4 and 9 a.m. pay $1 a day, and after 9 a.m. it's $1.50 an hour.
- Mariposa Point to Linda Lane. This is the new section, with the catchment wall on the bluff side and the raised path beside the tracks. It's what turned two half-trails back into one.
- The pier. This is the midpoint, and it has a second Metrolink stop. The San Clemente Pier station at 615 Avenida Victoria has 144 spaces at $1.50 an hour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, holidays included.
- T-Street to Calafia. This is the southern stretch, and it keeps shorter hours than the rest.
The city lists the trail as open from 4 a.m. to midnight. The one exception is the stretch from the south T-Street restrooms to Calafia Beach, which is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. If you walk the whole trail at night, plan to finish at T-Street. Station parking rates are posted by Metrolink and can change, so check the station pages before you count on a price.
The middle of the walk now has a menu
At the end of the pier, the concession that used to be the Snack Shack now runs as Hook & Cook. The city announced it on Aug. 31 with a ribbon cutting set for Sept. 4 at 11 a.m., described as the return of food and refreshments to the end of the pier. It's locally owned and run by The Picnic Collective.
A late-August profile in the San Clemente Journal introduced the owners, Lauren and Nick Rivard. The menu they planned for Hook & Cook includes lobster rolls, tacos, shaved ice, beignets, breakfast items, coffee and Hawaiian-style hot dogs. They also sell bait and tackle, because the stand serves the people fishing off the pier as well as the people walking it. The Journal reported that the pier has long been part of their family's routine, from beach days to teaching their two boys to fish.
The same couple runs Picnic Café at 174 Avenida Del Mar, which opened April 17 last year. That makes a natural detour from the pier up the hill to downtown. In August, the Journal described a Thursday Family Music and Gelato Night with 25% off gelato from 5 to 6 p.m., using gelato from Gelato Paradiso in Laguna Beach. That was the schedule at the time of the profile, so check with the café before planning a Thursday around it.
What the pier can carry until spring
The pier is open to walkers, but heavier events have to wait. In a separate San Clemente Times report, City Manager Andy Hall said high surf in late summer had taken out one pylon and 17 bracings. Structural engineers found the pier safe for pedestrians and maintenance vehicles. The city has paused activities that put heavier loads on it, including a planned car show. Hall said repairs will likely happen in the spring.
So this fall, the pier works as a destination on foot. You can walk out, get a lobster roll or bait, and walk back. Vehicle-heavy events on the deck are on hold until the repairs are done. The downtown San Clemente Car Show is a separate event that already happened on Sept. 20 on the 100 and 200 blocks of Avenida Del Mar.
The one weekend the train won't get you there
Two Metrolink stations sit right on the trail, and for some residents the train is part of the trip, whether that means riding to one end and walking back or coming in from up the coast. That makes Nov. 7 and 8 the weekend to plan around.
On those two days, Pacific Surfliner service is suspended along the whole corridor from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, with no bus bridges. Metrolink says Orange County Line trains will not run between Los Angeles and Oceanside, and Inland Empire–Orange County Line trains will not run between San Bernardino and Oceanside. Neither railroad is providing alternate transportation.
Saturday, Nov. 7 is also the day of the Village Art Faire. The Downtown San Clemente Business Association lists it from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the lawn around the San Clemente Library and Community Center at 242 Avenida Del Mar. Visitors who would normally take the train down will need another way in that day. For anyone who lives near North Beach, the reopened trail is now a walking route from the north end of town up toward downtown.
The fall calendar along the line
These are the dates confirmed for 2026 between early November and the start of the holiday season, all within reach of the trail and downtown.
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon., Nov. 2 | Día de los Muertos, free and open to the public | Max Berg Plaza Park | 2 to 5 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Village Art Faire | Lawn at the Library and Community Center, 242 Avenida Del Mar | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Sat.–Sun., Nov. 7–8 | No Pacific Surfliner or Metrolink service through San Clemente | Both Metrolink San Clemente stations | All day |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Santa's Village by the Sea | Downtown San Clemente | 4:30 to 9 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Puttin' on the Glitz | Downtown San Clemente | 4 to 9 p.m. |
The city's Día de los Muertos listing and the Downtown San Clemente Business Association's Puttin' on the Glitz page have the latest details. For more on how the town fits together beyond the trail, our San Clemente neighborhood page covers it street by street.
If you live along the trail, or anywhere it now reaches again, and you're curious how the Mariposa reopening affects your street, we're happy to talk it through with you. Emily Sells OC knows this coastline from North Beach to Calafia, and you can request a free home consultation anytime.
