Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

View the Pacific from the south-facing vantage of Leo Carrillo State Beach near Malibu

Upcoast from Malibu, in the serene western half of the Santa Monica Mountains, Leo Carrillo State Beach encompasses a bit more than a mile of ocean frontage plus 2000 acres of interior hillsides and canyons. The state beach has a large, deluxe campground (with showers) just inland from the Pacific Coast Highway, plus smaller camps for RVs and organized groups nearby. Camping is pleasant during this, the warmest time of year, though reservations are virtually required. Besides an appropriate focus on water-sport activity -- beachcombing, surfing, swimming, and sailboarding -- at least one short hiking route on state-beach property begs to be explored, especially when the sun is coming up or going down.

For the moderate effort of walking the looping, two-mile "Ocean Vista" trail, you get to stand atop a 612-foot-high crest and enjoy one of Southern California's better views of the Pacific. On fog-free early mornings or late afternoons, you'll watch the sun rise or set more or less parallel to the coastline, all the while hearing the surf booming in down below. Unlike our coast here in San Diego County, this stretch of coastline is oriented east-west, and south is the direction you face when looking directly out to sea.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Day-use parking (for a fee) is available near the entrance to the Leo Carrillo Campground. Take the trail going right (east) from the campground entrance. Up ahead there's a split -- go either way, and later use the other leg of the trail on your return trip.

Whatever path you choose on the way up, you arrive at a four-way junction of trails on a saddle just north of the Ocean Vista. Take the path to the south to reach the 612-foot hillock. The path to the north leads farther uphill and inland into the Leo Carrillo backcountry, a good choice for a several-mile hike best done in a cooler time of year.

If you chance upon very clear weather (common only during November through March), try spotting the Palos Verdes peninsula far down the coast to the southeast. Out to sea, look for Santa Catalina Island and several of the other Channel Islands, which lie off the Ventura County coastline. In the north, the toothy crest of Boney Mountain barely peeks over a rounded ridge. Sandstone Peak, elevation 3111 feet and the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains, crowns this crest.

For more information about Leo Carrillo State Beach, call 805-986-8591.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

In-n-Out alters iconic symbol to reflect “modern-day California”

Keep Palm and Carry On?
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Eating dinner while little kids mock-mosh at Golden Island

“The tot absorbs the punk rock shot with the skill of experience”

Upcoast from Malibu, in the serene western half of the Santa Monica Mountains, Leo Carrillo State Beach encompasses a bit more than a mile of ocean frontage plus 2000 acres of interior hillsides and canyons. The state beach has a large, deluxe campground (with showers) just inland from the Pacific Coast Highway, plus smaller camps for RVs and organized groups nearby. Camping is pleasant during this, the warmest time of year, though reservations are virtually required. Besides an appropriate focus on water-sport activity -- beachcombing, surfing, swimming, and sailboarding -- at least one short hiking route on state-beach property begs to be explored, especially when the sun is coming up or going down.

For the moderate effort of walking the looping, two-mile "Ocean Vista" trail, you get to stand atop a 612-foot-high crest and enjoy one of Southern California's better views of the Pacific. On fog-free early mornings or late afternoons, you'll watch the sun rise or set more or less parallel to the coastline, all the while hearing the surf booming in down below. Unlike our coast here in San Diego County, this stretch of coastline is oriented east-west, and south is the direction you face when looking directly out to sea.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Day-use parking (for a fee) is available near the entrance to the Leo Carrillo Campground. Take the trail going right (east) from the campground entrance. Up ahead there's a split -- go either way, and later use the other leg of the trail on your return trip.

Whatever path you choose on the way up, you arrive at a four-way junction of trails on a saddle just north of the Ocean Vista. Take the path to the south to reach the 612-foot hillock. The path to the north leads farther uphill and inland into the Leo Carrillo backcountry, a good choice for a several-mile hike best done in a cooler time of year.

If you chance upon very clear weather (common only during November through March), try spotting the Palos Verdes peninsula far down the coast to the southeast. Out to sea, look for Santa Catalina Island and several of the other Channel Islands, which lie off the Ventura County coastline. In the north, the toothy crest of Boney Mountain barely peeks over a rounded ridge. Sandstone Peak, elevation 3111 feet and the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains, crowns this crest.

For more information about Leo Carrillo State Beach, call 805-986-8591.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Drinking Sudden Death on All Saint’s Day in Quixote’s church-themed interior

Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise
Next Article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader