The end of Malibu Pier is closed, and it has a date attached. California State Parks has a signed contract and a target of finishing repairs by the end of January 2027. Farther east along Pacific Coast Highway, the Maritime Rocks accessway at Big Rock Beach is also closed, and its sign reads "closed until further notice."
The two closures run on different clocks because different agencies own them. This winter, the quickest way to know whether you can reach a stretch of Malibu sand is to know whose gate it is: State Parks, Los Angeles County, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, or the City of Malibu. Everything below is current as of the last week of October.
State Parks put the pier on a contractor's calendar
The end of the pier has been closed since January 2025, when State Parks found structural problems. A full engineering assessment in June 2026 confirmed that some pilings had deteriorated and others were missing. The repair contract is worth $2.125 million. The governor's Sept. 21 emergency proclamation let State Parks speed up the process, and by Sept. 28 the department was ready to award a single emergency contract, which has since been signed. The contractor started mobilizing at the pier on Oct. 2.
State Parks Superintendent Richard Fink described the sequence to the City Council on Oct. 26. The Malibu Times reported that crews will work from the landward side out toward the ocean. He told the council:
"As the pier is being repaired, it actually gets stronger with each repair that's made."
Here is what that means on a weekday visit. Malibu Farm Restaurant sits outside the closure area and is open. Malibu Farm Pier Café and the Surfshop/Souvenir Shop at the ocean end stay closed until the work is done. You can still fish from the designated areas that are open, and beach rentals operate before you reach the pier deck. Construction materials are staged in a fenced section of the pier parking lot, so there are fewer public spaces than usual. Fink said crews will try to schedule major equipment moves for the morning. The end of January is a construction target. State Parks' pier FAQ says it will assess conditions once the work is finished and then decide on next steps.
The County is rebuilding Point Dume in phases, and walkers come first
Point Dume Beach belongs to Los Angeles County Beaches and Harbors, and the County works in phases. The lot normally has 373 parking spaces. Right now cars can't reach any of them, because the access road from the Westward Beach Road and Birdview Avenue intersection is closed to vehicles at all times. Pedestrians and cyclists may come in but must stay out of active construction areas, where work generally runs from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. Restrooms 1, 2 and 3 are closed, and temporary toilets and handwashing stations are on site instead.
The County's emergency repair timeline shows how far the work has come:
- July 31 to Aug. 1: erosion damaged the access road and the water line serving the restrooms, and closures began.
- Aug. 5 to 13: about 235 feet of emergency rock revetment went in to protect the road.
- August: Waterworks District 29 installed a replacement water main and meter.
- Sept. 8 to Oct. 23: about 230 feet of new revetment went in, and another 230 feet of existing revetment was repaired.
- Since Oct. 26: work has been under way to protect the lifeguard building and two restroom buildings.
- Still ahead: repairs to about 325 feet of existing revetment along the access road, reconnection of water to the restrooms, and engineering plans for the road and its drainage.
The City paid for part of this work. Of the 230 new feet installed this fall, 120 were added at the City of Malibu's request to protect its own right-of-way near Birdview. That shared project was estimated at $766,025, with Malibu paying 70 percent, or $536,217.50, and the County paying $229,807.50. City Manager Joe Irvin told the council the shared work was substantially complete on Oct. 23, with minor items left. Westward Beach Road and Birdview Avenue remain open to traffic, according to the Malibu Times.
The timing matters for one of Point Dume's main winter draws. The County lists Point Dume as a place to watch gray whales during their December through March migration. This season, the people who will see them are the ones who arrive on foot or by bike, or who visit after crews finish for the day.
