Will Rogers State Beach is a

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

park on the

Santa Monica Bay Santa Monica Bay is a bight of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, United States. Its boundaries are slightly ambiguous, but it is generally considered to be the part of the Pacific within an imaginary line drawn between Point Dume, in ...

, at the

Pacific 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 ...

coast of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. Located in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, the beach is owned by the

California Department of Parks and Recreation The California Department of Parks and Recreation, more commonly known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 279 separate park units on 1.4 million acres (570,000 hectares), with over 280 ...

; however, it is managed and maintained by the

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

Department of Beaches and Harbors The Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors is responsible for 20 beaches and the Marina Del Rey small-craft harbor in Los Angeles County, California. Marina The department also manages the Marina Del Rey small-craft harbor, which h ...

. A section just south of the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Entrada Drive () is popular within the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

community and is therefore considered Los Angeles' unofficial gay beach; this section is often referred to as Ginger Rogers Beach.

Overview

The beach extends one and three quarters miles along the coast. It has many facilities, including volleyball courts, gymnastic equipment, restrooms, a playground, and a bike path. The bike path is part of the South Bay Bicycle Trail and extends along the shore to

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...

. The beach is also a popular surf spot. Many films and television shows have been filmed at the beach, including ''

Creature from the Black Lagoon ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster horror film produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross and a story by Maurice Zimm. It stars ...

'', '' The Kiss'', ''

La Belle dame sans merci "La Belle Dame sans Merci" ("The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy") is a ballad produced by the England, English poet John Keats in 1819. The title was derived from the title of a 15th-century poem by Alain Chartier called ''La Belle Dame sans ...

'', '' Summer Children'', '' Holidays with Heather'', and '' Hangman''. Also, the television show ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, ...

'' was shot at the beach before it moved to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. In the sea near Will Rogers State Beach at Sunset Blvd., there is the grounding electrode of the

Pacific DC Intertie The Pacific DC Intertie (also called Path 65) is an electric power transmission line that transmits electricity from the Pacific Northwest to the Los Angeles area using HVDC, high voltage direct current (HVDC). The line capacity is 3.1 gigawatt ...

History

The beach is named after actor, commentator and humorist

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

, and partly originated with his property. In the 1920s, Rogers bought the land and developed a ranch along the coast and upland past today's Sunset Boulevard. He owned in all, in what is now Pacific Palisades, beginning with about 1300 feet along the beach. Rogers died in a plane crash in 1935. Before his widow Betty's death in 1944, she developed a plan to gift their oceanfront to the state as the core of the original Will Rogers State Beach, which then ran 6300 feet of coastline in total. The beach was dedicated on July 26, 1942, with California Governor

Culbert Olson Culbert Levy Olson (November 7, 1876 – April 13, 1962) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democratic Party member, Olson was involved in Utah and California politics and was elected as the 29th governor of California from 1939 to 1943. ...

and Los Angeles Mayor

Fletcher Bowron Fletcher Bowron (August 13, 1887 – September 11, 1968) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was the 35th mayor of Los Angeles, California, from September 26, 1938, until June 30, 1953. He was at the time the city's longest-serving ...

on hand. The state beach should not be confused with the nearby

Will Rogers State Historic Park Will Rogers State Historic Park is the former estate of American humorist Will Rogers. It lies in the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles, in the Pacific Palisades area. Geography In what is now the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisade ...

north of Sunset Boulevard, formed from a similar gift by

Betty Rogers Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Bea ...

of 186 acres of the original contiguous Rogers ranch deeded on June 8, 1944, two weeks before her death. * The Will Rogers State Beach lifeguard headquarters is the site of the former Port of Los Angeles Long Wharf, a

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

, site number 881.CA.GOV SITE OF PORT LOS ANGELES LONG WHARF, Historical Landmark
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Gallery

File:Will Rogers Beach SW01.jpg, Beach - up coast view File:Will Rogers Beach SW02.jpg, Lifeguard station File:Will Rogers Beach SW03.jpg, Beach - down coast view

References

External links

Official website

Weather conditions
at WatchtheWater.org
Los Angeles County Beaches and Harbors – Will Rogers State Beach
{{Protected Areas of California, SP Beaches of Southern California California State Beaches Parks in Los Angeles Parks in Los Angeles County, California Beaches of Los Angeles County, California Santa Monica, California Tourist attractions in Santa Monica, California

Overview

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links