Dozens of photographers crouched beneath Scripps Pier on Sunday, Aug. 9, tripods planted in wet sand, waiting for the setting sun to slide between the pier's back pillars in a twice-yearly spectacle known as Scrippshenge, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The alignment draws its name from Stonehenge, where ancient stones frame the solstice sun. At La Jolla Shores, Earth's axial tilt produces the same trick of geometry: as the planet tilts toward the sun in summer and away in winter, the sunset point drifts along the horizon, lining up with the 1,084-foot Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier on two dates each year.
"During the summer here in the northern hemisphere, its axis is pointing towards the sun and in the winter, it's pointing away," Scripps Institution of Oceanography professor James Day said in an Instagram video posted Aug. 9. "Because of that, we see the sun setting twice a year between these wonderful pillars."
Day, director of the Scripps Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory since 2011, studies planetary geoscience. The alignment typically stretches across several consecutive evenings in early May and early-to-mid August, giving photographers multiple chances depending on cloud cover and the marine layer, according to Hoodline.
The first 2026 alignment fell on Saturday, May 2. The Aug. 9 return brought not just camera-wielding crowds but surfers who paused mid-paddle to watch the golden disc drop between the concrete columns.
A pandemic-era tradition
Scrippshenge was once an insider secret among Scripps scientists and local surf photographers. Viewing crowds expanded significantly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Hoodline reported, fueled by better smartphone cameras and a surge in outdoor beach visits.
The spectacle earned national recognition when a 2023 photograph by UC San Diego staff photographer Erik Jepsen captured more than 100 photographers jostling for position beneath the pier. The image won a 2024 Silver Circle of Excellence award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
How to see it
Spectators gather on La Jolla Shores beach directly beneath the pier; access to the pier deck itself is restricted to authorized UC San Diego personnel. The public can tour the pier through Scripps Community Outreach for Public Education, a student-led volunteer program known as SCOPE.
The alignment recurs twice yearly, generally in early May and early-to-mid August. Specific 2027 dates have not yet been announced. The "-henge" naming convention traces to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who coined "Manhattanhenge" in 1996 to describe sunsets framed by New York City's street grid.
Around La Jolla
- La Jolla Playhouse has announced the cast for its world-premiere birding comedy. Details at lajollaledger.com.
- La Jolla Historical Society recently rebranded as the Museum of History and Culture. More at lajollaledger.com.
