Exploring Cabrillo National Monument - San Diego, California | Point Loma Coastal Trail & Tide Pools

My better-half Ash and I were fortunate to have taken a wonderful 5th anniversary trip to California a few weeks back, and (of course!) get some hiking in out west! After 3 days of exploring some of the more common tourist attractions in San Diego, I poked around AllTrails and found this beautiful, mellow hike around the Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma in San Diego.

The Cabrillo National Monument marks the first place a European stepped foot on what is now the West Coast of the United States, where in 1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo made it to Point Loma.

The Coastal Trail runs between two different parking areas on the western side of Point Loma and is about 1 mile round trip. We more or less followed a road from the visitor's center to get down there but it appears that a trail should be opening soon (Spring 2024) connecting from around where the Kelp Forest/Whale Overlook is to the tide pools. The scenery was quite a bit different than anything we've seen living in the Northeast, with cactus, palms, and beautiful wildflowers dotting the shoreline cliffs along with pelicans swooping overhead.

The visitor center, lighthouse, monument, and park were beautiful and you could easily spend a morning and afternoon exploring and diving into the exhibits. While we didn't get the San Diego sunshine, it was still very scenic and peaceful and I highly recommend checking it out if you are in the area!

It was great to finally get out for our 1st hike in California and this was a nice easy stroll to get our legs warmed up for a lot more hiking in Joshua Tree National Park (and San Jacinto) later that week!

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Chapters:

00:00 The Coastal Trail & Point Loma Tide Pools - Cabrillo National Monument
06:06 Making our way back up to the Visitor's Center via Cabrillo Road
08:57 Event Bluff Overlook
09:44 Kelp Forest & Whale Overlook
10:45 Lighthouse, Cabrillo National Monument, & Visitor's Center