Top of the World (Laguna Coast)
Laguna Beach, Orange County · near Laguna Beach · Los Angeles / SoCal
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- strenuous
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 2.4 miles
- Elevation gain
- 890 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Year-round · Cooler months best (no shade)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No trail permit; metered/street parking is the constraint and some Laguna Coast Wilderness Park lots charge ~$3. Adjacent Laguna Coast Wilderness interior trails prohibit dogs.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Ocean-to-mountain panorama (Catalina to Mt Baldy) · Coastal ridge sunset spot · Connects to Aliso & Wood Canyons · Summit bench
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Trailhead parking is nearly impossible — park in metered spots on Laguna Canyon Rd and walk in, or drive to Alta Laguna Park up top if you want the view without the climb.
The guide
A short, brutally direct climb rewarded with one of Southern California's great panoramas — Catalina and the Pacific on one sid…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Top of the World (Laguna Coast) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.5427, -117.7686