Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Hike

Name: Laguna Coast Wilderness Park
Address: 18751 Laguna Canyon Rd, Laguna Beach, CA, 92651, USA

In This Guide	Hike Directions & Video Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Hike Trail Maps What You Need to Know to Do the Hike
Distance	7.5 miles (12.1 km)
Hike Time	3 Hours (Total)
Difficulty (?)	Hard
Total Ascent (?)	1,120 feet (341m)
Highest Elevation	840 feet (256m)
Fees & Permits	Parking Fee
Dog Friendly	No
Park Website	Laguna Coast Wilderness Park
Park Phone	949-923-2235
Stay In Touch	Newsletter - Instagram - YouTube - Facebook

A Laguna Coast Wilderness Park hike transports you into how coastal California had existed thousands of years ago. You’ll hike through some of the last untouched coastal canyons in California, enjoying pristine coastal sage scrub, ridges with panoramic views, and abundant wildlife, including over 40 endangered species. This hike through Laguna Coast Wilderness Park takes you over the best trails, and you’ll get a taste of all the types of scenery that the park has to offer.

Laguna Canyon Wilderness Liveforever — Keep your eyes open for the Laguna Liveforever, an endangered and rare succulent that you can only find in this area. Laguna Coast Wilderness Park has lots of them. Photo USFWS

All 7000 acres and 40 miles of trails at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park are part of the Natural Community Conservation Planning program. The state program works with county and local governments to protect land with fragile ecosystems and endangered species. You can learn more about all abundant plants and animals when you start he hike at the Nix Nature Center, which has volunteers and interpretive displays, and lists of recent wildlife sightings.

Where is Laguna Coast Wilderness Park?

Use this trailhead address: 18751 Laguna Canyon Rd, Laguna Beach, CA, 92651, USA.

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park is open from 8am to 5pm. The parking lot usually fills up by 9am on weekends, and they will close the lot if it’s full. Pay for parking at the machine and leave the ticket on your dashboard.

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Hike parking — Pay for Laguna Coast Wilderness Park parking at the pay station with cash, credit card, or OC Parks pass, and put the receipt on your windshield.

The Nix Nature Center, located at the end of the parking lot, has free trail maps, bathrooms, and a place to fill up on water. Stop by, sign the registry (mandatory), and take a look at the wildlife spotting board. Even if there’s no endangered species around when you visit, there will probably be plenty of hawks, mule deer, weasels, and falcons.

Gear for the Hike

While you can get away with fitness clothes, I do recommend wearing hiking gear. It’s a long-ish hike and it can get very hot during the day. Bring plenty of water.

Here’s the gear that I personally use, have tested, and recommend for this hike.See All of My Best Gear Picks Here

Osprey Talon 33

My best lightweight pack for hikes between 3-10+ hours. I use mine with the 3L water bladder from Osprey.

Women’s Reviews

Men’s Reviews

Garmin InReach Mini

You can text, SOS, and get weather in the backcountry where your cell phone doesn’t work. Literally a life-saver.

Lowest Prices

My In-Depth Review

La Sportiva Spire GTX

Modern materials mean you get the protection of a traditional hiking boot (waterproof, etc.) with feel of a sneaker.

Women’s Reviews

Men’s Reviews

Garmin Fenix Map Watch

This thing does everything: maps, GPX tracks, compass, barometer, altitude, heart rate, blood oxygen, fitness tracking, sleep tracking, and the list goes on. I keep a GPX route on the watch so I can quickly glance down and make sure I’m in the right place.

Fenix Prices & Reviews

My In-Depth Review

Flash Carbon Trekking Poles

If you’re not using poles yet, you should be. This model takes a beating, is light, and is super comfortable.

See The Reviews

2-Layer Sock System

I use a light inner toe sock and then a top-quality outer sock to prevent blisters.

Injinji Sock Liners

Darn Tough Socks

No company pays me to promote or push a product, all the gear you see here is gear I use and recommend. If you click an link and buy gear, I get a small commission that helps offset website expenses. There is no cost to you.

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Trail Maps

There other hiking trails in Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. If you want a shorter (or longer) hike, the rangers in Nix Nature Center can help you out. They’re great at putting hikes together to suit your parameters. And the trails on the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park hike are shared with mountain bikers and horses. Give them a wide berth and let them pass.

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Hike Map Downloads

Download the Hike GPX File

View a Printable PDF Hike Map

How Will You Navigate the Hike?

I recommend using a combination of paper maps, GPS, and a guide to navigate the hike. If you are tempted to just use a smartphone, please don’t. You’ll often loose cell phone reception on the trail. At the very least, print out a paper map and this guide. Better yet, check out the navigation section on my gear picks page to see the latest and greatest that I’m using. There’s even a special discount on GaiaGPS premium for HikingGuy users.

See The Nav Gear I Use

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Hike 3d map — The hike does a loop around Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, hitting the best viewpoints and picturesque laurel canyon.

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Hike elevation — The two big hills are at the beginning and end. After that, it’s a lot of small up and down.

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park Hike Directions

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