Santa Monica State Beach

Santa Monica State Beach
Location Los Angeles County, California
Nearest city Santa Monica
Coordinates 34°0′54″N 118°30′6″W / 34.01500°N 118.50167°W / 34.01500; -118.50167Coordinates: 34°0′54″N 118°30′6″W / 34.01500°N 118.50167°W / 34.01500; -118.50167
Governing body California Department of Parks and Recreation

Santa Monica State Beach is a California State Park operated by the city of Santa Monica.[1][2]

Santa Monica Beach

The beach is located along Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica. It is 3.5 miles long and has parks, picnic areas, playgrounds, restrooms, as well as manned lifeguard stations, the original Muscle Beach, bike rentals, concessions, a few hotels, a bike path, and wooden pathways for warm days and beachgoers with disabilities.[3] Visitor activities include volleyball, surfing, stand up paddleboarding, and swimming.[1] Smoking at the beach is prohibited.[4]

Sunset at Santa Monica Beach
Palms on the beach

At the foot of Colorado Avenue, through the famous arch and sign, lies the historic Santa Monica Pier, which dates from 1909. The pier has a National Historic Landmark -– the 1922 Looff Hippodrome Carousel.[3]

A few steps south of the Pier volleyball courts is the International Chess Park. The public chess tables—and a human-scale chessboard set into the sidewalk—draw a wide assortment of players.[3]

Palisades Park is located atop Santa Monica’s famed sandstone cliffs, providing a vantage point to see the sweep of Santa Monica Beach and the Pacific Ocean.[5]

The beach is the one Baywatch was filmed at and also the beach the album art for Umbrella Beach by Owl City features.

"Ink Well"

A section of the beach was referred to as "Ink Well" and "Negro Beach" in the early 20th century when it was one of the few areas in California where African Americans were allowed to enjoy beach access in a largely segregated society. Other areas for blacks were Bruce's Beach in Manhattan Beach and the Pacific Beach Club in Orange County. Nick Gabaldon, one of the first black surfers in California, lived in Santa Monica, and used the 200 foot roped off stretch of beach demarcated for blacks. He died after crashing into the Malibu Pier.

Arlington West

Arlington West

Arlington West is a temporary memorial created on Santa Monica Beach just north of the Santa Monica Pier at Santa Monica, every Sunday from sunrise to sunset. Crosses are placed on the beach for each U.S. military person who has died in the Iraq War. The number of crosses erected every Sunday now exceeds 4,000. For military personnel killed within the week past, flag draped coffins with blue crosses are positioned in front. The Arlington West Memorial, a project of Veterans For Peace, is intended to offer visitors a graceful, visually and emotionally powerful, place for reflection.[6]

See also

Santa Monica Pier — Pier located on Santa Monica Beach

Gallery of Santa Monica Beach images

Notes

External links and sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Santa Monica State Beach.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 07, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.