The Palos Verdes Peninsula () is a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

subregion A subregion is a part of a larger geographical region or continent. Cardinal directions are commonly used to define subregions. There are many criteria for creating systems of subregions; this article is focusing on the United Nations geoschem ...

of the

Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, ...

, located within southwestern

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is often called simply "Palos Verdes", and is made up of a group of cities in the Palos Verdes Hills, including

Palos Verdes Estates Palos Verdes Estates is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and neighboring Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates. The city was master-planned by the noted American lan ...

Rancho Palos Verdes Rancho Palos Verdes is a coastal city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated on September 7, 1973, the city has a population of 42,287 as reported in the 2020 United States census. The city sits atop the bluffs o ...

, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, and the unincorporated community of Westfield/Academy Hill, as well as the Los Angeles City neighborhood of San Pedro. The peninsula is located in the South Bay region. It borders the city of Torrance to its north, the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

is on the west and south, and the

Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "Amer ...

is to the east. As of the 2010 census, the population of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is 65,008. The hill cities on the peninsula are known for scenic views of the Pacific Ocean and

cityscape In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Townscape'' is ...

s, distinguished schools, extensive horse trails, and high-value homes.

History

Native Americans

The peninsula was the homeland of the Tongva-Gabrieliño Native Americans people for thousands of years. In other areas of the

Los Angeles Basin The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary Structural basin, basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an wikt:anomalous, anomalous group of east–west trending chains of mountai ...

archeological sites date back 8,000 years. Their first contact with Europeans occurred in 1542 with João Cabrilho (''Juan Cabrillo''). Chowigna and Suangna were two Tongva settlements of many in the peninsula area, which was also a departure point for their ''

ranchería The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to Indigenous peoples of the Americas, native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meaning ...

s'' on the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

Spanish and Mexican era

In 1846,

José Dolores Sepúlveda José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

and José Loreto received a

Mexican land grant In Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California, ranchos were concessions and land grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an indu ...

from

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

Governor

Pío Pico Don (honorific), Don Pío de Jesús Pico IV (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was a California politician, ranchero, and entrepreneur, famous for serving as the List of governors of California before 1850, last governor of Alta California und ...

for a parcel from the huge original 1784

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

land grant of

Rancho San Pedro Rancho San Pedro was one of the first California land grants and the first to win a patent from the United States. The Spanish Crown granted the of land to soldier Juan José Domínguez in 1784, with his descendants validating their legal clai ...

Manuel Dominguez Don Manuel Domínguez e Ybáñez (1803–1882) was a Californio ranchero, politician, and a signer of the California Constitution in 1849. He served as two terms as Alcalde of Los Angeles (mayor). He was one of the largest landowners in South ...

. It was named

Rancho de los Palos Verdes ''Rancho de los Palos Verdes'' was a Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to José Loreto and Juan Capistrano Sepulveda. The name means "Ranch of the Green Trees". The grant encomp ...

, or "ranch of the green trees", which was used primarily as a cattle ranch. It was also briefly used as a whaling station in the mid-19th century.

American era

By 1882, ownership of the land had passed from the Sepulveda family through various mortgage holders to

Jotham Bixby The Bixby family is an American family that was heavily involved in the development of California ranches and real estate in the 19th and 20th centuries. Through various companies, they controlled at one time or another large swathes of California ...

Rancho Los Cerritos Rancho Los Cerritos was a 1834 land grant in present-day southern Los Angeles County and Orange County, California The grant was the result of a partition of the Rancho Los Nietos grant. "Cerritos" means "little hills" in Spanish. The rancho l ...

, who leased the land to Japanese farmers.

Frank Vanderlip Frank Arthur Vanderlip Sr. (November 17, 1864 – June 30, 1937) was an American banker and journalist. He was president of the National City Bank of New York (now Citibank) from 1909 to 1919, and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from ...

