Beach walking - Where for longest stretch? (Corona, Carlsbad: restaurant, parking)

[John-313]

For a nice long stretch of beach to walk, where is the best place to start?

I'd like convenient, free parking. Then I'd like to walk as far in one direction before reaching an area where we're not allowed or where it is impassible before turning around ... 10 miles would be great!

If parking is better, I'd park in the middle too. So what is the longest public access stretch of beach?

[sdurbanite]

I'm gonna say the Coronado/Silver Strand might be the longest stretch of uninterupted beach. You can park at the north end of Coronado Beach and walk all the way down to the Mexican border.

North County beaches have more cliffs and rocky outcrops that break up the coastline. Am I right?

[John-313]

Thanks!

[Encinitan]

Originally Posted by John-313

Thanks!

Be sure to check the tides and time your walk at the lowest tide of the day if you can. That makes a big difference on how far you can go.

[Encinitan]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

I'm gonna say the Coronado/Silver Strand might be the longest stretch of uninterupted beach. You can park at the north end of Coronado Beach and walk all the way down to the Mexican border.

North County beaches have more cliffs and rocky outcrops that break up the coastline. Am I right?

I'd say on a low tide, you could easily walk on the beach from Cardiff to the Del Mar race track (probably 5 miles each way) or further if you're willing to walk over a bridge and not technically "on the sand" the whole time. Then you could conceivably walk from Carlsbad all the way to Torrey Pines. High tide is a different story though.

[jkoz]

About a year after 9/11 I tried to walk from the Del to Silver Strand but was stopped and turned around at the base. Maybe they've loosened that by now.

I do sometimes walk from Silver Strand to the T.J estuary and back (I think that's about 8-10 miles).

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

I'm gonna say the Coronado/Silver Strand might be the longest stretch of uninterupted beach. You can park at the north end of Coronado Beach and walk all the way down to the Mexican border.

I believe that stretch includes Imperial Beach, which I really like. That tends to be less crowded than a place like Mission Beach ... which I couldn't even access due to no parking available whatsoever! Driving along the Silver Strand area is a breeze ... but the problem is the public beaches along that stretch charge you for admission! I found it much more convenient to drive down to the town of Imperial Beach & park, then walk along the coast and avoid excessive crowds. There is an excellent seafood restaurant called the Tin Fish at the end of the pier. It's a well hidden gem.

[Suzer]

Park in the South Mission Beach Parking Lot (parking lot on Mission where the peninsula dead ends, beach side), and walk North, you can walk for miles, along flat beautiful beach nearly in to Bird Rock, where the beach gets rocky and encumbered by cliffs. I usually stop at Crystal Pier and return, Crystal Pier is at the end of Garnet Ave, coast side.

I am an avid beach walker and this is far and away my preferred walk of choice.

[John-313]

Originally Posted by Encinitan

Be sure to check the tides and time your walk at the lowest tide of the day if you can. That makes a big difference on how far you can go.

High tides today were around 5:something AM and late afternoon, so I went when they were pretty low. I ended up parking near Torrey Pines State Beach and went south to the end of Black's Beach (You know that round private residence on the cliffside? Just past that.) Then I went back north up past Jake's a ways and back to where I started. No idea how far that was, but it was a good long walk! Thanks for all the help everybody. I'll be taking more walks like that one, so will use some of the other ideas here on other days!

[jkoz]

Originally Posted by valley native

i believe that stretch includes imperial beach, which i really like. That tends to be less crowded than a place like mission beach ... Which i couldn't even access due to no parking available whatsoever! Driving along the silver strand area is a breeze ... But the problem is the public beaches along that stretch charge you for admission! I found it much more convenient to drive down to the town of imperial beach & park, then walk along the coast and avoid excessive crowds. There is an excellent seafood restaurant called the tin fish at the end of the pier. It's a well hidden gem.

If you're a civilian, you WILL be stopped and turned around at the SEAL base--guaranteed. The guard jumps out of his booth if you take a step in that direction (was there earlier today), so it's unfortunately no longer possible to walk from the Del to the Mexican border on the beach. IB to Strand and Strand to IB still okay.