Thousand Steps Beach
Your Guide to 1,000 Steps Beach
Thousand Steps Beach or 1,000 Steps Beach is one of those beaches you’ll brag about visiting, mainly because it’s a feat to accomplish. Kind of like hiking Angel’s landing in Zion, I feel like I need a t-shirt saying “I just survived the stairs at 1,000 Steps Beach”. Ok, so maybe I’m exaggerating a bit but it is quite a workout (and I did buy the t-shirt). There are 218 steps (219 if you count the last sandy step), or according to my step tracker 13 flights, to get down to the beach. It’s popular for fitness buffs and enjoyable for those that want a quieter beach.
Thousand Steps Beach is a stunning beach is you’re willing to put in the effort. It is surrounded by cliffs on all sides. It’s popular with body surfers, skim boarders, and your average beach goer. The south end features a sea cave for the adventurer in all of us. Watch for the tides if you are exploring sea cave. Low tide is the best time for exploring the sea cave as well as gaining access to the secret beach to the north, Totuava Beach.
Like most beaches in South Laguna, it is tucked away with an easy to miss entrance sign. For locals, it’s well known so we recognize the gated entrance to the stairs like a beacon. If you’re visiting, look for the beach signs and staircase entrance at the 9th Avenue light on Pacific Coast Highway just south of the hospital.
Thousand Steps Beach Information
Address: 31972 Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Entrance to the beach is at the light on the corner of 9th Avenue and Coast Highway. You’ll see the beach sign and gate to the staircase right at the crosswalk.
Parking: Parking for Thousand Steps Beach, along with most the rest of South Laguna Beaches, is limited to street parking on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). Look for spots around the entrance. The neighborhood is small and not a lot of spots on PCH so go early on a nice day.
Alternatively, the Laguna Beach trolley runs year round. The Mission Hospital stop is just a block away.
Hours: 6 AM to 9 PM
Accessibility: Public entrance is 13 flights of stairs down to the beach from PCH. Private access from surrounding homes with their own privately maintained staircases.
Amenities: Restroom, Lifeguard station (towers staffed during summer)
- More Information: https://www.ocparks.com/page/south-laguna-beaches
1,000 Steps Beach Souvenirs from OC Beach Apparel
1,000 Steps Beach Tank Top. Perfect for that stair climbing workout
1,000 Steps Beach Hoodie. The nights get cold, grab a sweatshirt.
Laguna Beach Water Bottle. To quench your thirst after hiking those stairs.
History of 1,000 Steps Beach
Once known as 10th Street Beach, now the public entrance is from 9th Street. The lavish houses that n0w surround it were not always there. Pictures from the 1920s show a pristine sandy beach. Not sure how people traversed down, but what a beautiful beach that must have been.
Why is it called 1,000 Steps Beach?
We have scoured to fin the reasoning of this but have yet to find any credible siting. Feet not steps but the most probable naming. Many people believe the reason is from the staircase, but those steps are a little over 200 steps. While it may feel like 1,000 steps on the way up, it’s not likely the reason behind the name. Here’s our theory and best guess. The Beach is a little under 400 yards long or a little over 1,000 feet.
What we love about Thousand Steps Beach
This is one of our favorite beaches for a variety of reasons.
- It takes effort. There’s something about gaining more pleasure out of something when you have to work for it. It’s why hiking is fun. Sure you can drive to a lot of vistas, but hiking to the top knowing you earned makes it so much better. “I came, I sunned, I conquered“
- It satisfies the explorer in us. Tell me you don’t feel a bit like a pirate exploring a sea cave?
- It’s less crowded. Well, in summer all bets are off and parking is hard, but in general, there’s usually less people here. Trying visiting in the morning during non-summer. You will have the beach to yourself for the most beautiful sunrise.
- It has a secret beach. There’s another beach to the north that is only accessible from Thousand Steps during low tide (if you don’t live in one of the cliff side dwellings). But be careful of the tides for both exploring Totuava Beach and the Thousand Steps Sea Cave.
- It has things that make us curious. Like with the steep of a hike up and down, how did those houses on the beach get built? And how long did it take? These are things we contemplate while we’re stalling to make the hike back to the car.
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