California Coastal Trail Access at Our Pismo Beach Hotels
Pedestrian bridge and restoration project extends Pismo Beach accessibility
After many years of work with the California Coastal Commission and the City of Pismo Beach, we are proud to announce that Martin Resorts’ restoration efforts are complete and now OPEN for your enjoyment!
In 2015, Martin Resorts began a restoration project to improve accessibility along the coastline in scenic Pismo Beach. The goal of the restoration project was to maximize public access to the beach, protect the scenic corridor and the natural environment, and improve and provide continuous access to the California Coastal Trail.
To do so, the work was divided into 12 individual site projects which took place between Inn at the Cove and Pismo Lighthouse Suites in Pismo Beach. These projects included the repair of bluff top walkways near Shore Cliff Hotel and Ventana Grill, additional beach access, and the construction of a pedestrian bridge that extends the California Coastal Trail by a mile along the Pismo Beach coastline.
The California Coastal Trail
The California Coastal Trail ("The CCT") is one of the great trails of our nation. When completed, it will extend 1,200 miles from Oregon to Mexico. In 1972, Californians passed Proposition 20 recommending that a trails system be established along or near the coast. In 1999, the CCT was designated at the state and federal level as California's Millennium Legacy Trail, and in 2001 state legislation called for its completion. As of today, roughly half of the CCT is complete.
The new pedestrian bridge is the final piece of Martin Resorts’ efforts on the California Coastal Trail project. Its completion connects Shore Cliff Hotel and Pismo Lighthouse Suites, providing access to the existing oceanfront walkway that offers unobstructed views of Pismo Beach and leads down to the beach near the Pismo Pier.
Preserving Pismo Beach
The projects included rigorous environmental and archaeological reviews and utilized specific materials that look like the natural coastline and improve the beauty of the area while protecting valued coastal wildlife environments and nesting of endangered species. On July 3, 2019, the trail easement was donated to the City of Pismo Beach to ensure that it will remain accessible in perpetuity for future lifetimes.
“We’re really proud of this project,” Noreen Martin, KSL Resorts' advisory board member, said. “We feel a strong obligation to protect the coastline and provide the public as much access as possible,” Martin said.
All of this work was an effort to create and connect an important portion of the California Coastal Trail—a beautiful stretch of the California coastline worth preserving for future generations. We invite you to continue your journey along the bluffs and enjoy the beauty of Pismo Beach at our collection of Central Coast hotels.
Team
Thank you to the local team who brought this vision to life: General contractor JC Baldwin, structural engineer Cannon Engineering, engineer Walt Crampton, and Terra Costa—the civil/geotechnical engineer and the designer of the process that makes the cliffs beautiful. Both Terra Costa and JC Baldwin have won numerous awards across the California Coastline for their bluff preservation and restoration construction. These firms' award-winning experience and environmental mindedness combined with local engineers Cannon and Associates created a winning local team.