White Point Nature Preserve
4 of 5 Stars
Mostly flat, with hills along the west and north. Views of the ocean and (on a clear day) Catalina Island. Not much shade except for one stand of trees at the foot of the hills, the garden around the visitor center, and the bunkers.
It's not as geologically interesting as Forrestal Reserve, and when I went hiking there in August it was mostly dry grass and dry bushes, but there's wildlife, and there's a native plants garden around the visitor center that's watered and maintained, and there's the ruins if you're interested in that.
Wait, Bunkers? Ruins?
During World War II, the land was seized from Japanese-American farmers. The farmers were sent to internment camps, and the land was turned into a military site for coastal defense. During the cold war it became an anti-aircraft missile site. The base was decommissioned in the 1970s, but you can still find concrete foundations and a handful of buildings...and up in the hills, two large concrete bunkers built into a ridge that you can walk right through. Internal doors look like they've been sealed, though. (I didn't think to ask at the visitor center whether it was one of the remaining buildings from the base or whether it had been built later.)
Information boards scattered at points along the trails tell the story, along with the earlier history of the site back to the native Tongva villages and the Spanish ranchos.
Nearby
Across the road there's a regular park that goes right up to the edge of the bluffs. You can look over the railing and see rocky tide pools and Royal Palms State Beach below. The park also has a playground, picnic tables, bathrooms and drinking water.
If you want to make a day of it, you could hike the preserve in the morning, have a picnic lunch at the park, and hit the beach in the afternoon.
Getting there
Follow Western all the way to the coast and then turn left. The road runs past the entrance to the beach parking and a park to the right, and there's a gate on the left just at the end of the road that leads to a gravel parking lot for the nature preserve. You can also park along the street once you get past the park, or you can pay for beach parking.
Pokémon Go Note: Not a bad place to look for imaginary wildlife, either. Most of the information signs along the trails and remaining buildings are either Pokéstops or gyms (at least three gyms, possibly four), and there are more of both across the road at the park. You could probably fill up your gift storage doing a single pass through both.
— Kelson Vibber, 2025-08-12