The Walk to San Mateo Point Begins in San Clemente

“Our beach shall always be free from hurdy-gurdies and defilement. We believe beauty to be an asset as well as gold and silver, or cabbage and potatoes.”

This was the pledge of Norwegian immigrant Ole Hanson, who began the town of San Clemente in 1925. It was quite a promise from a real-estate developer, quite a promise in those days of shameless boosterism half a century before the California Coastal Commission was established.

Thanks in part to Hanson’s vision, some of the peaceful ambiance of San Clemente, which he regarded as “a painting 5 miles long and a mile wide,” has been preserved. And some of its isolation too. Most everyone in the real-estate community thought Hanson crazy for building in a locale 66 miles from San Diego and 66 miles from Los Angeles, but today this isolation attracts rather than repels. Isolation was one of the reasons former President Richard Nixon (1969-74) established his Western White House on the bluffs above San Clemente Beach.

San Clemente Beach is a great place for a walk. The beach is mercifully walled off from the din of the San Diego Freeway and the confusion of the modern world by a handsome line of tan-colored bluffs. Only the occasional train passing over Santa Fe Railroad tracks located near the shore interrupts the cry of the gull, the roar of the breakers. The trestles, located at the south end of San Clemente Beach at San Mateo Point, gave Trestles Beach its name.

Trestles Beach is one of the finest surfing areas on the West Coast. When the surf is up, the waves peel rapidly across San Mateo Point, creating a great ride.

Before the area became part of the state beach, it was restricted government property belonging to Camp Pendleton Marine Base. For more than 25 years, surfers carried on guerrilla warfare with U.S. Marines: Trespassing surfers were chased, arrested and fined, and on many occasions had their boards confiscated and broken in two. Find a veteran surfer and he’ll tell you about escapes from Jeep patrols and guard dogs. Many times, however, the cool Marines charitably gave surfers rides while out on maneuvers.

This hike’s destination, San Mateo Point, is the northernmost boundary of San Diego County and the beginning of Orange County. When the original counties of Los Angeles and San Diego were set up in 1850, the line that separated them began on the coast at San Mateo Point. When Orange County was formed from southern Los Angeles County in 1889, San Mateo Point was established as the southern point of the new county. You can have the fun of sunning in one county, swimming in another.

Hikers with the time and inclination can easily extend this beach walk several miles south to San Onofre State Beach. Another option worth considering is to take the train to San Clemente and walk south from the Amtrak station.

Directions to trailhead: From the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 5) in San Clemente, exit on Avenida Calafia and head west a half-mile to Calafia Beach Park, where there is metered parking. You can also park for a fee at San Clemente State Beach. A limited amount of free parking is available in the residential area near the state beach.

The hike: From Calafia Beach Park, cross the railroad tracks, make your way down an embankment and head south. As you’ll soon see, San Clemente State Beach is frequented by plenty of shore birds, as well as plenty of surfers, body surfers and swimmers.

At distinct San Mateo Point, which marks the border of Orange and San Diego counties, you’ll find San Mateo Creek. The headwaters of the creek rise high in the Santa Ana Mountains above Camp Pendleton. A portion of the creek is protected by the Cleveland National Forest’s San Mateo Canyon Wilderness. Rushes, salt grass and cattails line the creek mouth, where sandpipers, herons and egrets gather.

Ford the creek mouth (rarely a problem except after winter storms) and continue south toward San Onofre State Beach and the giant domes of San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant. Or you can return the same way.

Here’s a third alternative, an inland return route: Walk under the train trestles and join the park service road, which is usually filled with surfers carrying their boards. The service road takes you up the bluffs, joins the San Clemente Coastal Bike Trail, then winds through a residential area to an entrance to San Clemente State Beach Campground. Improvise a route through the campground to the park’s entry station and join a footpath next to the station.

The path descends through a prickly pear-filled draw to Calafia Beach Park and the trailhead. The wind- and water-sculpted marine terraces just south of the trailhead resemble Bryce Canyon in miniature and are fun to photograph.

TRESTLES TRAIL: San Clemente State Beach to San Mateo Point; 3 miles round trip.