Monarch Beach Dana Point California photo D Ramey Logan

Monarch Beach is a small neighborhood in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

located within the city of Dana Point. It is primarily a residential community. Two luxury resorts, Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club and the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, are located within the area. Monarch Beach is close to the city boundary between Dana Point and Laguna Niguel.

History

Monarch Beach is named after its most prominent geological feature, Monarch Bay, aptly named as its rolling hills of sagebrush and manzanita were once a breeding ground for the

monarch butterfly The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (''Danaus plexippus'') is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It ...

. The butterflies were once seen there in large masses, but have disappeared from the area because their habitat has been replaced, almost entirely, by the large houses that can be found in the Monarch Beach neighborhood. Monarch Beach became a subdivision of the incorporated city of Dana Point on January 1, 1989.

Culture

Monarch Beach has access to Salt Creek Beach and a picnic area. The neighborhood includes the Monarch Beach Resort & Links Course – an 18-hole golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. It is also the home to the

Dana Point Concours d'Elegance The Dana Point Concours d'Elegance is an automotive charitable event held each year on the Monarch Beach Golf Links at the Monarch Beach Resort Resort in Dana Point, California. It is operated primarily as a Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) Conco ...

automotive charitable event held each year on the Monarch Beach Golf Links.

Notable people

Marcus Allen Marcus LeMarr Allen (born March 26, 1960) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Raiders. Considered one of the greatest goal line and short-y ...

* Fred Roggin *

Nicole Brown Simpson Nicole Brown Simpson (née Brown; May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the ex-wife of the former professional American football player, O. J. Simpson, to whom she was married from 1985 to 1992. She was the mother of their two children, Sydney an ...

O.J. Simpson Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed "Juice", is an American former football running back, actor, and broadcaster who played for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Once a popular figu ...

References

{{Refimprove, date=March 2014 Dana Point, California Neighborhoods in Orange County, California Gated communities in California