Save Trestles: Past, Present, & Future

In 2005, a proposed six-lane toll road threatened to pave through and destroy San Onofre State Beach and its world-famous break, Trestles. This episode reveals how the Save San Onofre Coalition, Surfrider Foundation, and the Acjachemen Nation joined forces to stop it — protecting a coastline shaped by nearly 10,000 years of Indigenous history. Host David Scales talks with Surfrider's Coastal Adaptation Manager Alex Ferron Mignogna, Acjachemen Nation Tribal Chairman Nathan Banda, and longtime California State Parks lifeguard Steve Long about how a grassroots coalition took on a multi-billion-dollar highway project — and won. But saving Trestles from asphalt didn't end the fight. Today, San Onofre faces chronic coastal erosion, a forecast "Super Niño" winter, and the countdown to the 2028 LA Olympics, where Lower Trestles will host the world's best surfers on a global stage. This episode explores Surfrider's nature-based solutions for coastal resilience and what's at stake for public beach access and tribal cultural resources, and how you can help protect Trestles for generations to come.