Lighthouse Field State Beach
- Good for Kids: Yes
9 Reviews for Lighthouse Field State Beach
By far and away my favorite dog park to take Bella to! Want to go to the beach, or to the dog park? Hey, why not both?! As much as Bella isn't a water dog, she loves the sand, so letting her run around while sitting on a blanket is a fabulous way to kill an afternoon.
The parking is free as long as you can find a spot, and I don't have to tell you that it's beautiful, just look at the pictures. It does get chilly though, so be sure to bring a sweater, even in summer. I just wish you could have your dogs off leash after 10am and before 4pm as well.
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Came here today to take a few pics, it was a pretty nice area overall. There were a lot of people with their dogs, so it seems like a great place to go with your dog! The beach looked pretty clean overall, but there were many gnats or small flies all around the stretch of the beach.
The Mark Abbot Memorial (little house with a lighthouse thingy) was seemingly random, but a nice subject for pictures. There were many cliffs with pretty colorful purple and yellow flowers all around. There were many other photographers who was taking pictures of the sunset on the cliffs, and it was a nice view (be careful if you go onto the cliffs though no rails!)
Definitely come here around sunset, the sun was bright and big when it set. Another plus was that there was a rock with seals sunbathing on it and just off in the distance there was a rock with a bunch of birds resting on it. We also saw what appeared to be whales popping up from the water every so often. (I hear you can kayak out and look at the whales up close)
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Every town has its favored promenade, where pedestrians just naturally gravitate to see and be seen, and enjoy the sunshine, while the cars cruise by in a futile search for parking. In Santa Cruz, that place is clearly the stretch of West Cliff Dr between the wharf and Lighthouse Field, and rightly so; the wharf and boardwalk don't offer as park-like a setting or as sweeping a view. Once you get to the field proper, there's an impossibly adorable little brick lighthouse, whose single room holds a mini surfing museum, complete with "Endless Summer" playing on a TV. Most people inevitably get drawn to the edge of the cliff where they can watch the real surfers trying to catch waves. It's oddly addictive; you're always thinking "just one more wave, just one more wave".
Maybe the tide was in, but there didn't seem to be much of an actual beach, and of course you can only access it from a few various stairways. But, whether or not you hit the sand, Lighthouse Field is not to be missed.
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I can't speak to the dog beach much, but the area around the lighthouse is an obvious stop on the West Cliff circuit. It's got a big parking lot and lots of railing space to watch the surfers and waves. And right behind it is a beautiful grove of cyprus trees.
One summer that I lived in Santa Cruz, one night a week there was a gathering there before the sunset, where a group of people would come and play drums while others would perform various poi/fire dancing arts. If that sounds like boring hippy shit to you, then you just don't know.
My boyfriend and I lovingly call this beach Dog Beach. As students we'd go down after 4pm to watch all the dogs and miss our dogs that were back home.
I've spent many great afternoons since with my boyfriend and whenever I think of this place I am overcome with joy.
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Woohoo dog beach!
Every time I walk along W. Cliff and past this beach, I want a dog. Thanks a lot you guys! Some day I'll come with my own dog and then we'll see. For now I'll just have to enjoy watching other people and their dogs have a blast.
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My favorite memory was on a warm Sunday afternoon last summer.
My two baby nephews and I were on a walk on West Cliff. We came upon a bridal party of 20 on bikes with the bride and groom on a tandem with cans tied on to the back.
Everyone parked their bikes at the lighthouse, and walked down the aisle to a bongo dummer.
I stopped to watch.
At the end, the whole gang got onto bikes (grandmas, aunts, fat / skinny, kids, teenagers, everyone) and rode down west cliff whooping.
A lone catering truck cleared the chairs form the lawn, and in 20 minutes you would have never known that a little piece of magic had just ocurred.
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Me and Amos loves us some lighthouse field. Up until 10:00am and after 4:00pm you can let your dog run free. I swear dogs do smile. Famous Amos has a smile on his face right now just thinking about it. The people are really cool and great with their dogs. I've seen over 25 dogs on the beach without a single incident. The dogs are so happy. They are trying to take this away from us. So sad. There are bathrooms for us and a water fountain for the dog. They even provide plasic bags. (although they run out sometimes) Just clean up after your dog and we will all be happy.
***update***Lighthouse field no longer allows dogs off leash
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Gets my vote for most scenic dog park, hands down. The walk along West Cliff (on-leash) is gorgeous. Its Beach is down the stairs at the bottom of the cliff and is fenced in by cliffs, so the dogs can run around freely. So much fun just to watch the dogs excited to jump into the ocean. The park also seems to draw a good crowd of people and dogs, much more laid back than other dogs parks I've visited. (It seems silly to have to comment that a park is laid back, but dog park frequenters may recognize the odd passive aggressive types at some dog parks - ugh.) Well worth the drive over the mountains.
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