This area is managed by the nonprofit Center for Natural Lands Management. “When we came here and found these gates locked, it was almost like a slap in the face to the community,” he said. The mayor stressed that the public has a right to be here. The mayor and the city attorney say that limiting hours at the Headlands is a violation of California’s Coastal Act and the city municipal code. The mayor explained how that was based on the terms of an agreement made in 2010 between the state coastal commission and private developers to build homes at nearby Strands Beach. “The trail was supposed to be open every day from 7:00 a.m. The gate is only open three days a week, 8 a.m. “This is one of the first places I ever saw a whale looking out here, watching its spout,” Muller said.īut Muller noted that your chances of seeing things like that are limited with a gate at the entrance to the Headlands locked four days a week. It’s a place he says you’ll see something new every single time. “And then, off in the distance, you can barely see it today, but that’s San Clemente Island. “You’ve got Catalina Island right here,” he said. It’s an endangered species that’s been found at the Headlands, a place Dana Point Mayor Joe Muller says has views you can’t beat.Īs Muller walked on the trail, he pointed out toward the ocean at some places you can see typically from the Headlands. The Pacific pocket mouse is tiny but has stirred up some big issues in at the Dana Point. CNLM claims after revisiting the topic of public access in the area during the pandemic, 'it was clear that public use was a threat to the protected species'.The city of Dana Point says it should be open seven days a week.The Headlands trail is open three days a week.The Pacific pocket mouse is an endangered species.