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

Backyard escape: the Cabrillo Monument & Tide Pools

Must-see natural beauty and history a hop and a skip away in Point Loma.

The National Park Service calls the Cabrillo tide pools "one of the best-protected and easily accessible rocky intertidal areas in southern California."
The National Park Service calls the Cabrillo tide pools "one of the best-protected and easily accessible rocky intertidal areas in southern California."

San Diego is such a beautiful part of the country. One might even go as far as to say the most beautiful part — there's so much to see and explore, even in our own backyard.

Case in point: Cabrillo National Monument and Tide Pools. This little mini-adventure is packed with history, natural beauty, and views for days.

Fort Rosecrans Cemetery sprawls out with a view of the San Diego Bay below.

On the drive up to the Cabrillo National Monument, you pass by Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. A sprawling sight of neatly lined white tombstones overlooking the San Diego skyline on one side, and the great Pacific on the other. Walking among the headstones you can see some dates back to the late 1890’s: men and women, husbands and wives. The placement of this cemetery, along this narrow peninsula in such a beautiful place, with so many lives of men and women who served for our country, is a humbling experience.

Sponsored
Sponsored

From there, we entered the park itself, which is nestled on the edge of the peninsula. The monument is dedicated to the explorers who came to these shores from Spain. (You can read more about Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo here.)

Reading about the monument while taking in the views of the city and realizing that this is now my backyard made me count my lucky stars. It’s a spectacular vantage point of the San Diego skyline.

We wandered up to check out the historic lighthouse on the hill. You can get a sense of what it must have been like to warn ships of the land they were approaching. The stairs are narrow, the building small. I felt the isolation (and claustrophobia) of being out on this peninsula, alone in the lighthouse. Lighthouse keeper is not on my list of future jobs.

So close, yet so far from downtown.

After all the obligatory history lessons, we headed down the hill to the tide pools. Which were awesome! Seriously, one of the coolest and most tranquil places, even with all of the kids and tourists. There's something so dreamy about salt air, sunshine on your face, a soft breeze, and all of these little pools of water to discover. This is someplace you can picture mermaids hanging out in the turquoise water below.

When you stop and look closely there is life happening in all of the pools. Crabs, starfish (I’m told, but didn’t spot any), anemones, snails. And the views were breathtaking.

This treasure is just in over in Point Loma, available all year round. And the pass to get in is valid for a week. Go! Explore!

Map

Cabrillo National Monument

Cabrillo National Monument

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Pedicab drivers in downtown San Diego miss the music

New rules have led to 50% drop in business
The National Park Service calls the Cabrillo tide pools "one of the best-protected and easily accessible rocky intertidal areas in southern California."
The National Park Service calls the Cabrillo tide pools "one of the best-protected and easily accessible rocky intertidal areas in southern California."

San Diego is such a beautiful part of the country. One might even go as far as to say the most beautiful part — there's so much to see and explore, even in our own backyard.

Case in point: Cabrillo National Monument and Tide Pools. This little mini-adventure is packed with history, natural beauty, and views for days.

Fort Rosecrans Cemetery sprawls out with a view of the San Diego Bay below.

On the drive up to the Cabrillo National Monument, you pass by Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. A sprawling sight of neatly lined white tombstones overlooking the San Diego skyline on one side, and the great Pacific on the other. Walking among the headstones you can see some dates back to the late 1890’s: men and women, husbands and wives. The placement of this cemetery, along this narrow peninsula in such a beautiful place, with so many lives of men and women who served for our country, is a humbling experience.

Sponsored
Sponsored

From there, we entered the park itself, which is nestled on the edge of the peninsula. The monument is dedicated to the explorers who came to these shores from Spain. (You can read more about Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo here.)

Reading about the monument while taking in the views of the city and realizing that this is now my backyard made me count my lucky stars. It’s a spectacular vantage point of the San Diego skyline.

We wandered up to check out the historic lighthouse on the hill. You can get a sense of what it must have been like to warn ships of the land they were approaching. The stairs are narrow, the building small. I felt the isolation (and claustrophobia) of being out on this peninsula, alone in the lighthouse. Lighthouse keeper is not on my list of future jobs.

So close, yet so far from downtown.

After all the obligatory history lessons, we headed down the hill to the tide pools. Which were awesome! Seriously, one of the coolest and most tranquil places, even with all of the kids and tourists. There's something so dreamy about salt air, sunshine on your face, a soft breeze, and all of these little pools of water to discover. This is someplace you can picture mermaids hanging out in the turquoise water below.

When you stop and look closely there is life happening in all of the pools. Crabs, starfish (I’m told, but didn’t spot any), anemones, snails. And the views were breathtaking.

This treasure is just in over in Point Loma, available all year round. And the pass to get in is valid for a week. Go! Explore!

Map

Cabrillo National Monument

Cabrillo National Monument
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Mang Tomas, banana ketchup barred in San Diego

What will happen to Filipino Christmas here?
Next Article

Successor to Lillian Hellman and Carson McCullers

Crossword puzzles need headline
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