blank areas on the street maps—sensuously curved hills and lush valleys that represent what nearly all of southern Orange County was like a century ago. Fortunately, some large pieces of the undeveloped land will never succumb to the ever-rising tide of suburbia. Over the past three decades, several large parcels of undeveloped land near Laguna Beach have passed into public ownership.
Searching for pirate treasure in Crystal Cove
Crystal Cove State Park was the first large parcel to be set aside. Besides a 3-mile stretch of bluffs and ocean front, the park reaches back into the San Joaquin Hills to encompass the entire watershed of El Moro Canyon—2,200 acres of natural ravines, ridges, and terrace formations. In the backcountry (El Moro Canyon) section of the park alone, visitors can explore 18 miles of dirt roads and paths open to hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers. Several more miles of paved bike path and trail lace the coastal bluff tops and descend to the beach.
Surrounding Crystal Cove State Park, several large parcels of undeveloped land in the San Joaquin Hills, owned for many decades by the Irvine Company, have passed into public ownership. These parcels, now incorporated into units called Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park, and Irvine Open Space Preserve, are covered in Chapters 4, 5, and 11. This 20,000-acre area, collectively known as the South Coast Wilderness, is one of the treasures of Orange County.
Crystal Cove State Park is open for day use from dawn to dusk. You can park along the beach and enjoy some tidepooling or beach-walking. Or you can drive up to the parking area adjoining the visitor center just east of the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1), and start your exploration of the backcountry sector of the park from there. Mountain biking is both permitted and popular in Crystal Cove’s backcountry section, not only on fire roads and former fire roads, but also on the narrow, singletrack trails. This situation is unusual for state parks, which often reserve the narrow trails for hiking use only.
Visitors can camp at Moro Campground or rent a cottage at the seaside Historic District in the park. Hike-in camping in the park is available at the Lower El Moro, Upper El Moro, and Deer Canyon primitive-camping sites.
The park’s interpretive program includes occasional lectures and weekly outdoor activities, such as bird-watching sessions, tidepool walks, and canyon hikes. As at any California state park, expect to pay a substantial parking fee for attending events or just exploring on your own. These fees go toward maintaining the park’s facilities and infrastructure, which are designed to accommodate heavy use.
An alternative access point for those who just want to hike, run, or bike the trails is to start from Coastal Peak Park atop the San Joaquin Hills. From Highway 1 northwest of Crystal Cove State Park, head north on Newport Coast Drive for 2.4 miles, then turn right onto Ridge Park Road and continue 1.6 miles to the end, where you can find free street parking. From here, the Bommer Ridge fire road through Laguna Coast Wilderness Park offers access to the top of the Crystal Cove trail network. Remember that any loop from here will be uphill on the return.
trip 3.1 Corona Rock-Hop
Distance 2.4 miles (out-and-back)
Hiking Time 2-plus hours
Elevation Gain 100’
Difficulty Moderate
Trail Use Good for kids
Best Times Low tide; October–March
Agency CCSP
Permit CCSP parking fee required
DIRECTIONS At the intersection of the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) and Newport Coast Drive, south of Corona del Mar, turn west into Crystal Cove State Park (at the Pelican Point entrance). Bear right beyond the entrance station to reach Lot 1, the northernmost parking lot on the coastal bluff.
Some of the finest tidepools in Orange County—indeed in all of Southern California—await you on this short, absorbing, and probably time-consuming, rock-hopping trek between the Pelican Point area of Crystal Cove State Park and Little Corona City Beach in Corona del Mar. Wear an old pair of rubber-soled shoes or boots (boots are better for ankle support), and expect to get wet below the ankles. Don’t turn your back to the incoming waves; otherwise, you may get even wetter.
Successful tidepool gazing requires both good light (midafternoon is best) and negative tides. These conditions occur during either new or full moons from October through March. On about 20 afternoons each year, the tide drops to less than minus 1 foot (zero is defined as the average of the tides across the United States), which is low enough for you to examine marine life in the intertidal zone. Plan to start your walk about an hour before a predicted low tide.
These tidepools are remarkably pristine, and your good manners will help keep them healthy. Tidepool explorers should take care not to step on living creatures and should be especially watchful for delicate sea anemones that can be hard to recognize. Remember not to pick up, touch, or poke the tidepool life. Don’t turn over rocks because the creatures living under them need to stay there, and those on top of the rocks won’t fare well if they find themselves under them. Please don’t collect shells.
Rocky reefs are exposed frequently along Crystal Cove State Park’s beachfront, but not to the degree found along a 0.5-mile stretch of coast just north of the park. As you pay your parking fee, you may be able to pick up a brochure with pictures to help you identify tidepool life. Docents also sometimes lead walks on weekends coinciding with low tide, and you might consider joining one of these walks at Pelican Point before continuing up to Little Corona Beach.
From the northernmost Pelican Point parking area (lot 1), a paved bike path—lined with native planted shrubs and spring wildflowers—swings toward the edge of the bluff. Soon there’s a split: left toward the beach, right toward a viewpoint overlooking the ocean. For the rock-hopping trip, descend to the beach and head up the coast over boulders and finlike rock formations beside a sea cave into the tidepool area, 0.6 mile from the parking area. The rock formations in the tidepools and the nearby cliffs are thinly bedded shales, gently tilted and sometimes fantastically contorted, dating back about 12 million years. In most but not all places in the intertidal zone, this rock affords good traction even when wet.
In the intertidal strip itself, a few dozen steps from high-tide to low-tide level encompass a complete spectrum of marine plants and animals adapted to the various degrees of inundation and exposure. In the high intertidal zone, hardy species like periwinkle snails, limpets, mussels, barnacles, and green sea anemones are found. Some of these creatures are adapted to survival in habitats moistened only by the splash of breaking waves. Shore crabs patrol these bouldered spaces, but they’ll likely be hiding.
Closer to the surf, the middle intertidal zone features rock depressions called tidepools, and luxuriant growths of surfgrass, which look like bright, shiny green mats of long-bladed grass. The tidepools serve as refuges for mobile animals like fish, shrimp, and the sluglike sea hare, as well as some of the relatively immobile animals like urchins and various shellfish. Here, the effects of biological erosion (or weathering) are apparent in the many pits and cubbyholes in the rocks occupied by various creatures.