, representing a group of wealthy east coast investors, purchased 25 square miles of land on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 1913 for $1.5 million. In 1914, Vanderlip vacationed at Palos Verdes in order to recover from an illness, and he was astounded by scenery he compared to "the Sorrentine Peninsula and the Amalfi Drive". He quickly initiated development of Palos Verdes. He hired the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a Landscape architecture, landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape ar ...

, the landscaping firm of

John Charles Olmsted John Charles Olmsted (September 14, 1852 – February 24, 1920) was an American landscape architect. The nephew and adopted son of Frederick Law Olmsted, he worked with his father and his younger brother, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., in their fath ...

and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., to plan and landscape a new subdivision. The Olmsted Brothers contracted Koebig & Koebig to perform engineering work, including surveying and road planning. However, the project stalled as World War I started, and Vanderlip accepted a chairmanship to the War Savings Committee in Washington, D.C. in 1916. By 1921, Vanderlip had lost interest in overseeing development of Palos Verdes and enticed

Edward Gardner Lewis Edward Gardner Lewis (March 4, 1869 – August 10, 1950) was an American magazine publisher, land development promoter, and political activist. He was the founder of two planned communities that are now cities: University City, Missouri, and Atas ...

to take over the project with an option to buy the property for $5 million. Lewis was an experienced developer, but lacked the capital to purchase and develop Palos Verdes. Instead, he established a real estate trust, capitalizing the project through the sale of notes which were convertible to Palos Verdes property. Under the terms of the trust, Lewis sought to raise $30 million for infrastructure improvements, effectively borrowing from investors for both the land and the improvements. He succeeded in attracting $15 million in capital, but far short of the $35 million needed. The trust dissolved and ownership of Palos Verdes reverted to Vanderlip. Vanderlip established a new real estate trust to purchase 3,200 acres from his land syndicate and establish the subdivision of

. The new trust assumed not just the land, but also the improvements made by Lewis. They were not complete, but they were substantial: improvements included many sewers, water mains, and roads; landscaping, parks, and a golf course. They opened Palos Verdes for public inspection in June 1923. Palos Verdes Estates was organized and landscaped by the

and in their planning, they dedicated a quarter of the land area to permanent open undeveloped space.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Palos Verdes has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. Plate-01 page 1 geology of Palos verdes peninsula JPEG from PDF

Reef restoration

Reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

restoration off the coast of Palos Verdes began in May 2020 involving over of new habitat. Located off the coast, this restoration consists unique designs and locations with of rock relief habitats which provide habitat for marine life. It avoids existing functioning reefs and instead uses those areas as inspiration. These habitats have been impacted by deposited or settling sediment such as sand, leading the artificial reefs to be constructed over reefs buried in shallow sediment (to minimize potential for the artificial reef sinking). The main goals of the restoration project were to restore the rocky-reef territory and maximize ecosystem benefits. Reefs are productive ecosystems. Two types of monitoring have been done for the restoration site. The first one being geophysical and oceanographic monitoring. The restoration project uses high-resolution multi-beam bathymetry data which is an instrument that uses echo-sound to measure the depth of water at different angles to create 3D maps of the ocean floor. The team used before and after pictures of the site from October 2019, the date prior to alterations, three different dates throughout 2020, and the final date, December 2021. By 2021, the team used Edgetech 6205 MultiPhase EchoSounder, which sends and receives audible pulses that also map the ocean's floor. Results showed net gain between 2019 and 2020. There was little net loss and fewer net gain between 2020 and 2021. Between 2019 and 2021, there were was mostly no change. The second monitoring method was biological monitoring. The team used instruments which detected specific fish species' density and size. These instruments also showed the kelp canopy and other marine plants. By 2021, the team was able to say there was a significantly higher

giant kelp ''Macrocystis'' is a monospecific genus of kelp (large brown algae) with all species now synonymous with ''Macrocystis pyrifera''. It is commonly known as giant kelp or bladder kelp. This genus contains the largest of all the Phaeophyceae or b ...

