Trestles: the railway, the breaks and the coast people fought for
Compiled by Surf Haunts · Updated 2026-10-24
Trestles is a group of surf breaks around the mouth of San Mateo Creek in Southern California. Its name comes from the railroad trestles. Uppers and Lowers are part of a wider coast whose history includes the railway and a long campaign against a proposed toll road.
Why is it called Trestles?
California's 2013 description of the proposed Trestles Historic District identifies two railroad trestles within its boundary and explains their connection to the name.
That distinction matters when looking at our print. Its concrete passage is an imagined approach towards the beach. It isn't a portrait of either of the railway structures that gave Trestles its name.
More than Uppers and Lowers
The same historic-district proposal takes in a wider stretch of coast than those two familiar names. Its seven breaks run from Uppers and Lowers through Middles and Church to The Point, Old Man's and Dog Patch.
Think of that as the geography of the proposed district, rather than a claim that everyone uses "Trestles" for exactly the same stretch of sand. The proposal is useful because it puts the surf into a larger landscape: beach, creek mouth and railway together.
The road that brought people together
A proposed toll-road extension made that larger landscape the subject of years of campaigning. In Surfrider Foundation's account of the campaign, the 2008 decision by the California Coastal Commission against the proposal was a major turning point.
The organisation's timeline follows the effort through to legislation in 2020 protecting San Onofre State Beach and Trestles from road construction. It's a reminder that a surf spot's history includes meetings and public hearings as well as days in the water.
Trestles is one of four California breaks in our series. Further up the coast, Malibu's First Point carries the historic district where modern surfing developed between 1945 and 1959, and in La Jolla Windansea's palm-covered shack has stood at the same stretch of coast since 1946.
What do you remember?
Do you have an old photograph of the railway, a memory of the walk down, or a story from the campaign? If you'd like to add something or correct a detail, email us. We'll ask before publishing your contribution and agree with you how to credit it.
Our Trestles print
Our illustration looks through a quiet concrete passage towards the water, using the opening and its shadows to frame the coast. You can see the Trestles print in the collection.
Compiled from public historical sources and fact-checked against them at the time of writing – not a first-hand or local account. Corrections and memories are welcome; we verify before publishing anything sent in.