Day Hikes on the California Southern Coast: 100 Great Hikes

by Robert Stone (2)

Overview

This 224-page guide is a collection of the best coastal day hikes along the southern California coast, the latest addition to the popular Day Hike Books series! It is an essential guide for both residents and travelers who appreciate the outdoors.

The southern California coast has some of the most diverse and scenic geography in the state. This guide includes 100 great day hikes along 238 miles of coastline, from Ventura County to the U.S.—Mexico border. Discover hundreds of miles of trails in scenic and undeveloped land, despite the expansive urban areas. Highlights include wide sandy beaches, marine terraces, rocky headlands, tidal estuaries that are ideal for exploring, bay-side coves and caves, sandstone cliffs, great locations for viewing wildlife, lighthouses, expansive dunes, forested canyons, waterfalls, thousands of acres of undeveloped public lands, and panoramic ocean-front overlooks.

Each hike includes the following:
*Detailed map
*Accurate driving and hiking directions
*Distance/time/elevation statistics
*List of relevant maps
*Summaries to help hikers find a trail appropriate to their ability and desire

Companion hiking guides, also by Stone, include Day Hikes Around Los Angeles (an Los Angeles Times Bestseller), Day Hikes Around Ventura County, and Day Hikes On the California Central Coast.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781573420457
Publisher:	Day Hike Books, Inc.
Publication date:	03/01/2004
Series:	Day Hikes Series
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	1,044,795
Product dimensions:	5.54(w) x 8.54(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

For more than a decade, veteran hiker Robert Stone has been writer, photographer, and publisher of Day Hike Books. Robert resides summers in the Rocky Mountains of Montana and winters on the California Central Coast. This year-round temperate climate enables him to hike over 200 trails throughout the year. When not hiking, Robert is researching, writing, and mapping the hikes before returning to the trails. He is an active member of OWAC (Outdoor Writers Association of California). Robert has hiked every trail in the Day Hike Book series. With twenty hiking guides in the series, many in their second, third, and fourth editions, he has hiked over a thousand trails throughout the western United States and Hawaii.

Read an Excerpt

Day Hikes on the California Southern Coast

100 Great Hikes

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By Stone, Robert

Day Hike Books

Copyright © 2004 Stone, Robert
All right reserved.
ISBN: 157342045X

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Hike 57. . .From Laguna Beach, the San Joaquin Hills rise abruptly from the sea to an elevation over 1,000 feet. Large, undeveloped areas have been preserved as public parks and wilderness land, with an extensive network of hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trails. One of these treasures, Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park, spreads across 4,000 acres and includes more than 30 miles of trails. The park has massive sandstone formations, several forested canyons, two year-round streams, lush riparian vegetation, oaks, elderberries, sycamores, and native grasslands. This hike begins from the Top of the World trailhead on Temple Hill, the highest point in the park at 1,036 feet. The awesome birds-eye views extend across the Pacific Ocean and into Laguna and Wood Canyons. The undulating path follows a ridge separating the canyons and drops into the upper end of Wood Canyon, shaded by ancient oaks and sycamores.


(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Day Hikes on the California Southern Coast by Stone, Robert Copyright © 2004 by Stone, Robert. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