density compared to the previous three years. There was also an increase in biotic cover, total fish density, and total fish biomass by 2021. Although kelp does function as a habitat and food source of marine species, it is not necessary for fish biodiversity. Instead, rock relief is linked to fish biodiversity. Human caused factors such as pollution and over harvesting have altered urchin-dominated areas. Historically, pollution mitigation has been overlooked in artificial reef restoration programs. A way to mitigate issues is through assisted recovery and/or passive restoration. Experiments that have included pollution mitigation have seen a 100% success rate of achieving cleaner environments within their testing site. Heavy metals have been found in Southern California coasts. Some of these are lead, zinc, and scientists have also found

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

. The highest concentration of DDT in sediments in California have been found off the coast of Palos Verdes. 98% of sediments tested off the coast of Palos Verdes contained DDT which has contaminated 100% of two fish species. These species are the

Pacific sanddab The Pacific sanddab (''Citharichthys sordidus''), also known as the soft flounder, mottle sanddab, or megrim, is a fish species in the order Pleuronectiformes, or flatfish. It is by far the most common sanddab, and it shares its habitat with the ...

and longfin sanddab.SCHIFF, KENNETH C., et al. “Southern California.” ''Marine Pollution Bulletin'', vol. 41, 2000, pp. 76–93.https://ftp.sccwrp.org/pub/download/DOCUMENTS/JournalArticles/333_scb.pdf. High amounts of nutrients such as

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

and

nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . salt (chemistry), Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are solubility, soluble in wa ...

have also been detected in the water. These factors have caused fish tissue to decrease between the 1970s and 1980s. Due to the high concentration of DDT, commercial fishing is banned off the coast of Palos Verdes. Another factor where marine restorations fall short is in accounting for multiple important variables. Some examples are nutrients, light, wave exposure, and temporal temperatures. Another stressor that reefs and other marine ecosystems face are human population increases. Population increased in California's coast during the 1900s. It went from 200 thousand people in Southern California in 1900 to over 17 million in 1998. Palos Verdes has been identified as a hot spot for sewage found in sediments. Invertebrates, plankton, and several species have bioaccumulated increasing amounts of

chlorinated hydrocarbon Organochlorine chemistry is concerned with the properties of organochlorine compounds, or organochlorides, organic compounds that contain one or more carbon–chlorine bonds. The chloroalkane class (alkanes with one or more hydrogens substituted ...

s as they approach Palos Verdes. When there are high levels of pollution, fish diseases such as tumors and fin erosion levels also increase.

Economy

Palos Verdes Peninsula is an

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...

area, and the average household

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. F ...

is $231,303 per year.

Commerce

Areas of commerce include historic

Mediterranean Revival style Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references to Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial ...

Malaga Cove Plaza and the Promenade on the Peninsula. Smaller shopping centers include the Peninsula Center, Lunada Bay Plaza, and Golden Cove Plaza. The largest peninsula commercial district is in Rolling Hills Estates, with many

shopping center A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

s including The Promenade on the Peninsula with a

megaplex A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens or auditoriums within a single complex. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums a ...

movie theater and an

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

. The Palos Verdes area has ocean views, coastline views and city light views. The Peninsula is home to the Promenade on the Peninsula mall, originally an enclosed regional mall with two department store anchors,

May Company California May Company California was an American department store chain founded in 1881 as A. Hamburger & Sons by Asher Hamburger. It was renamed after its acquisition by The May Department Stores Company in 1923. Its flagship store and headquarters wer ...

and

Bullocks Wilshire Bullocks Wilshire, located at 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, is a Art Deco building. The building opened in September 1929 as a luxury department store for owner John G. Bullock (owner of the more mainstream Bullock's in Dow ...

, as well as the Peninsula Center, which originally had a

Buffums Buffums, originally written as Buffums with an apostrophe, was a chain of upscale department stores, headquartered in Long Beach, California. The Buffums chain began in 1904, when two brothers from Illinois, Charles and Edwin Buffum, together wit ...

department store.

