Sand Dune Park is an area of public sand dunes partly on a steep slope that is used for exercise in Manhattan Beach, California. The area has been used by amateur and professional athletes and has been featured in fitness magazines and newspaper accounts as a great workout spot.Jerry Crow
Against the Grains
Sand Dune Park, a massive mound of sand in Manhattan Beach, exacts a steep toll on elite athletes and anyone else looking to test their vertical limits. OME EDITIONAthletes, Sand & gravel, Parks & recreation areas, Exercise August 8, 2006 page D.1 Los Angeles Times The park around the dune was built on a converted dump site by local residents in 1964. It was "just a little patch of grass and sand to enjoy when the area was still mostly small beach cottages" and remains one of the last "remnants of a time when much of the South Bay landscape was sand dunes", according to local historian Jan Dennis. Its popularity has grown and fencing, parking restrictions, and closure are being considered.Andrea Woodhous
Manhattan Beach looks to control Sand Dune Park access
August 5, 2009 San Jose Mercury News

Restrictions

A fight to close down the sand dune portion of the park or restrict its access came to a head in 2009 when neighbors came out in opposition to the sand dune over noise, traffic and overcrowding concerns. Several City Council meetings addressed the issues involved, and the sand dune was closed and fenced. The restrictions were controversial in 2009 and many groups from outside the area claimed the residents were acting out of “localism” and "racism". The city officials denied all the bogus claims of racism. The majority of the visitors were sports teams from outside the city, the rest of the county. After negotiation, it was reopened in August 2010 after the implementation of substantial use mitigation measures.Sandra Murill

Recreation: Manhattan Beach neighbors call for new limits, saying park is too popular with outsiders who make noise and leave trash. OME EDITIONNeighborhoods, Disputes, Sand & gravel, Parks & recreation areas June 4, 2002 Page: B.4 Section: California; Metro Desk Los Angeles Times Currently, use of the sand dune portion of the park is by reservation only, which must be made in advance at City Hall, a little over a mile away during business hours. The entrance to the fenced area is supervised during scheduled hours. The city has heavily fining violators of the restrictions (including non-residents who are unaware of the rigidity of the restrictions) hundreds of dollars for a single violation. Next to the dune is an un-restricted set of 208 steps that look like an attractive alternative, though there are signs that read "No Jogging." Fines are higher for jogging on the steps. The city regularly sends police to watch for violators. When questioned, enforcement officials seem to distinguish between jogging and walking, the rules sound very close to those of International Racewalking, requiring one foot to be on the ground at all times. A group of residents was formed to advocate for more recreational usage. A study showed the fencing and restrictions were keeping people away, usage down 45%. As a response, the city kept the restrictions, but opened up a few additional usage slots in late 2011.

Notable users

The park has been used by

Troy Polamalu Troy Aumua Polamalu (; born Troy Benjamin Aumua; April 19, 1981) is an American former football strong safety who played his entire 12-year career for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football ...

of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Thomas Mayo of the NY Jets, former

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

defensive back Kirk Alexander, Kobe Bryant,

Andrew Bynum Andrew Bynum (born October 27, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. He played the majority of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After they selected him in the first roun ...

and several of their Los Angeles Lakers teammates "past and present".

Paul Pierce Paul Anthony Pierce (born October 13, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), predominantly with the Boston Celtics. He was most recently an analyst on ESPN ...

of the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

Tony Gonzalez Anthony David Gonzalez (born February 27, 1976) is an American former football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Regarded as one of the greatest tight ends of all time, he is the NFL's all-time leader ...

of the Atlanta Falcons and "any number of NHL players, USC and UCLA football players, volleyball players, boxers, fighters, sprinters and WNBA players" have also "taken on the dune, sharing the sand with a steady stream of weekend warriors."

Flora

Chaenactis glabriuscula var. ''orcuttiana'' — Orcutt's yellow pincushion, is a rare

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

limited to the

coastal dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

of southern California. The Bell Avenue Sand Dune Park in Manhattan Beach and the Ballona Wetlands each had var. ''orcuttiana'' populations newly discovered in Spring 2010.Sahagun, Louis (March 19, 2010
"Discovery of rare wildflower in Ballona Wetlands could halt recreation project."

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

Retrieved 3 March 2018 The variety is listed by the California Native Plant Society as

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to California coastal dunes

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s and significantly declining.

References

{{Coord, 33.89886, -118.41293, type:landmark_region:US-CA, display=title Municipal parks in California Parks in Los Angeles County, California Manhattan Beach, California

Restrictions

Notable users

Flora

See also

References