Crystal Cove State Beach

Today was red-flag warning, hot dry (pollen-filled) winds with speeds up to 50 mph, so I went to the beach. Crystal Cove State Park is located between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach. The $10 park fee and the climb down the steep stairs to the beach seem to discourage a lot of beach goers. There is an pleasant walking/biking paved path on the cliffs as well as a long stretch of flat shoreline to walk/run. Crystal Cove is also a designated underwater preserve and is supposed to be great for diving/snorkeling.

My goal today was to walk the entire length of the cliffs and the shore. I started on the shoreline. Unfortunately, the tide was pretty low which meant that there were lots of tide pools to poke around in and shore birds to watch which distracted me from my primary objective. I did walk pretty far (heading north) along the shoreline and ran across the Historic Crystal Cove area. I was surprised to find the Beachcomber Restaurant (on the sand!) and a row of fenced-off ramshackle sea cottages.

On my next trip to the park, I will need to bring food, and either my bike or someone to keep me on task. I did, however, have a wonderful day and only fell into the tide pools about three times.