Transportation

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Transit Authority provides bus service within and to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The Palos Verdes Peninsula is within 40 minutes of both

LAX A lax is a salmon. LAX as an acronym most commonly refers to Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California, United States. LAX or Lax may also refer to: Places Within Los Angeles * Union Station (Los Angeles), Los Angeles' main tr ...

and

Long Beach Airport Long Beach Airport is a public airport northeast of downtown Long Beach, California, Long Beach, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is also called Daugherty Field, named after local aviator Earl Daugherty. The airport was an ...

, which together provide access to most of the United States aboard all

major carrier The United States Department of Transportation defines a major carrier or major airline carrier as a U.S.-based airline that posts more than $1 billion in revenue during a fiscal year, grouped accordingly as "Group III". Airlines According to FY ...

Education

The

Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD) is a school district headquartered in Palos Verdes Estates, California with facilities in all four cities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. History The Palos Verdes School District (PVSD) f ...

has one of the highest rated

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

scores in California and has one of the highest average

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

scores and one of the highest percentage of students successfully completing the

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

exams in the county. There are three high schools,

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Palos Verdes Peninsula High School is a public high school in Rolling Hills Estates, Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of 2023, it is a top-ranked school in the Los Angeles, CA Metro Area (#1 ...

(formerly called Rolling Hills High School),

Palos Verdes High School Palos Verdes High School (PVHS) is one of three public high schools on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, Southern California, USA (the others being Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (formerly Rolling Hills High School) and Rancho ...

, and

Rancho Del Mar High School Rancho Del Mar High School is one of three public high schools on the Palos Verdes Peninsula (the others being Palos Verdes Peninsula High School and Palos Verdes High School Palos Verdes High School (PVHS) is one of three public high school ...

(located in Rolling Hills). The former

Marymount California University Marymount California University was a private Catholic university in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, United States. Originally founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RHSM), the university awarded associate, bachelor's, and gradu ...

, a

co-ed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

four-year college was located in

.Tyler Shaun Evans and Lisa Jacobs, ''Daily Breeze'
(28 September 2022) UCLA buys Marymount California University property in Palos Verdes Peninsula to ease crowding
"The 35-acre purchase is the largest in the public university’s history". A private K–12 school,

Chadwick School Chadwick School is a nonsectarian independent K-12 day school located in an unincorporated area on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Specifically it is located at the top of the neighborhood referred to ...

, is also located there. Rolling Hills Country Day School, adjacent to the Botanic Garden, offers a private K-8 education. In total, there are 11 elementary schools, 3 intermediate schools, and 3 high schools located on the peninsula. In the Eastview neighborhood of Rancho Palos Verdes, however, residents have the option to choose either PV schools or the surrounding LAUSD schools (i.e. Dodson Middle School, Dana Middle School, San Pedro High School, etc.). Additionally, students are also able to attend the California Academy of Mathematics and Science in Carson due to its attendance boundaries stretching to the South Bay, which is about 20-40 minutes from the peninsula itself.

Libraries

The Peninsula is served by the Palos Verdes Library District, which operates these three libraries: * Peninsula Center Library * Miraleste Library * Malaga Cove Library- on the National Historical Register The 40 Families Project based at Peninsula Center Library documents the history of the Japanese-American community on Palos Verdes before World War II.

Parks and recreation

* South Coast Botanic Garden – 35 hectare (87 acre) landscaped

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

, event venue, and

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

with over 150,000 landscape plants and trees from approximately 140 families, 700 genera, and 2,000 different species. It is a classic example of

land recycling Land recycling is the reuse of abandoned, vacant, or underused properties for redevelopment or repurposing. Land recycling aims to ensure the reuse of developed land as part of: new developments; decontamination, cleaning up contaminated properti ...

by reclaiming a site that was previously a sanitary

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

and

open pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ...

diatomite Diatomaceous earth ( ), also known as diatomite ( ), celite, or kieselguhr, is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that can be crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from more than 3 ...

mine from 1929 until 1956. * Point Vicente Park is a popular spot for watching the

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

gray whale The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of , a weight of up to and lives between ...

s to and from their breeding lagoon in

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

. *

Fort MacArthur Fort MacArthur is a former United States Army installation in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California (now the port community of Los Angeles). A small section remains in military use by the United States Air Force as a housing and administrative ann ...

Military Museum is located near Point Fermin in San Pedro. * Del Cerro Park is a popular spot to hike trail at end of Crenshaw Blvd. * Ryan Park is Rancho Palos Verdes's first established park in the city, overlooking a view of nearby island Santa Catalina. Park features include baseball diamond, picnic areas with barbecue, and a community room. The peninsula is frequented by runners, hikers, horseback riders, bird watchers, surfers, scuba divers, fishermen, and bicyclists. The area is home to several

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

s and

country club A country club is a privately-owned Club (organization), club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Ty ...

s. In addition, nude sunbathers formerly frequented Sacreds Cove (or "Smugglers Cove") until the city of

enacted a 1994 ordinance that ended such use of that beach. The infamous Palos Verdes surf spots have been in the spotlight many times over issues of localism. The most notorious surf spot for localism in Palos Verdes is Lunada Bay, which can hold any winter swell and has been known to rival Sunset Beach, Hawaii on a big day. Localism in Palos Verdes reached a turning point in 2001 when a civil rights lawsuit was filed after a particularly violent confrontation with Hermosa Beach surfers. Surveillance cameras were placed in the surfing area but were later removed. In 2016, The Coastal Commission targeted the group after "renewed reports that their unpermitted structure uilt along Lunada Baywas being used as a spot for ongoing bullying and intimidation." On July 12, 2016, City Manager Tony Dahlerbruch recommended the removal of the illegal structure after pressure from the California Coastal Commission. The Trump National Golf Club is a

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

venture with a golf course on the Ocean Trails cliffs. The 18th hole of the prior golf course fell victim to a landslide caused by a leak in the sanitary pipes underneath it. In the summer of 2006, the golf club erected a 70-foot flagpole for an American flag; critics claimed it was illegal, but the golf club was allowed to retain it after a City Council vote. The

Marineland of the Pacific Marineland of the Pacific was a public oceanarium and tourist attraction located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula coast in Los Angeles County, California. Architect William Pereira designed the main structure. It was also known as Hanna-Barbera's ...

site near Portuguese Bend is currently home of Terranea, a luxury oceanfront resort. There are numerous nature reserves in Palos Verdes: Palos Verdes Estates Shoreline Preserve, Agua Amarga Reserve, and Portuguese Bend Reserve. The reserves contain

coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...

s habitats, a community of fragrant and drought resistant shrubs and flowering plants. In August 2009, wildfire burned approximately 165-acres of the Portuguese Bend Reserve. As a result, restoration has been done to reinstall native plants and animals to the area.

Flora and fauna

Native plants

Succulents In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meanin ...

Trees In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only p ...

Shrubs A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

Vines A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or wikt:scandent, scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; ...

Herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

s *

Marah (plant) ''Marah'' (the manroots, wild cucumbers, or cucumber gourds) are flowering plants in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to western North America. The genus (which Kellogg noted was characterized by extreme bitterness) was named for Marah ...

Native animals

* Palos Verdes blue butterfly *

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ...

gray fox The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener (biology), congener, the diminutive island fox ...

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

black phoebe The black phoebe (''Sayornis nigricans'') is a passerine bird in the tyrant-flycatcher family. It breeds from southwest Oregon and California south through Central and South America. It occurs year-round throughout most of its range and migrates ...

water strider The Gerridae are a family of insects in the order Hemiptera, commonly known as water striders, water skeeters, water scooters, water bugs, pond skaters, water skippers, water gliders, water skimmers or puddle flies. They are true bugs of the ...