The accessway gates follow the City's lead
The small public paths between private homes are a third system. MRCA manages 14 beach accessways in Malibu with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. MRCA's status page was last updated Oct. 23 and states the reason for each closure:
| Accessway | Location | Status | Stated reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon–La Costa | 21704–21714 PCH | Open | |
| Carbon Beach East, "Via Linda" | 22126 PCH | Open | |
| Carbon Beach West, "Via Jamee" | 22500 PCH | Open | |
| Malibu Pier | 23000 PCH | Open | |
| Malibu Road East, Amarillo Beach | 24038 Malibu Road | Open | |
| Escondido Creek Beach | 27148 PCH | Open | |
| Hidden Beach, Geoffrey's | 27400 PCH | Open | |
| Lechuza at Bunnie Lane | 31736 & 31712 Broad Beach Road | Open | |
| Cliffside, Escondido Beach | 27420–27428 PCH | Closed | Repairs |
| Latigo Beach | 26500 Latigo Shore Drive | Closed | Hazardous conditions |
| Lechuza at West Sea Level Drive | Broad Beach Road | Closed | Repairs |
| Lechuza at East Sea Level Drive | 31544 Broad Beach Road | Closed | At the City of Malibu's request |
| Maritime Rocks, Big Rock Beach | 20516–20466 PCH | Closed | Palisades Fire, at the City's request |
| Dolphin View Overlook, Big Rock Beach | 19812–19768 PCH | Closed | Palisades Fire, at the City's request |
| Miramar Overlook, Las Tunas Beach | 19620–19562 PCH | Closed | Palisades Fire, at the City's request |
The repair closures are tied to construction. The three east-end closures are tied to the Palisades Fire and the City's request, not to a project with a finish date. MRCA's amended closure order covers parks, trail easements and accessways reachable from PCH under the Palisades Fire emergency order, and it lets MRCA's executive officer reopen specific areas earlier if conditions allow. The Big Rock and Las Tunas gates stay "closed until further notice" because of a judgment about conditions, not a construction milestone.
The open accessways are also on a different schedule than they were a year ago. The June 2025 closure order listed Bunnie Lane, Via Linda and Carbon–La Costa as closed, and all three are open now. For Bunnie Lane walkers in particular, MRCA has posted a Lechuza access map showing which entrance is usable.
Even the Escondido trails went to court over ownership
The question of who owns what reached the trails above the beach this year. In April, the City sued to claim the public hiking and equestrian trail easements along Winding Way and Murphy Way near Escondido Canyon Park. Those are the routes MRCA points visitors to for views of Escondido Falls, the tallest waterfall in the Santa Monica Mountains. The City said it filed the suit over management problems on the trails, including parking, sunset closures that weren't enforced, vegetation and trash.
In a Sept. 1 minute order, Superior Court Judge Michael E. Whitaker ruled for the Conservancy and MRCA. He found that the trails did not pass to Malibu as "county highways" when the City incorporated in 1991. He also found the City's claims time-barred, and he denied leave to amend. The Malibu Times noted that the ruling settled ownership but not the separate dispute over trail maintenance. In a Sept. 3 statement, the City said it was evaluating its options, including an appeal. For now, the Edward Albert trail off Winding Way and the Murphy Way overlook route remain under MRCA's management. MRCA asks hikers to enjoy the falls from the trail and not climb them.
A winter week built around what's open
Once you know who controls each gate, a full coastal week is still easy to put together:
- Zuma Beach, 30000 Pacific Coast Highway. The County lists eight lots with about 2,000 spaces, open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. That's more than five times the capacity of the Point Dume lot that cars can't reach right now.
- Adamson House, 23200 Pacific Coast Highway. Gardens and grounds open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset. Guided house tours run Wednesday through Saturday on the hour from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., depending on weather, and the free Malibu Lagoon Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is no on-site parking. With the pier lot partly fenced, the State Parks page points visitors to the County lot at Surfrider Beach or the Malibu Lagoon State Beach lot at Cross Creek Road.
- Malibu Lagoon State Beach. Day-use parking runs from 8 a.m. to sunset, entered from Cross Creek Road, and a bridge crosses toward Adamson House.
- Malibu Farmers Market. It's back at its longtime spot in the Malibu Library parking lot, 23555 Civic Center Way, every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Malibu Farm Restaurant at the pier. It stays open during construction. State Parks does not expect major closures of the pier or its businesses, though brief interruptions may be needed when heavy equipment is delivered or moved.
Each agency keeps its own status page, and those pages are where changes show up first. Check MRCA's coastal access page for the accessways, the County's Point Dume page for the lot and road, and State Parks' pier FAQ for the pier.
If you have questions about a particular stretch of Malibu shoreline, from Big Rock to Broad Beach, or how this winter's repairs connect to a home you're thinking about, Dana Benyehuda is glad to talk it through. Work With Dana Benyehuda.
