A neighbor mentioned last week that she'd given up on her usual Saturday walk because she'd read the trails were closed. She meant well, and she wasn't wrong exactly. She just had the wrong city.
The trail closures making the rounds on the Palos Verdes Peninsula this year are real, they're getting worse, and they're worth understanding if you walk anywhere on the Hill. But almost all of them sit across the city line in Rancho Palos Verdes, tied to a landslide that has nothing to do with the coastline in Palos Verdes Estates. If your weekend route runs along the bluffs near Malaga Cove or Lunada Bay, it was never part of the story.
The Closures Are Real, and They Keep Getting Longer
Rancho Palos Verdes has kept a running list of trail alerts for a few years now, and the list has only grown. The city's own FAQ page puts the current closure at about 13.5 miles of trail across the Portuguese Bend, Abalone Cove, Filiorum, and Forrestal Reserves, closed as a precaution against sinkholes, unstable surfaces, and falling rock tied to accelerating land movement in the Portuguese Bend Landslide complex. Abalone Cove Beach and its access trails have been off limits since July 2024. The open space east of Inspiration Point followed that September.
What started as a cautious, temporary closure back in 2023 has since hardened into something closer to permanent. AllTrails now lists both the Portuguese Bend Landslide Loop and the Palos Verdes Bluffs Trail as closed indefinitely as of July 2026. A reporting piece from LAist earlier this year offered a useful bit of context: the land movement has slowed to roughly 1.6 inches a week since the city installed wells to pull groundwater out of the hillside, but the damage already done to something like 16 miles of trail is not expected to reverse. Homes have been lost. Roads have buckled. The habitat itself, according to the city's own account, has been split apart by fissures wide enough to swallow coastal sage scrub whole.
None of that is happening in Palos Verdes Estates. The geology, the jurisdiction, and the trail network are all separate from what's unfolding a few miles south.
Two Trail Systems, One Peninsula
It helps to see the two cities side by side rather than take it on faith.
| Trail | City | Status as of late summer 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Portuguese Bend Landslide Loop | Rancho Palos Verdes | Closed indefinitely since July 2026 |
| Palos Verdes Bluffs Trail | Rancho Palos Verdes | Closed indefinitely since July 2026 |
| Abalone Cove Beach and access trails | Rancho Palos Verdes | Closed since July 2024, still closed |
| Paseo Del Mar Bluffs (PVE Shoreline Preserve) | Palos Verdes Estates | Open year-round |
| Malaga Lunada Vista Loop | Palos Verdes Estates | Open year-round |
| Bluff Cove to Lunada Bay Trail | Palos Verdes Estates | Open year-round |
| Palos Verdes Estates Loop | Palos Verdes Estates | Open year-round |
The pattern is not subtle. Every closure sits in the reserves the city of Rancho Palos Verdes manages along its southern edge. Every route through Palos Verdes Estates, on the beach-facing side of the Peninsula, carries no such warning.
The Four Routes That Never Closed
If your walking routine has quietly shrunk this year because of headlines that were never about your neighborhood, here's what's still on the table, all of it inside Palos Verdes Estates city limits.
Paseo Del Mar Bluffs, also called the PVE Shoreline Preserve. A 1.4-mile paved out-and-back that starts at the Shoreline parking lot and tracks the coastline with steady ocean views the entire way. There's no shade, so this is a morning or late-afternoon route more than a midday one, but it's flat, dog-friendly on leash, and open every day of the year.
The Malaga Lunada Vista Loop. At 6.1 miles, this is the longer commitment, running through the Malaga Estates and down toward Malaga Cove itself, past coastal sage, cactus, and seasonal wildflowers. It's the route to save for a morning when you actually have the time, and it's the one most likely to feel like you've left the neighborhood without leaving the city.
Bluff Cove to Lunada Bay Trail. A shorter, moderate 1.7-mile stretch connecting two of the Peninsula's more recognizable coves. It's a good option when you want the scenery without the full loop.
The Palos Verdes Estates Loop. Just under 5 miles, threading behind residential backyards on a sandy path that crosses a couple of quiet streets. It's less manicured than the bluff trails and less marked at the entrance, which is part of its appeal if you already know the neighborhood well enough to find it.
All four sit outside the geology that's causing trouble to the south, and all four have shown no closure activity on trail-tracking sites through the middle of this year.
The Second Saturday Habit
If you'd rather walk with some context than just a map, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy runs free public nature walks on the second Saturday of every month, led by trained naturalists, historians, and geologists who can explain what you're actually looking at rather than just where the path goes. The Conservancy also manages George F. Canyon Nature Preserve, which sits at 27305 Palos Verdes Drive East, squarely inside Palos Verdes Estates rather than one of the reserves affected by the landslide to the south.
The Conservancy's name gets attached, understandably, to the landslide coverage, since it co-manages some of the closed reserves in Rancho Palos Verdes. But its guided walks and its George F. Canyon preserve operate independently of that situation, right here in the city where you already live.
A Practical Note Before You Head Out
The bluff trails in Palos Verdes Estates are almost entirely unshaded, so bring water and sun protection regardless of which route you pick, and expect a breeze off the water most afternoons. Dogs are welcome on leash across the network. None of this changes week to week, which is exactly the point. While the Peninsula's landslide story keeps developing a few miles south, the walk you've always taken along Paseo Del Mar hasn't changed at all.
If you're the kind of resident who notices these details, the fountain at Malaga Cove Plaza, the second Saturday walk schedule, which stretch of coastline stays open through a rainy winter, you already understand what makes Palos Verdes Estates worth paying attention to. Steinbeck Homes works this stretch of the Peninsula the same way, watching the details that make one neighborhood behave differently from its neighbor. If you're ever curious what that kind of local read means for your own property here, request a Home Valuation from Johannes Steinbeck.
