Popular beach and its iconic pier obliterated by massive California storms, photos show

A popular beachside camping and recreation area was destroyed along with its iconic pier and seawall as storms battered the California coast last week.

California State Parks posted photos of the catastrophic destruction on Twitter. Pieces of the wooden pier littered the sand, parking lot, and entrance to Seacliff State Beach, with huge chunks of cement missing from the seawall.

Most state parks are closed due to extensive damage and ongoing storms, the agency said on its website. Parks officials are assessing the condition of the parks for reopening on Friday, Jan. 13.

But it remains unclear when Seacliff State Beach will be able to reopen following the devastation.

The state’s reservation system, ReserveCalifornia, will be reaching out to affected reservation holders via email and providing refunds, officials said on Twitter.

Twitter users commiserated over the destruction of the beach and its beloved pier, which cut off access to the famous “cement ship” — called the SS Palo Alto — that is docked at the end of the pier, Santa Cruz Public Safety Superintendent Gabe McKenna told McClatchy News.

The swell on Jan. 5 was exceptionally large and unprecedented, McKenna said. The high surf wiped out all of the camping facilities and infrastructure, including access roads, bathrooms, parking lots, walkways and the seawall, he said.

Seacliff lost 54% of its pier, and the remaining portion is not stable, he said. Officials aren’t yet sure whether the structurally compromised remnants will have to be repaired or torn down and rebuilt.

“The amount of debris is pretty incredible,” he told SFGATE. “We’re talking about massive trees. Everything that came out of the rivers, piers, railings and everything that was ripped up by the swell landed in the day-use areas.”

Chris Spohrer, district superintendent for the Santa Cruz District of California State Parks, told Lookout Santa Cruz that more than half the seawall is gone.

Forecasts say another large western swell may hit the area Friday during high tide, leading to the same dangerous combination that caused all the damage last week, the outlet reported.

“High tide and large surf is a dangerous combination — avoid the coast,” Santa Cruz County said in a tweet.

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