Crystal Cove State Park
add photosIn addition to the Historic District, Crystal Cove State Park has 3.5 miles of beach and undeveloped woodland, which is popular for swimming, snorkeling, hiking and horseback riding. Families often come to explore the tidepools and sandy coves.
The Crystal Cove Historic District is a 12.3-acre coastal portion of the 2,791-acre Crystal Cove State Park. The federally listed Historic District is an enclave of 46 vintage rustic coastal cottages originally built in the 1920’s and 1930’s nestled around the mouth of Los Trancos Creek. It is one of the last remaining examples of early 20th century Southern California coastal development.
California State Parks has completed Phase I of the restoration of the Historic District, which provides cottages for visitor services, educational and community programs, a restaurant, and 13 cottages for overnight use by the public.
Cottages available for overnight rental include studios, one- and two-bedroom houses, and hostel-style dormitories. Prices for overnight rentals have been kept as low as possible to provide this fabulous beach experience to as many Californians as possible.
The cottages opened for overnight lodging beginning June 26, 2006. Reservations for stays up to seven months in advance will be taken through the California State Parks reservations contractor, ReserveAmerica.
7 Reviews for Crystal Cove State Park
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60 families found this helpful
"Crystal Cove"
The beach is nice and clean and the waves are not too rough on a normal day. The parking situation is a bit strange, You park at the top of the hill and walk down the paved path with all your stuff and try not to roll down. Then when your going home you have to drag everything back up the hill along whit your tired salty kids. All in all, still enjoyable.
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0 families found this helpful
"Lovely, clean beach"
This beach is lovely and clean, and there is a section of grass in front of it that your kids can play on. There are rock pools and cliffs to see the tremendous view from. This beach is a must see for anyone with kids. It isn't usually too crowded, which is great, but I would recommend going in the evening, as the sunsets are to die for!
0 families found this helpful
"Great Outdoor Adventure"
This place was beautiful and great with the kids! We went there as a class field trip, and everyone had a blast! Definitely recommend packing light, as there's a long journey up and down, and it's not okay to leave any trash behind. There's lot of great wildlife to see throughout the day in the tide pools.
'11
1 family found this helpful
"Pure beauty"
The beauty and remoteness of this stretch of beach and wilderness makes this place worth visiting. It was a little bit more of a hike than we were used to to get to a beach, but the walk along a boardwalk through the fragrant native plants of CA and down among the rocks provided such an adventure for my kids that they didn't mind at all.
I recommend visiting this beach with the intention of exploring, walking and tide pool watching, rather than the "bring the kitchen sink" and all your beach accessories too. You may regret having to carry them all the way back up to your car at the end of your time. There is so much to enjoy here.
2 families found this helpful
"So Peaceful"
While on a trip to Disneyland I decided to check out trekaroo reviews on beaches around the area. I came across Crystal Cove reviews and decided to check it out. I was so not disappointed! It did cost us $15 to enter the park, which their website said $10. Friends thought I was crazy to spend when beaches are free but it is so peaceful and natural there. At the time of the visit I was six months pregnant and my children were 4 and 2 and did not want to have to stress at a crowed beach. Most people we came across where daily runners and there was only a couple other families there. I can't wait to go back we didn't get to experience the tide pools because we were just enjoying the water.
1 family found this helpful
"One of my favorite Socal beaches"
We spend alot of time at Crystal Cove, especially in the winter. The weather can be in the mid seventies and the entire expanse of beach can be yours and yours alone. There are wonderful tidepools for your kids to explore, gentle waves to play in, and a shake shack up the hill to grab a treat from. You can also rent beach shacks right on the beach fro the state park service for less than $200 a day! That is just unheard of. The beach is unspoiled in a part of the coast that is typically strwen with million dollar mansions on the cliffs above. Enjoy one of the countries most expensive zip codes with only a few bucks for parking. I can't reccomend Crystal Cove enough.
2 families found this helpful
"Beautiful and Soooo FAmily Friendly"
My sister brought us here last year to spend the day with all the family! It is clean, quiet and the kids sooo enjoyed the tidepools and sea erchins galore.
This is a nice strip of beach, not alot of action here which is nice if you have kids as they can browse around and investigate the area. There is the Beachcomber restraunt and some rental homes owned by the state but is a wonderful day trip or rent a house for the week, you will have to book up to a year in advance as they are highly sought after since it is a very secluded public beach. We will be back again this year as the kids keep asking when are we going back!!!
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