As the day comes to a close in Los Angeles, one’s mind often drifts toward finding a good beach sunset spot, then maybe a nice view of the city before heading to dinner.
You can satisfy both desires on the beaches in Malibu, and by stopping at one of the overlooks on winding Mulholland Drive, but fair warning; getting in and out of the parking for the most famous Mulholland view is mildly terrifying.
First, the Malibu sunset . . .
Hard to beat a Malibu sunset. This is between Amarillo Beach and Puerco Beach.
There are plenty of beaches to admire as you turn onto the Pacific Coast Highway/State Route 1 at Santa Monica and drive north.
Santa Monica State Beach, Ginger Rogers Beach, Will Rogers State Beach, the famed Baywatch HQ, and Sunset Beach are all one after the other to your left heading north, but on days with heavy traffic (which is most days) you’ll find it rather tricky to make that necessary left-hand turn to get into a parking lot.
You can always go up to a light, turn right, turn around, then turn back left to get going south and get the beaches onto your right side for easier access, but that takes some time and patience.
Keep driving north to Malibu.
The beaches are not as accessible – frankly, that’s how the wealthy residents prefer it – but you can still have your Zen California moment.
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What you need to do is find a (legit) roadside place to park, then walk down to a Public Access point to get to the beach.
We found many Public Access points on Google Maps after zooming WAY in. Here is the Public Access point with some stairs that we used, on the California Coastal Commission website where you can find this information for the whole state.
The entry points have signage, but they’re easier to see as a pedestrian than when you are driving.
There are other red warning signs as you enter that say, “Private property above mean high tide line on beach” which basically means that if you stay away from the beachside homes, avoid being an annoying snoop, and keep to the “wet sand” parts of the beach closer to the water, you’re fine.
The 1976 California Coastal Act says that the state’s entire coastline is public, so follow the rules and don’t be intimidated.
Here’s 20 seconds of a Malibu sunset:
Heading back into Los Angeles from Malibu, we took one look at Google Map’s red lines from backed-up traffic, and decided to drive back into the city via the mountains, rather than doubling back through Santa Monica. This means twisty roads in the dark, so be forewarned.
One of the most famous nighttime LA views is from the Griffith Observatory, but we didn’t have time for that before meeting friends for dinner. I said to my daughter, “Isn’t there some famous view of downtown Los Angeles on Mulholland Drive?”
As she dodged traffic and probably silently cursed my name, I Googled around on my phone, and YES, we could get to it before dinner.
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And we did, but understand that Mulholland Drive itself is a scenic parkway with multiple overlooks.
From the MRCA (Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority) website:
“Constructed in 1924, twenty four-mile Mulholland Drive in the City of Los Angeles was envisioned by the famous Water Bureau Chief and City Engineer, William D. Mulholland, as a scenic road that would transport city dwellers to the mountains and beaches.
The winding route starts west of the 101 Freeway in Hollywood, and offers panoramic city, mountain and ocean views. Eight miles of the Scenic Parkway from the 405 freeway west to Woodland Hills remain unpaved, and are subject to closure. Mulholland Highway starts in the City of Calabasas and twists through the Santa Monica Mountains for thirty miles to Leo Carrillo State Beach. The MRCA maintains seven scenic overlooks on Mulholland Scenic Parkway.”
The stop labeled “Mulholland Drive Scenic Overlook” on most maps is located on a curve, and there isn’t a whole lot of parking. While you’re driving fairly slowly to find it and pull in, prepare to possibly annoy the Angelenos piling up behind you.
Still, the expansive view is as advertised:
My phone’s camera did its best to capture the city lights. Malibu and Mulholland Drive combine for a nice ending to a day in the City of Angels.
The really scary part is when it’s time to leave.
You have to back out of the small parking lot directly onto Mulholland Drive, onto a curve, with traffic in both directions and a big blind spot on one part of the curve. At night, you can at least tell when cars are approaching from behind the curve, because you can see their headlights on the metal road barrier. We waited for quite awhile before it was open in both directions.
I cannot imagine how you get out of there safely during the day, when you’d have no indication of when cars are coming up around the curve.
It was one of those moments when I thought, “Well, I’m glad I saw it, but don’t think I’ll ever try to see it again.” Kudos to my daughter the brave driver.
Do you have tips for Malibu and Mulholland Drive? What did we miss? Let me know in the comments.
All photos and video by the author.
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