1000 Steps Beach
Park on Coast Highway and take the wooden staircase down through the ice plant. The cove is quiet by 7:30, the sand is firm, and the headlands cut the swell. Come back at sunset and you'll share the view with maybe twenty others who figured out the same thing.
- Address
- 31972 Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
- Find it
- Open in Google Maps →
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Heisler Park
4.8★Walk · Heavy hitter
Park at the top of Cliff Drive, walk the bluff path north. The gazebo at the bend has the photo you've seen. Keep going past it to the pocket lawn by the lawn-bowling club. Nobody else makes it that far.

Crystal Cove State Park
4.8★Walk · Heavy hitter
Park at the El Morro lot, walk down to the historic district, pretend you live in one of the cottages. The tidepools below Reef Point are quieter than Crescent Bay and have more anemones.

Top of the World
4.8★Walk · Heavy hitter
Park at Alta Laguna and walk the ridge. On clear days you see Catalina; on hazy ones the marine layer eats the horizon and it feels like you're flying. Sunset is the obvious move but sunrise is the smart one.