	About the Hikes and the Southern California Coastal Area	7
	Map of the Hikes	10
	The Hikes
	Ventura County
	Map of Ventura County (Hikes 1-16)	12
1.	Rincon Point and Rincon Beach Park	14
2.	Ocean's Edge--River's Edge Loop Emma Wood State Beach - Seaside Wilderness Park	16
3.	San Buenaventura State Beach to the Ventura River Estuary	17
4.	San Buenaventura State Beach to Marina Park and Ventura Harbor	20
5.	Santa Clara Estuary Natural Preserve McGrath State Beach	22
6.	Silver Strand Beach to La Janella Park	24
7.	Port Hueneme Beach Park	26
8.	Bubbling Springs Recreational Greenbelt	28
9.	Ormand Beach	30
10.	Big Sycamore Canyon Trail--Point Mugu State Park	32
11.	Chumash Trail--Mugu Peak Loop Point Mugu State Park	34
12.	La Jolla Valley Loop from La Jolla Canyon Point Mugu State Park	35
13.	Scenic and Overlook Trails Loop Point Mugu State Park	38
14.	Grotto Trail--Circle X Ranch	40
15.	Canyon View--Yerba Buena Road Loop Circle X Ranch	42
16.	Mishe Mokwa--Backbone Loop - Sandstone Peak Circle X Ranch	44
	Los Angeles County
	Map of Los Angeles County (Hikes 17-48)	46
17.	Yellow Hill Trail--Leo Carrillo State Beach	48
18.	Nicholas Flat and Willow Creek Loop Leo Carrillo State Beach	50
19.	Lower Arroyo Sequit Trail and Sequit Point Leo Carrillo State Beach	52
20.	Nicholas Flat--Leo Carrillo State Beach	54
21.	Charmlee County Park	56
22.	El Matador, La Piedra and El Pescador State Beaches Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach	58
23.	Point Dume Natural Preserve	60
24.	Zuma Loop Trail Zuma/Trancas Canyons (Lower Zuma Canyon)	62
25.	Ocean View--Canyon View Loop Zuma/Trancas Canyons (Lower Zuma Canyon)	64
26.	Escondido Falls	66
27.	Rising Sun--Solstice Canyon Loop Solstice Canyon	68
28.	Sostomo--Deer Valley Loop Solstice Canyon	70
29.	Malibu Bluffs Recreation Area and Community Park	72
30.	Malibu Lagoon State Beach--Malibu Point	74
31.	Parker Mesa Overlook from Topanga State Park	76
32.	Park Mesa Overlook from Paseo Miramar	77
	Santa Monica to Marina Del Rey (Hikes 33-38)	80
33.	Palisades Park and Santa Monica Pier	81
34.	Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach	82
35.	Venice Beach	84
36.	The Venice Canals	85
37.	Ballona Lagoon Marine Preserve Grand Canal to Marina Del Rey Harbor Channel	88
38.	Del Rey Lagoon and Ballona Creek	89
	Palos Verdes Penninsula (Los Angeles County)
39.	Manhattan - Hermosa - Redondo Beaches	92
40.	Malaga Cove and Flat Rock Point	94
41.	Bluff Cove to Lunada Bay	96
42.	Paseo Del Mar Bluffs Palos Verdes Estates Shoreline Preserve	98
43.	Point Vicente Fishing Access Trail to Point Vicente and Long Point	100
44.	Long Point (Marineland)	102
45.	Abalone Cove and Portuguese Point	104
46.	White Point and Point Fermin Park	106
47.	Sunken City	108
48.	Long Beach Oceanfront Trail	110
	Orange County
	Map of Orange County (Hikes 49-66)	112
49.	Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve	114
50.	Huntington Beach - Bluff Top Park Bolsa Chica State Beach to Huntington Pier	116
51.	Newport Beach - Balboa Peninsula Newport Pier to West Jetty View Park	118
52.	Corona Del Mar State Beach	119
53.	Back Bay Drive Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve	122
54.	Crystal Cove Oceanfront Bluffs Crystal Cove State Park	124
55.	El Moro Canyon--El Moro Ridge Loop Crystal Cove State Park	126
56.	Emerald Canyon--Bommer Ridge Loop Laguna Coast Wilderness Park	127
57.	Laguna Beach Bluffs and Heisler Park Crescent Bay Point Park to Main Beach	130
58.	West Ridge--Rock It--Mathis Canyon Loop Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park	132
59.	Aliso Canyon and Wood Canyon Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park	133
60.	Aliso Peak Trail from Seaview Park	136
61.	Salt Creek Beach Park	138
62.	Salt Creek Trail	140
63.	Dana Point Harbor	142
64.	Hide Trail--Dana Point Bluffs	144
65.	Doheny State Beach - Capistrano Beach Park	146
66.	San Clemente State Beach to San Mateo Point	148
67.	Trestles Beach--San Onofre State Beach North	149
	North San Diego County
	Map of North San Diego County (Hikes 67-81)	152
68.	San Onofre Bluffs--San Onofre State Beach South	154
69.	North Carlsbad State Beach	156
70.	North Shore Trail Batiquitos Lagoon Ecological Reserve	158
71.	Moonlight State Beach to Beacon's Beach	160
72.	Cardiff State Beach to San Elijo State Beach, Sea Cliff Park, and Swami's Beach	162
73.	San Elijo Lagoon West Basin	164
74.	San Elijo Lagoon East Basin - Tern Point and La Orilla Trail	165
75.	Fletcher Cove to Dog Beach and Scripps Bluff Preserve	168
76.	Torrey Pines State Beach to Seagrove and Powerhouse Parks	170
77.	Torrey Pines State Beach - Flat Rock	172
	Torrey Pines State Reserve (Hikes 78-81)	174
78.	Guy Fleming Trail - North Grove Torrey Pines State Reserve	175
79.	Parry Grove Trail - Whitaker Garden Torrey Pines State Reserve	178
80.	Razor Point--Yucca Point--Beach Trail Loop Torrey Pines State Reserve	179
81.	Broken Hill Trail to Flat Rock Torrey Pines State Reserve	180
	South San Diego County
	Map of South San Diego County (Hikes 82-100)	182
82.	Torrey Pines Glider Port Park to Black's Beach	184
83.	Black Canyon	185
84.	Scripps Coastal Reserve Biodiviersity Trail	186
	La Jolla Oceanfront (Hikes 82-86)	188
85.	La Jolla Bay to Nicholson Point	189
86.	South La Jolla Coastal Bluffs	191
87.	Tourmaline Surfing Park to Pacific Beach Park	194
	Mission Bay Park (Hikes 88-90)	196
88.	Crown Point Shores to Riviera Shores Mission Bay Park: North Shore	196
89.	Mission Point to Mission Bay Park Mission Bay Park - Mission Beach	198
90.	De Anza Cove to Tecolote Creek Mission Bay Park: East Shore	199
91.	Tocolote Canyon Natural Park	202
92.	Ocean Beach Park - Dog Beach to Ocean Beach Pier	204
93.	Ocean Beach Pier to Pescadero Beach	206
94.	Sunset Cliffs Park	208
	Point Loma - Cabrillo National Monument (Hikes 95-96)	210
95.	Bayside Trail--Cabrillo National Monument	210
96.	Point Loma Tidepools and Bluffs Trail Cabrillo National Monument	212
97.	Centennial Park to Tidelands Park--Coronado Peninsula	214
98.	Coronado City Beach and Coronado Shores Beach Coronado Peninsula	215
99.	River Mouth--South McCoy Trails Tijuana Estuary National Wildlife Refuge	218
100.	Imperial Beach--Shoreline Trail Tijuana Estuary National Wildlife Refuge	219

Interviews

This 224-page guide is a collection of the best coastal day hikes along the southern California coast. The area covered includes 238 miles of coastline through the counties of Ventura, Los
Angeles, Orange, and San Diego. This is an essential guide for both residents and travelers who enjoy the outdoors. Accurate directions, ample maps, and a wide variety of trails accommodate all levels of hiking experience.

Editorial Reviews

"Readers like the concise directions to the trailheads, clear hike descriptions and comprehensive selection of hikes."
—Bill Becher, Los Angeles Daily News

From the Publisher