Crystal Cove
This has to be one of my top ten favorite places in California. The cliffs are great for getting a hike in and the tide pools are super easy to get to. I highly recommend timing your visit with the low tide, so make sure to check for the best time to visit beforehand.
The far north end of the beach has some really cool cliffs and outcrops to explore. I guess you could also describe it as a cave but its more of an indentation in my opinion. Its a great place to look for shore crabs!
Keep your eyes peeled for nudibranchs! These little guys are by far the coolest thing to see here in my opinion. You’ll have the best luck finding them in the tide pools further out into the water. Good luck!
My visit:
Date: July 10, 2026
Time: 7:00 am - 8:00 am
Weather: Overcast and misty ~70 F
Habitat: The trails of Crystal Cove do not have very many trees, it is almost entirely composed of grasses and shrubs. The trails are dry and sandy and lead down the cliff to a nice man-made beach with several rocky outcrops that form tide pools.
Observations:
It was a lovely quiet and cool morning during our visit, there was almost nobody around. The tide was a bit too high to go down and explore the tide pools so we stayed up on the cliff. I noticed a lot of the usual shrubs we have been seeing everywhere such as coastal goldenbush. There were a ton of desert cottontails running in and out of the brush. We also saw a coopers hawk perched on top of the restrooms, perhaps waiting to catch one of the cottontails off guard.
The trails were absolutely pristine during our walk this morning. I didn’t see any trash at all, which is awesome!
Species account:
Coastal Goldenbush
Clustered Tarweed
Tumor Stem Gall Midge
Telegraph Weed
California Buckwheat
Saltbush
Curled Dock
Desert Cottontail
Cooper’s Hawk