Crystal Cove State Beach Looking South from Treasure Cove, 9/1/08 See more information about Crystal Cove State Park on the California State Parks website at: http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=644

Located in Orange County, City of Laguna Beach.  This park has 3.5 miles of beaches, bluffs, rocky reefs, tidepools, coves, undeveloped coastal land with trails leading across ridges and through canyons with beautiful ocean views.   Recreational activities include mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding, swimming, surfing and scuba diving.  The waters offshore are designated as an underwater park.  There is also a historical district with cottages built in the 1920's and 1930's which can be rented for overnight stays. There is one restaurant. The park includes a remote hike in only campground. Click any picture on this page for a larger view.

The pictures below were taken on 9/1/08 in the Treasure Cove section on the North end of the park near the Pelican Point entrance.  A number of parking lots in this area with roads winding through coastal scrub.  Here we spotted a coyote resting on the side of the road but it disappeared into the brush before we could get a picture.  Beware, this area is also home to the Red Diamondback Rattlesnake.

Trail view toward Pelican Hill Golf Course. The rust colored plants are California Buckwheat.	The trail turns along the bluffs, great ocean views.	Another bluff view, the birds in the middle of pic are pelicans.
	At the end of the trail we turned right heading North on the beach.
Approaching the end of Tresure Cove.
	A boy noticed us taking pics and caught this crab for us to photograph.	Map of Crystal Cove State Park, click to enlarge.

The map in the last picture above shows a large area labeled backcountry.  This is also referred to as El Morro Canyon.  Many canyon and ridge top trails with good ocean views, used for horseback riding (bring your own horse), mountain biking and hiking.  A remote hike in only campground is located in this section of the park.  El Morro Canyon trails kind of connect with Laguna Coast Wilderness Park trails.  A printable trail map of the backcountry area or El Morro Canyon can be found on the Crystal Cove Interpretive Association website at this link:  http://www.crystalcovestatepark.com/hiking.html See the El Morro Canyon page for pictures and more information on the backcountry.  Also see the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, Willow Canyon/Laurel Canyon page and Crystal Cove State Park, Reef Point page. To reserve beach cottages at the historic district on the Reserve America website: http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/Crystal_Cove_Beach_Cottages/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=CA&parkId=120742&pstate=CA This website has info about the historic beach cottages (history): http://www.crystalcovebeachcottages.org/ Reserve America reservation page for the primative hike in only campgrounds at Deer Creek and Upper & Lower Morro canyons: http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/Crystal_Cove_Sp/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=CA&parkId=120022&pstate=CA Crystal Cove Interpretive Association Website Everything about the park including special events, camping, all recreational activities and nice photos! http://www.crystalcovestatepark.com/ California State Parks website, Crystal Cove State Park page: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=644

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