Last week a crane arrived on south Carlsbad Boulevard, just north of the bridge at Las Encinas Creek. It is lifting boulders of two to six tons each off delivery trucks and lowering them down to the beach. The City of Carlsbad says the work will stabilize the bluff and protect the road "ahead of potentially strong El Niño conditions." The city declared a local emergency on Sept. 9 so the job could move faster.
That revetment is one of three changes on the shoreline that will shape Carlsbad's fall routine through the end of the year. A fourth project, the rebuilt Monroe Street Pool, is nearly done but has no reopening date. Over the same weeks, the Village, the lagoons and inland venues have filled the calendar from mid-October to mid-November. This fall, the coast is mostly something to get around, and the season is happening a few blocks inland.
What changed along the water
The south Carlsbad Boulevard bluff
The revetment is north of the Las Encinas Creek bridge. Southbound drivers between Solamar Drive and Island Way should allow extra time, and the bike lane on that stretch is closed while crews work. The city expects boulder deliveries to continue for the next few weeks and revetment construction to run through late 2026. For anyone who rides the coast route south toward Leucadia on weekend mornings, that stretch will have a detour or shared lanes for most of the season.
The beach stairs between Hemlock and Pine
Farther north, the city is replacing all four stairways along Carlsbad Boulevard between Hemlock and Pine avenues and widening the sidewalk between Cherry and Pine. Work paused for the summer. The second phase runs from fall 2026 through spring 2027, on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. According to the city's project page, here is how to get down to the sand right now:
- Hemlock Avenue stairs: closed
- Cherry Avenue stairs: closed
- Maple Avenue and Sycamore Avenue stairs: open for now, but demolition at both is scheduled to start this fall
- Pine Avenue and Tamarack Avenue ramps: open as nearby alternatives
Patch reported in September that crews would finish Cherry and Hemlock before moving to Maple and Sycamore. Expect the open stairways to change as the season goes on. The city says one or two stairways will be closed at any given time. The car lanes are down to one in each direction, parts of the west-side sidewalk will close at times, and some street parking is restricted. When the west sidewalk is closed, the city points pedestrians to the lower sea wall or the east side of Carlsbad Boulevard.
A small parking gain near the beach
There is some good news for parking. An Oct. 9 city update says 11 spaces were recently added on State Street, Oak Avenue and nearby beach areas. Another 16 are planned on Grand Avenue and Chestnut Avenue starting in spring 2027. That is a modest change, and it lands in the Village, where most of this fall's calendar is.
Monroe Street Pool, almost
The rebuilt Monroe Street Pool has 50% more lanes than before. On Oct. 2 the city said the remaining work included pool water and equipment testing, solar panels, restroom fixtures and the parking lot. In the Oct. 8 City Manager's Update, the city said only that it would announce an official reopening date "in the coming weeks." Lap swimmers should keep their current routine until that date is posted.
Where the season went
With the beach access reduced and the pool still closed, nearly everything on the Carlsbad calendar between Oct. 16 and Nov. 14 is in the Village, at a lagoon trailhead, or at inland venues like Alga Norte, Leo Carrillo Ranch and the Dove Lane library.
A founder's final show on State Street's doorstep
The biggest cultural event of the season is at the Dea Hurston New Village Arts Center. New Village Arts is staging As You Like It, a musical adaptation of Shakespeare by Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery, with music and lyrics by Taub. It runs Oct. 16 through Nov. 29 as part of the company's 25th anniversary season. The production imagines the court as old Hollywood and the Forest of Arden as a Joshua Tree landscape, with cast members playing instruments live onstage.
According to the Carlsbad Village Association, this is the last NVA production that founder and executive artistic director Kristianne Kurner will direct before she retires. The company's first trip into the Forest of Arden was 25 years ago, so the season comes full circle. Kurner is also the show's scenic designer. She is not leaving yet. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that she will stay through June 2027 and help with the search for her successor. NVA's board has formed a search committee, and no successor has been named.
Previews start Friday, Oct. 16. Opening night is Saturday, Oct. 24, with a champagne reception and Handel's Ice Cream. Matinees are at 2 p.m. Friday through Sunday, and evening shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
The lagoon, from the trail side
Batiquitos Lagoon has more going on than a quiet trail this fall. SANDAG's Batiquitos Lagoon Double Track is under construction with completion expected in 2028, and the agency scheduled overnight rail work for Oct. 10 and 11. On the trail side, the docent-led walk "Creepy, Crawly & Cool" meets Saturday, Oct. 17 at 10 a.m. at 7380 Gabbiano Lane. Earlier this month the 20th annual Batiquitos Lagoon Kayak Fundraiser & Cleanup gave paddlers a rare chance to get onto lagoon water that is normally closed to boats.
Inland venues pick up the rest
The city's Pumpkin Plunge is at Alga Norte Aquatics Center on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 5 to 8 p.m. With Monroe Street still closed, Alga Norte hosts the season's one public swim event.
The 2026 Cannon Biennial Exhibition, themed "everywhere home," opens Oct. 23 at the William D. Cannon Art Gallery inside Carlsbad City Library, 1775 Dove Lane. It runs through Jan. 3, 2027, and a free public reception is set for Saturday, Nov. 7, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Farther east, grading has started on Veterans Memorial Park near Faraday Avenue and Cannon Road. The 93.7-acre park is planned to include trails, viewpoints, playgrounds, a bike park and public art, and the city puts its opening about two years out.
The calendar, weekend by weekend
- Fri., Oct. 16: As You Like It previews begin at New Village Arts.
- Sat., Oct. 17: "Creepy, Crawly & Cool" docent walk at Batiquitos Lagoon, 10 a.m.; Pumpkin Plunge at Alga Norte, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Fri., Oct. 23: Cannon Biennial opens at the Dove Lane library.
- Sat., Oct. 24: As You Like It opening night.
- Sat., Oct. 31: Halloween in the Village, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with stops at the Boys & Girls Clubs at 3115 Roosevelt Street and Village Faire at 300 Carlsbad Village Drive, plus sensory-friendly activities along Roosevelt. The same morning, Día de los Muertos at Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park, 6200 Flying Leo Carrillo Lane, runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is free. The ranch's holiday decorations stay up through Nov. 2.
- Sun., Nov. 1: Carlsbad Village Street Faire, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., which Visit Carlsbad lists with 900 arts and crafts booths, antiques, an international food court, children's rides, an entertainment stage and a beer garden.
- Sat., Nov. 7: Cannon Biennial public reception, 3 to 5 p.m.
- Sat., Nov. 14: Native American Heritage Festival at the Carlsbad City Library Learning Center, 3368 Eureka Place, 1 to 4 p.m. Also the Carlsbad Holiday Market at the Woman's Club, 3320 Monroe Street, featuring local handmade gifts and raising funds to renovate the historic clubhouse.
Halloween weekend is the busiest stretch. Oct. 31 has the ranch in the morning and the Village in the afternoon, and the Street Faire fills the Village again the next day. If you plan to drive to the Faire on Nov. 1, the new spaces on State Street and Oak Avenue are the ones closest to the action. If you're walking down to the beach afterward, take the Pine or Tamarack ramps, since the Hemlock and Cherry stairs are closed.
The bluff revetment runs through late 2026, and the beach stairs work continues into spring 2027. If you own near Carlsbad Boulevard and want to talk through how these projects affect your block, Renée Burnette is glad to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.
