San Onofre State Beach nudity crackdown

On a warm Sunday afternoon, naturists crowd a section near Trail 6 at San Onofre State Beach in San Diego County. Several signs were recently posted to discourage nudity.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“I’m not going away,” said Gerda Hayes of Huntington Beach, as she soaks up the sun . “I’ll be coming here until I can’t walk the hill anymore.”  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Allen Baylis, president of Friends of San Onofre Beach and Naturist Action Committee, talks to Hayes, reflected in his sunglasses, at the nude section of Trail 6 in San Onofre State Beach.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Noreen Crane of Costa Mesa relaxes with her surfer husband, Dennis, on a beach crowded with naturists. “It’s nice to come down here and enjoy the way we are created,” Dennis Crane said. “Everyone is like a family.”  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“I think there’s going to be a battle ahead,” said Teri Humphrys of Laguna Niguel. “We’ve won the right to be topless at other beaches. Nobody is offended here.”  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Beachgoers have been baring it all at Trail 6 since the park opened in 1973. Then, San Onofre was about as isolated as it was possible to be in Southern California, a strip of sand a long drive from a metropolis that had not yet reached it.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Naturalist “Jimmy Jo,” 59, of Sun City walks back to his towel after surfing at the clothing-optional section of Trail 6 at San Onofre State Beach, where he spent the day sun-tanning with a handful of other nudists.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

New signs prohibiting nudity are going up at the Trail 6 area at San Onofre State Beach, and park rangers are notifying beachgoers that after Labor Day, they will be cited if they refuse to cover up. Angry naturists say they plan to fight the move lying down – nude, in the sand – as hundreds of visitors have done every summer for more than 40 years.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Naturalist “Jimmy Jo” surfs naked at the clothing-optional section of Trail 6. “I’ve been coming here since 1971 and my wife comes on the weekends,” he said. “It feels like someone broke into my house and stole from me,” he said of the upcoming ban on nudity. “It actually feels weird to put clothes on now.”  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Children play under a lifeguard tower on the other end of San Onofre State Beach from Trail 6. When San Onofre opened in 1973, it was about as isolated as a place could be in Southern California, a strip of sand that was a long drive from a creeping metropolis. Population growth and urban sprawl have changed that.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)