Sunken City, Point Fermin, California

Sunken City is a section of parkway just east of Point Fermin Park in San Pedro that nature has reclaimed for its own.

A black and white postcard showing a beautifully landscaped, tree-lined walkway on the cliff tops, looking toward the Point Fermin lighthouse. — Walkway before the landslide. Postcard courtesy Department of Water and Power.

In the early 1920s Sunken City was a collection of high-end beach bungalows, a section of Paseo Del Mar Street and a charming walking trail very similar to the Cliff Drive section of Laguna Beach.

Black and white photo from 1930 showing people strolling along a walkway overlooking the ocean at Point Fermin. Two men in the foreground are sitting on a walk, looking out to the ocean. — Walkway along Point Fermin, circa 1930. Courtesy Department of Water and Power.

But in 1929 a water line broke under the Ocean View Inn and formed a large crack in the pavement, some ten feet long and three feet wide. Some officials dismissed it as erosion from the broken pipe. But over the next ten years the crack continued to grow, the land was condemned and homes were relocated. Eventually the whole thing collapsed.

A section of roadway, now tumbling into the ocean, surrounded by palm trees. Several young men are standing on the overhanging pavement, looking out to sea. — Sunken City vista point. Photo by Philip Houtz

Today Sunken City is one of Southern California’s most dangerous tourist spots. Every year there are visitors who have to be hospitalized or rescued after slipping and falling from the unstable cliffs.

The area is now gated and marked “no trespassing,” though most of the signs have been painted over. Police occasionally patrol the area and levy fines as steep as $1000 for entering the area.

This doesn’t stop folks from bypassing the heavy barred fence and taking a stroll on the doomed hillside.

For my part, I had no intention of risking a misdemeanor charge until I watched a white-haired grandma and her middle-aged daughter hop the wall and shimmy under the fence.

“When in Rome…” I thought, and followed suit, spending about half an hour scrambling around the ruined beachfront property. When I left I noted that a fire department truck had entered through the gate at Paseo Del Mar and I didn’t stick around to find out what they were up to.

A palm tree growing up in the middle of a ruined walkway. People are standing at the edge of the steep cliffs in the background. — Nature reclaiming its own. Photo by Philip Houtz

Part of the charm of Sunken City is how nature is imposing its own notion of beauty on an area that we’ve tried to claim for our own. Chunks of roadway form picturesque cliffs and mesas. Graffiti artists have added their own touch, adding layers of paint to the upended concrete. It is also where the Cohen brothers filmed the scene in The Big Lebowski where Walter Sobchack and The Dude scatter Donny’s ashes.