Headlands Trail Community Alert

PUBLIC ACCESS REDUCED BY CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION

Press Release: Dana Point City Council Challenges Coastal Commission Restrictions to Public Access to the Dana Point Headlands - March 17, 2026(PDF, 134KB)

The Dana Point Headlands is a unique coastal resource that provides extraordinary public access to California’s coastline while also serving as critical habitat for sensitive species, including the federally endangered Pacific Pocket Mouse. The balance between these two important coastal priorities—public access and habitat protection—is one that must be carefully considered through the appropriate statutory process. The current consideration by California Coastal Commission on behalf of CNLM, who manages the preserve, to close the trail three days a week, restricting public access, negates the Coastal Development Permit process and deprives the public, environmental agencies, and concerned parties the opportunity to study the issue thoroughly.

At their regular meeting on March 12, 2026, the California Coastal Commission(CCC) entered a consent order with the Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM) limiting public access hours on the Dana Point Headlands Bluff Top Trail from seven-day a week access to four-day access.

To view the CCC Agenda Item that was heard on Thursday, March 12, 2026, please click here.

YOUR OPINION MATTERS!  
Submit a Public Comment to Coastal Commission Staff and Commission Members:

• CommissionerMHarmon@coastal.ca.gov
• Andrew.Willis@coastal.ca.gov
• ExecutiveStaff@coastal.ca.gov

DOWNLOAD A SAMPLE LETTER (.doc)(DOCX, 17KB)

• The Dana Point Headlands offers rare public access to the coast while also protecting sensitive wildlife habitat, including the endangered Pacific Pocket Mouse (PPM). It is important to maintain a careful balance between allowing people to enjoy the area and protecting this species.
• Public access to the trail is limited to daylight hours (7:00 a.m. to sunset). The gates automatically lock at sunset to prevent nighttime activity that could disturb the Pacific Pocket Mouse, which is most active at night. These hours were put in place to protect wildlife, although a Coastal Development Permit was never formally processed to establish them.
• Visitor access is carefully managed. The trail is clearly defined and bordered by post-and-cable fencing and mature native vegetation, which helps keep visitors on the trail and prevents people from entering sensitive habitat areas.
• Pacific Pocket Mouse numbers declined before 2020, but there is no evidence showing that trail hours caused this decline. In fact, between 2020 and 2025 the population increased significantly while the trail continued operating from 7:00 a.m. to sunset.
• In 2020, the Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM) began habitat management work that included thinning shrubs on about 1–2 acres. Additional thinning funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cleared roughly five more acres. Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey found that this habitat work increased the growth of native plants, improved breeding success, expanded where the mice live, and is the strongest predictor of Pacific Pocket Mouse presence.
• The City’s Coastal Development Permit (CDP) process—along with environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and consultation with agencies and stakeholders—is the appropriate place to evaluate any proposed changes to trail hours.
• The California Coastal Commission should allow this local review process to move forward rather than taking enforcement action at this time. This will ensure that all scientific evidence, impacts, and possible mitigation measures are fully considered.
• Allowing the local process to proceed supports the Coastal Act’s partnership with local governments while ensuring that both public coastal access and habitat protection are addressed responsibly.