Top of the World, Laguna Beach

Most visitors to Laguna Beach never make it more than a block from the coast, which means the city’s highest point — a hilltop overlook at roughly 1,000 feet elevation in the Alta Laguna neighborhood — remains essentially a local secret. On a clear winter day after a rain event scours the basin clean, you can see Catalina Island to the west, the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains to the north, Palos Verdes to the northwest, and miles of coastline stretching south toward San Diego. For a freeway-adjacent city, it is a disorienting amount of sky.

Getting there requires navigating residential streets into the hills above downtown Laguna. The overlook is at the end of Alta Laguna Boulevard, and there is a small park with a bench and unobstructed western exposure. Parking is on the street; on weekday mornings you can typically find a spot within a short walk. Weekend afternoons in summer draw more people, but it rarely reaches anything approaching crowded.

The Alta Laguna Park at the top also connects to the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park trail network, which extends north and east through the coastal hills for several miles. A short walk along the ridge toward the water tank on the hillside gives you a slightly different vantage point looking back over the city and coves below. Sunset from this location in winter, when the offshore kelp beds catch the low light and the coast goes golden, is as good as anything you’ll find in Orange County.

No facilities here — this is a neighborhood park with a view. Bring binoculars for the islands and distant peaks. The climb from downtown is steep by car; by foot from Main Beach it’s a serious uphill walk of 45 minutes or more, which is why most people drive up and save the legs for the short stroll along the ridge.