Sunday, January 02, 2022

SLO County loses a beloved local landmark with collapse of rock arch at Spooner’s Cove


Sara Kassabian, Kathe Tanner
Fri, December 31, 2021

For generations, the arch on the right side of Spooner’s Cove in Montaña de Oro State Park has been a source of second glances from passersby and inspiration for landscape photographers, family photos and no doubt even a few seaside marriage proposals. It also was written into area history for centuries.

But, as Kerry Keltz of El Moro wrote on NextDoor, “Nature giveth, nature taketh away!”

On Christmas Eve, locals started reporting that the arch, which added an artistic flair to an already stunning landscape, had collapsed.

“What?!,” wrote Sophie Fauchier of Ferrell on NextDoor, “I have been admiring that since I was a child! That’s a bummer, fortunately I did take many pictures!”

Sarah Mavety, owner/chef at Hazard’s in Los Osos, is mourning the loss of the arch based on her childhood, too. On Thursday, she told The Tribune by phone, “As kids, we’d play underneath the arch, imagining that it would fall down. It was a magical little place where we used to play.”

The loss of the arch was also tough for those who love the history of San Luis Obispo County and the icons that are part of that background.

Devra Cooper shared this post on Nextdoor showing the rock arch at Spooner’s Cove in Montana de Oro State Park before it collapsed in late December 2021.

Dan Krieger, professor of history emeritus for Cal Poly and author of the “Times Past” column in The Tribune, said Thursday that the arch was an icon of SLO County.

“It was very much — as much as Morro Rock is — a symbol of the Central Coast. It was one of those hidden jewels that the lucky traveler who discovers Montaña de Oro State Park would have as one more treat. And now that is no more.

“It was there when the Spooners homesteaded there,” Krieger said, “and was one of their landmarks on the maps.”

Although the arch wasn’t included on the documents of the Mexican land grant given to Captain Wilson, the historian continued, “we don’t know if the arch was there then” or just wasn’t included on the map. “But the arch was there from the earliest days of Anglo settlement there.”

The arch collapsed after a series of heavy winter storms over the Christmas holiday last week. Officials from the California State Parks Department said the collapse of the arch was likely due to heavy surf.

A scenic rock arch collapse at Spooner’s Cove in Montaña de Oro State Park in late December 2021, likely as a result of heavy surf and storms.

“Those arches, they’re a natural feature that shows up sometimes,” said Eric Hjelstrom, chief ranger with the California State Parks Department San Luis Obispo Coast District. “But the same force that makes them also destroys them, it’s just the natural wave action along the coast.”

Hjelstrom said that the department tracks hundreds of miles of coastline, so he wasn’t aware of this particular arch before hearing about its collapse.

Many other local residents were, though, and posts have been popping up on NextDoor with people sharing family photographs and memories of children playing among the formations.

The Tribune wants to know: What role did the arch at Spooner’s Cove play in your family’s history? Email skassabian@thetribunenews.com to share your stories and photographs of the arch to help us remember this symbol of the Central Coast for future generations.

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