* western fence lizard *

red tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members of ...

* cottontail rabbit

Notable places

6505-ShipWreck-PalosVerdesPeninsula-1965

* The Wayfarers Chapel, a transparent glass chapel in a redwood forest, was designed in 1951 by the renowned architect and landscape architect Lloyd Wright. It is under the stewardship of the Swedenborgian Church, a well-known landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, and overlooking the ocean at the western entrance of Portuguese Bend. * Portuguese Bend is one of the most geologically unstable areas in the world. Constant shifting of the soil (approximately 1/3 of an inch a day) and rock slides mean that Palos Verdes Drive South, the main road through the bend, is under constant repair. * Point Vicente Lighthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places. * Korean Bell of Friendship is located near Point Fermin in San Pedro. *

is the location of the former aquatic theme park on the coast. * MTV Beach House. Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox filmed some scenes of its teen drama, ''The OC'', at locations in and around Palos Verdes.

Wrecks

* The wreck of the SS Dominator, SS ''Dominator'', a freighter that ran aground in 1961, was for years an attraction for those willing to hike down the cliffs to the shoreline. Very little is left of the ship today. * In 2006, the 45-foot cabin cruiser ''Lady Hawk'' sank two miles from the Palos Verdes coast due to an engine fire.

Notable people

;Sports * Tracy Austin, former World No. 1 female professional tennis player * Heather Burge, pro basketball player * Heidi Burge, pro basketball player * John Cook (golfer), John Cook, pro golfer, graduated from Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District#Schools, Miraleste High School * Lindsay Davenport, former World No. 1 female professional tennis player * Taylor Fritz, professional tennis player * Michelle Kwan, 5-time world champion figure skater and List of ambassadors of the United States to Belize, United States ambassador to Belize since 2022 * Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, lived in city * Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton, lived in city * Former pro basketball player Elden Campbell of the Los Angeles Lakers, currently resides in

* Bill Laimbeer, Notre Dame and NBA basketball star, WNBA coach, attended

* Jeremy Lin, pro basketball player of the Los Angeles Lakers, lives in city * Billy Martin (tennis), Billy Martin, pro tennis player, UCLA coach, attended

* Joe Montana, Hall of Fame NFL quarterback of San Francisco 49ers lived in Palos Verdes Estates during off-season * John Morrison (wrestler), John Morrison, professional wrestler * Christen Press, forward of the United States women's national soccer team * Pete Sampras, former World No. 1 male professional tennis player * Anderson Silva, List of UFC champions, UFC Middleweight Champion, lives in city * Eliot Teltscher, professional tennis player ;Entertainment * Chester Bennington, lead singer of Linkin Park * Christina Crawford, actress and author of ''Mommie Dearest'', adoptive daughter of Joan Crawford, attended Chadwick School * Best-selling author and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin * Musician Hyde (musician), Hyde, lead singer of Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel owns property in the region * Juan Croucier, bass player and songwriter of the bands Ratt and Dokken * Actor Michael Dudikoff * Actress Liza Minnelli, attended Chadwick School, a private K–12 school located on the Peninsula * Author, actor and filmmaker Scott Shaw * Model and actress Coco Austin, wife of actor-rapper Ice-T ;Other * Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee, who sold U.S. secrets to the Soviets, portrayed in book and movie ''The Falcon and the Snowman'' * Galorath Inc. CEO and President Dan Galorath * Natalie Pack, 2012 Miss California USA, contestant ''America's Next Top Model, Cycle 12'' * Frank A. Vanderlip, known as the Father of Palos Verdes

References

External links

Official Palos Verdes Library District

Palos Verdes Daily Photo blog

Official South Coast Botanical Garden

Palos Verdes Peninsula Chamber of Commerce & Visitor's Center
{{Authority control Palos Verdes Peninsula, Geography of Los Angeles County, California Landforms of Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, California, regions Peninsulas of California South Bay, Los Angeles