Crystal Cove (Moro Ridge Loop)
Crystal Cove State Park (Orange County) · near Laguna Beach / Newport Beach · Los Angeles / SoCal
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 6.5 miles
- Elevation gain
- 1,000 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Year-round (spring green, winter whales)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit; state park parking fee. Rare undeveloped Orange County coast — bluffs, backcountry canyons, and tide pools in one park.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Undeveloped OC coastline · Backcountry canyons & ocean ridges · Historic beach cottages · Tide pools & whale watching
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Combine the backcountry ridge loop with a walk through the historic cottage district and the tide pools at the shore for the full Crystal Cove experience — check a tide table for the pools. The inland trails are exposed with little shade; the coastal cottages have a café for after. Spring is greenest; winter brings whales offshore.
The guide
Crystal Cove preserves one of the last undeveloped stretches of Orange County coastline — three miles of bluffs and tide pools …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Crystal Cove (Moro Ridge Loop) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.568, -117.823