![Torrey Pines State Beach Daytime](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Torrey_Pines_State_Beach_Daytime.jpg)
Torrey Pines State Beach is a public beach located in the
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
community of
Torrey Pines, south of
Del Mar
Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "from the sea". It may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Del Mar, California
* Del Mar High School, located in San Jose, California
* Del Mar racetrack, located in Del Mar, California
* Del Mar Fai ...
and north of
La Jolla
La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781.
La Jolla is surrounded on ...
.
Coastal erosion
Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...
from the adjacent
Torrey Pines State Reserve
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is of coastal state park located in the community of La Jolla, in San Diego, California, off North Torrey Pines Road. Although it is located within San Diego city limits, it remains one of the wildest stretches ...
makes for a picturesque landscape. It is a local favorite among surfers and remains a quintessential Southern California beach. Occurrences of
bioluminescence
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...
in the waters near the beach have been noted.
The beach is at the base of a series of 300-foot sandstone cliffs of white and golden stone, with a greenish layer sometimes visible at the very bottom. At the north end of the beach the cliffs end and
Los Peñasquitos Lagoon
Los Peñasquitos Marsh Natural Preserve and Lagoon is a coastal marsh in San Diego County, California, United States situated at the northern edge of the City of San Diego, forming the natural border with Del Mar, California.Torrey Pines State Pr ...
, a
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
, empties into the ocean.
A county highway crosses the entrance, with limited free parking along the beach.
Ecology
![TorreyPinesBeach](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/TorreyPinesBeach.JPG)
The beach area supports a number of avifaunal (bird) species in addition to the marine biota.
Soledad Valley Soledad Valley is a coastal valley in San Diego County, California at the northern end of the city of San Diego. Mention of the valley was made as early as 1850 in association with the occurrence of ''Pinus torreyana'' at the mouth of the lagoon. Th ...
, which includes the notable coastal marsh, Los Peñasquitos Lagoon, is cut by a coastal stream which discharges into the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
at Torrey Pines State Beach. The
endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
nominal subspecies of
Torrey Pine, ''Pinus torreyana torreyana'', is found only on the small coastal strips north and south of Torrey Pines State Beach.
Surf
Waves ranging from the low 3-footers to the high 6-8 footers can be found on the north side of Torrey Pines State Beach. The Northern side of the beach has a Surfer/Surfing side while the Southern side hosts swimming, body boarding, etc. There is a red/yellow flag on the north part of the beach showing the boundary between the surfing side and body boarding side. A good rule of thumb is to occasionally check where the flag is as it moves from time to time during the day.
The beach is usually not very crowded in the early hours of the day, when primarily surfers and body boarders are present. During that time, the boundary of the surfing and body boarding areas is not as strictly enforced, as long as common courtesy is being used on both sides. The most popular part of the beach is the swimming area.
See also
*
List of beaches in San Diego County
This is a list of beaches in San Diego County, located in Southern California in the United States. The beaches are listed in order from north to south, and they are grouped (where applicable) by the community in which the beach is situated.
S ...
*
List of California state parks
This is a list of parks, historic resources, reserves and recreation areas in the California State Parks system.
List of parks
See also
*California State Beaches
*List of California State Historic Parks
* Parks in California
* California Depa ...
**
List of California State Beaches
This list of California beaches is a list of beaches that are situated along the coastline of the State of California, USA.
North to South
The beaches are listed in order from north to south, and are grouped by county. The list includes all of ...
References
External links
Official Torrey Pines State Beach websiteTorrey Pines State Reserve website
{{Protected areas of California, SP
Beaches of Southern California
California State Beaches
Parks in San Diego County, California
Surfing locations in California
Geography of San Diego
Places with bioluminescence
Beaches of San Diego County, California