Devil's Slide (California)
Devil's Slide is a coastal promontory in California, United States. It lies on the San Mateo County coast between Pacifica and Montara.
Devil's Slide is a name given to a steep, rocky coastal promontory located about midway between Montara and the Linda Mar District of Pacifica. The terrain is characterized by steep, eroded slopes with natural gradients ranging between 30 and 50%. There are small coastal valleys throughout along the major drainages within the Montara Mountain watershed. The soils in these valleys are deep and moderately well drained and have developed along the low terraces and alluvial fans of the stream channels.
The climate of the area is Mediterranean with a strong maritime influence. The temperature range is narrow both seasonally and diurnally, while air moisture is relatively high. Extremely dense northern coastal scrub covers most of the locale, especially over San Pedro Mountain and along the steeper foot slopes of Montara Mountain. Small grassy openings and barren rocky areas are scattered throughout the scrub areas. The inland area holds other types of vegetation including, aquatic and coastal freshwater marshes/seeps, willow riparian scrub, coastal grassland, non-native forest, and pasture/ranch uses/non-native brushland. The endangered species Hickman's potentilla occurs on the slopes above Martini Creek at up to 430 feet (130 m) elevation.
Immediately east of Devil's Slide was a former stretch of California State Route 1, famous for closures and landslides, which also was called "Devil's Slide". Construction of the road began in 1935 and was completed in 1936, replacing the steep, narrow, and winding Pedro Mountain Road. It was known for the landslides and erosion that often occur during winter storms, sometimes making the road impassable. The first major landslide destroyed much of the road in 1940, and a cycle of building and destruction has prevailed since. Seventy-six years after building an extension of Highway 1 at Devils Slide, Caltrans was ready to shut down the landslide-prone coastal road forever and open a pair of state-of-the-art tunnels through a mountainside behind the precarious cliffs. On March 25, 2013, the Tom Lantos Tunnels opened within the promontory to provide a safer route through the mountains. The 1.3-mile (2.1 km) long Devil's Slide Trail opened on March 27, 2014 for pedestrians and bicyclists, taking over the paved route formerly used by State Route 1 now bypassed by the new tunnels. The total cost to convert the highway to a trail was US$1,991,525 (equivalent to $2,048,000 in 2016).
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