The popular steps at Crescent Beach are set to reopen this week, as the province moves into Phase 2 of its COVID-19 restart plan.
Today (June 15), the City of Surrey is expected to reopen Christopherson Steps, 1,001 Steps and the 13 Avenue lookout.
All three staircases, which serve as key access points to various points along Crescent Beach, have been closed since April 2020 as a way to minimize COVID-19 transmission risk during the ongoing pandemic.
News of the openings – which was confirmed by city parks manager Neil Aven in an email – comes as welcome news to members of the Surrey United Naturists (SUN), who say they have been without convenient access to clothing-optional Crescent Rock beach since the pandemic was declared.
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In a news release issued Sunday, Don Pitcairn – president of the Naturists – noted that the group had “received the good news” and were relieved to have easier access to the watefront.
“With the Coldicutt Trail in White Rock being damaged by landslides in Jan. 2020 and now closed permanently, this meant that the only access to the 6.5 km of clothing-optional beach was by walking along the shoreline from either White Rock or Crescent Beach, or coming in by watercraft for the past 14 months,” the release states.
The staircases will be open dawn to dusk.
“SUN welcomes back naturists, nudists and those with swimsuits for sun bathing and skinny-dipping, asking everyone to not trespass on the BNSF Railway tracks,” the release notes.
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