Huntington Beach State Park

The centerpiece of the park is Atalaya, the winter home the Huntingtons built in the early 1930s. The name means watchtower in Spanish, and the house was modeled on the Moorish architecture of the Spanish coast, a low square of rooms wrapped around an open inner courtyard, with a tower rising over it. It was built by local workers during the Great Depression, giving welcome employment in hard times.

Anna Hyatt Huntington was one of the most celebrated sculptors of her era, and Atalaya was as much a studio as a home. The house included stables and animal pens so she could work from live models, and an open-air studio for her large bronzes. Today the house stands empty and evocative, open for self-guided walks through its shadowed rooms and courtyard, and each fall it hosts a well-loved arts and crafts festival.

Huntington Beach is famous among birders, and for good reason. The park packs an unusual range of habitats into a small space: open ocean, sandy beach and dunes, salt marsh, a large freshwater lagoon, and maritime forest, each drawing its own birds. The causeway that crosses between the freshwater lagoon and the salt marsh is one of the single best birding spots in the state.

Over the course of a year hundreds of species pass through. Wading herons and egrets stalk the shallows, shorebirds probe the sand, wintering ducks raft on the lagoon, and ospreys, eagles, and painted buntings turn up in season. Because the water and marsh are right beside the road, even a short visit with binoculars can be remarkable.

The freshwater lagoon and its causeway are also the best place along the coast to see American alligators, which sun themselves on the banks and drift in the still water. They are wild, powerful animals, and the rule is simple: watch from a distance, never feed or approach them, and keep pets close. The mix of fresh and salt water side by side is what makes the wildlife here so rich.

The beach itself is broad and clean, backed by low dunes and sea oats rather than buildings. It is a fine place to swim, walk, fish, and hunt for shells and shark teeth, and because it is protected, it also serves as a nesting beach for sea turtles in summer. The contrast with the developed Strand just up the coast is part of what makes the park feel like a discovery.

Spring brings warm days, wildflowers in the dunes, and a rush of migrating songbirds and shorebirds, making it a top season for birders.

Summer is beach weather, hot and busy, with the ocean warm for swimming and sea turtles nesting on the dark, quiet stretches at night. Fall is a favorite of many regulars, with cooler air, fewer crowds, and another wave of migration, and it is when the Atalaya arts festival takes place. Winter is mild, quiet, and excellent for waterfowl and eagles over the lagoon, the beach nearly empty under a wide sky.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.