SLO County pier closed to public due to missing pylons: ‘It’s a public safety issue’

California State Parks closed a San Luis Obispo County pier to the public on Oct. 6 after staff discovered that two of the three long support pylons were missing.

Those pylons had been in place during a previous inspection of the San Simeon Pier, but a follow-up inspection revealed they were gone, according to Dan Falat, superintendent of State Parks’ San Luis Obispo Coast District.

Located off Highway 1, the dog-legged pier provides breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, William Randolph Hearst Memorial Beach, San Simeon Point and the Santa Lucia mountain range.

Hearst Memorial Beach is in Old San Simeon Village, across Highway 1 from the entrance road to Hearst Castle, about 7 miles north of Cambria. The park has picnic sites, restrooms and the Coastal Discovery Center at San Simeon Bay.

San Simeon Pier closes due to missing pylons

According to Falat, the rangers who discovered the missing pylons contacted state engineers, who recommended that the pier be closed as soon as possible.

“We did that immediately, as soon as we got their recommendation,” Falat said. “It’s a public safety issue.”

A narrow strip on the north side of the iconic pier in San Simeon has been off limits since 2021. That part of the pier’s deck was sagging due to previous storm damage and age.

Since then, State Parks has been doing a formal study of the problems that have made the circa-1957 structure potentially unsafe.

Winter storms and high waves exacerbated damage to the vulnerable pier, Falat said, and likely led to the loss of the pylons.

“It can take longer for some damage to show up,” he said.

The severe storms also undermined the upper part of the boat launch ramp at Leffingwell Landing in Cambria, Falat said, making it unsafe for vehicle traffic.

That ramp is also closed as state engineers study how it can be made safe again.

Closures affect visitors, local fishers

Members of the Cambria Fishing Club said the dual closures have made it harder for some people to fish — especially those who don’t have fishing licenses, which aren’t required to cast off from the pier.

Those are mostly visitors, club members Tom Pope and Jim Webb said.

“People can surf fish all along the coast, and from kayaks and boats,” Pope said, “but they’ll have to have fishing licenses to do that.”

The closures will also affect the club’s ability to share information with the public during Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary events in San Simeon.

“For years at those events, we’ve done taught children and others how to fish from the pier. Now that’s shut down our outreach to our local people and visitors, which is one way we encourage ethical fishing practices.”

What’s ahead for the pier and boat launch?

According to Falat, State Parks will add or replace about 50 piles on the San Simeon Pier as well as about 20% of all cross beams.

The agency will also fix “the entire curb rail and railing, the entire decking, as well as adding a water line and hydrant,” he said.

Falat said he doesn’t have estimates as to when the pier or boat launch ramp might reopen or how much repairs will cost.

Doing so will require a separate approval process for each of the structures, and in the case of the pier, a new lease with the State Lands Commission.

The San Luis Obispo Coast District has been working toward that lease as well as environmental compliance and permitting for several years.

San Luis Obispo County built the current pier in San Simeon in 1957, replacing one that then-U.S. Sen. George Hearst commissioned in 1878. The county extended the newer pier by 300 feet in 1969, according to a Cambria Historical Society report.

State Parks has controlled the pier, and subsequently, the surrounding park area since 1971