A landslide brought it down: How Rancho Palos Verdes’ beloved trails have been forever altered

Roughly three years after above-average rainfall fueled a devastating landslide in Rancho Palos Verdes, the landscape has become almost unrecognizable. Homes, ripped apart by the land movement, have been wiped away, creating swaths of unusable open space. Trying to slow the landslide has pushed the city to the financial brink.

But also caught in the landslide’s crosshairs is a beloved seaside network of trails that continues to be pulled apart and will never be the same.

The area was once green rolling hills offering spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. Now, much of the land is riddled with 20-foot chasms, some of which span 12 feet.

For decades, land movement was minimal. But above-average rainfall in 2022 and 2023 rapidly accelerated — up to 1 foot per week in some places — prompting Southern California Edison and SoCalGas to shut off utilities for hundreds of residents.

Landslide damage has closed dozens of trails in the Portuguese Bend area of Rancho Palos Verdes on April 4.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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Landslide damage has closed dozens of trails in the Portuguese Bend community area of Rancho Palos Verdes on April 4.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

)

Land movement has since slowed to about 1.6 inches a week, thanks in part to wells the city installed that suck water out of the ground, but damage to the around 16 miles of trails remains and will likely never be abated.

"We don't traverse those areas on a regular basis. We occasionally use drones to look at the damage,” said Ara Mihranian, Rancho Palos Verdes’ city manager. “You can't get across certain trails, so if we even went down into a certain area, we wouldn't be able to continue because of the open fissures in the ground.”

William Lavoie of the Palos Verdes South Bay group of the Sierra Club has hiked trails in the 1,500 acre-Palos Verdes Nature Reserve once a week for about 25 years. Before the city closed off the area, he said he saw a telephone pole “ tipping at about a 30-degree angle.”

Landslides resulted in a home being severely damaged in Rancho Palos Verdes on April 4.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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“ I understand why they closed the trails because there were some pretty good-sized fissures,” he said. “It would be very sad if somebody broke a leg or twisted an ankle or broke an ankle.”

The effects on nature

But the destruction hasn’t been a total loss.

The California gnatcatcher, a small songbird that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls “threatened” and the endangered Palos Verdes blue butterfly rely on certain host plants within the preserve.

“ The habitat that supports the wildlife has been fragmented, has been damaged with fissures opening up in the ground, splitting apart. Coastal sage scrub has actually been sucked in by the fissures,” Mihranian said. “That impacts the corridors and the wildlife patterns that you see out in the preserve.”

But Cris Sarabia, conservation director for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, said the species can also benefit from less human activity.

“ Both of those endangered species have wings so they could essentially fly,” he said. “So the fissures on the trails or the cracks in the ground don't necessarily cause big impacts to them because they're able to move around.”

Sarabia said his organization is also tracking the cactus wren bird that resides in a cactus found within the landslide area.

“ We have been working closely with the different entities doing the [mitigation] work to avoid as much habitat as possible, but unfortunately some of these areas overlap,” he said.

Meanwhile, the conservancy is trying to salvage the cactus and preparing for restoration of the sites, collecting native seeds and growing new plants.

But the true extent of the damage and the effects to wildlife are unclear, Mihranian said, because city officials haven’t been able to go in to do a full assessment — the area is too unsafe.

 ”It's going to be a herculean effort and a very costly one as well,” Mihranian said of repairing the damage.

A colossal financial drain 

When the current fiscal year ends in June, Rancho Palos Verdes will have spent close $65 million on efforts related to the landslide since October 2022. For context, the city’s annual operating budget is around $40 million.

“ The city has taken a huge hit on this emergency response,” Mihranian said.

Rancho Palos Verdes has appealed to state and federal officials for assistance, but with little to no success.

Adding salt to the wounds, the city has also lost out on revenue from parking fees for the preserve. Revenue generated at the Abalone Cove Park lot has dropped from $150,000 each year, to just $11,000, according to the city. Revenue from parking near Del Cerro Park also decreased from around $32,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 to just $4,000.

Not to mention all the homes that have been lost, uprooting the lives of residents who haven’t been able to resell, instead relying on a government-backed buy back program.

Alternative trail routes

Lavoie, the Sierra Club member, said despite the trail closures, the vast open space in the Palos Verdes Peninsula means there are plenty of alternatives.

Here are some of his favorites:

• Lavoie affectionately calls the trail behind Highridge Park “the maze.” It’s an easy one-hour walk and you get to share the trail with horses. 
• Malaga Cove: Pass Neptune fountain, the library and post office to continue along a grassy hill shaded by eucalyptus trees. Use the utility pathway to reach La Venta Inn.
• The Via Buena stairs in Lunada Bay. 
• There are lots of great trails that start at Ernie Howlett Park.   

Anyone can join the Palos Verdes South Bay group of the Sierra Club on their hikes in the peninsula. Check their calendar for meeting spots and times.