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| Balboa Peninsula Printable Map |
Showing posts with label Newport Beach hiking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Newport Beach hiking. Show all posts
Dana Point Sea Cave Trail
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| Dana Point Sea Cave Trail |
If you’re cruising down Pacific Crest Highway in Dana Point, you should set aside 90 minutes to see one of the better sea caves in Orange County. The hike to the cave is probably only a half mile round trip, but it will feel like more because the coastline is rocky and slick in a few sections due to the seaweed and algae. You should be careful to avoid this hike during high tide or large wave swells because you're essentially trapped along the coastline next to a large cliff for the duration of the hike and there is nowhere to hide if the ocean comes crashing down on you.
There is a free parking lot for this trail at the ocean institute in Dana Point. The easiest way to find the trail-head is to enter this address into your GPS: 34558 Scenic Dr., Dana Point, CA
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| Hidden Entrance to the Dana Point Sea Cave |
This particular sea cave is one of the largest I’ve seen in Orange County, but it's really only about the size of a your living room. We actually don't have very many large caves in the county, so it's unique. The hike will take most people around an hour to complete from start to finish. It may not be suitable for small children or people who may have trouble traversing the slick rocks.
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| Inside the Dana Point Sea Cave |
If you want to make a day of it, there are several other great areas to explore near the Dana Point sea caves including:
Crystal Cove State Park/Moro Canyon- A huge park located just north of Laguna Beach with hiking and mountain biking trails, a tent campground, a dedicated snorkeling area and amazing views from Coastal Peak Park at the top of the mountain.
Alta
Laguna Park- A smaller park located high above Laguna Beach with basketball courts, a picnic area and a paved 1 mile bike trail.
Laguna Coast Wilderness Park- A larger park next to Laguna Beach with amazing mountain biking and hiking trails. This park is breathtaking in the spring or anytime when we’ve had some rain and the entire mountain is covered in a blanket of greenery.
The Back Bay Loop Trail at Newport Beach- A wetland preserve in Newport Beach with a fantastic paved bike trail. I highly recommend renting a kayak and experiencing this park from the water.
What backpack should I buy for day-hiking?
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| Tahoe Backpack by Granite Rocx |
If you’re looking for an inexpensive multi-purpose backpack
for hiking, there are a couple key questions that I would consider:
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Does it have waste strap and a chest strap?
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Does it have low-profile design?
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Does the pack fit my torso length?
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Does it have plenty of extra compartments for
easy access to your gear?
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Is it made from a high quality, lightweight, ‘ripstop’
material?
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Can you attach additional gear to the outside?
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How long is your intended hike?
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Can I afford it?
If someone asked me for a recommendation for a day-pack, my
first choice would be the Tahoe backpack made by a company called Granite Rocx.
For 65$, no one makes a comparable pack with anywhere near the number of
features as the Tahoe. It has an adjustable waste and chest strap. It has a low profile design that keeps the
pack close to your back when you hike. It has 3 large compartments with a ton
of extra smaller pockets for gear access. It’s made from ripstop nylon. It has
a compression buckle to attach a tent, a nylon gear stash on the outside of the
backpack for holding your beach towel and it has a insulated detachable cooler that
can hold 12 beers. The Tahoe also has a
feature where you can unzip the main compartment and strap a beach chair to the
backpack. I’ve never seen another pack with that feature. This is the best
beach backpack on the market at any price point.
I’ve hiked with a ton of backpacks and this is the first
pack I’ve ever used that satisfies the medium between the too small camelback
type backpacks and the over-sized internal frame backpacks that hurt my
shoulders. Last week, I took my Tahoe on a 17 mile round-trip up Mount Wilson in Southern California. It was the first hike I've done in months where I didn't have shoulder pains. You can order it directly from Granite Rocx website or through
Amazon for 65$. I’m not the only person who loves this pack, it currently has a
perfect 5/5 rating from users on Amazon. Hope this post was helpful on your quest for a new day-pack.
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| Granite Rocx Tahoe Backpack |
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| Newport Beach Picnic |
Night Hike on the Pacific Ridge Trail
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| Pacific Ridge Trail |
A Foggy Day on Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach
This is just a test video I made with my new Canon T2i. I shot it with the 18-55 kit lense in 1080p at 30 frames per second on auto exposure mode. I edited and exported the video to Youtube using a great program called Power Director. The song is a Sparks cover performed by Erin Merle.
Crystal Cove
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| Crystal Cove Arch |
Crystal Cove is a huge state park located a few miles South of Newport Beach along Coastal Highway (route 1). Coastal Highway splits the park in half, separating the coves, arches, sea caves and pristine beaches from the mountain biking and hiking trails on the mountain. You never really lose sight of civilization in the park, but the only sound you’re likely to hear is the wind and surf. The beaches don’t get the weekend crowds in the summer that Newport and Laguna can get, but the amenities are limited to just the bathrooms adjacent to the parking areas. To really experience Crystal Cove, you’ll probably need a full day.
You can’t camp on the beach in Crystal Cove, but you can hike to the top of El Moro canyon and camp along the ridge at the Upper Moro campground. It’s a somewhat strenuous 4 mile hike up the mountain to the campsites, but you’ll be rewarded with awe inspiring views of the ocean. I’ve never camped there myself, but it’s on my to-do list for the summer. The campground is primitive, so you’ll have to pack in all of your provisions. Don't forget the bio-degradable toilet paper. My preferred hiking route is to climb up El Moro canyon on the El Moro trail to the top, follow the ridgeline south and then descend on the Moro Ridge trail. Watch out for mountain bikers and beautiful trophy wives in sports bras on the trails.
The Northern Part of Crystal Cove has an underwater scuba park, caves, arches, hidden coves and tidal pools. When the tide is out, you can scramble along the rocks from Corona Beach to Crystal Cove. This section of beach isn't technically part of Crystal Cove, but it has a lot of cool features to see. It’s a very delicate ecosystem, so try to keep out of the tidal pools. You’ll see crabs, mussels, clams, sea anemones, and the occasional seal sunning himself on the rocks. The caves in this section are the best in all of Orange County. For me, the large natural arch called Arch Rock is one the highlights of the park. It’s located past the northern most part of the park on the beach before you reach Corona. It can take some tricky rock scrambling to reach it from either direction and sometimes its unreachable because of the high tides. You can find the location on Google maps.
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| Crystal Cove |
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| Corona beach |
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| Crystal Cove |
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| Crystal Cove |
Moulton Meadows Park, Laguna Beach
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| Moulton Meadows Park, Laguna Beach |
Moulton Meadows is a good place to bring the kiddies. There is a soccer field, basketball court, picnic tables, brand new set of bathrooms and a great jungle gym in the main part of the park. It would be a great place for a picnic or a game of Ultimate Frisbee.
To get to Moulton Meadows park, you drive south on Pacific Coast Highway past downtown Laguna Beach. Turn left onto Nyes Place and drive straight up the hill. After a half mile, the road merges into Balboa Ave.The park is a half mile on the right past the intersection of Balboa and Nyes place. There is plenty of free street parking. The mountain bike trail starts at the North end of the park at the small locked gate.
