trip 3.1 Corona Rock-Hop

      Distance 2.4 miles (out-and-back)

      Hiking Time 2-plus hours

      Elevation Gain 100’

      Difficulty Moderate

      Trail Use Good for kids

      Best Times Low tide; October–March

      Agency CCSP

      Permit CCSP parking fee required

      DIRECTIONS At the intersection of the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) and Newport Coast Drive, south of Corona del Mar, turn west into Crystal Cove State Park (at the Pelican Point entrance). Bear right beyond the entrance station to reach Lot 1, the northernmost parking lot on the coastal bluff.

      Some of the finest tidepools in Orange County—indeed in all of Southern California—await you on this short, absorbing, and probably time-consuming, rock-hopping trek between the Pelican Point area of Crystal Cove State Park and Little Corona City Beach in Corona del Mar. Wear an old pair of rubber-soled shoes or boots (boots are better for ankle support), and expect to get wet below the ankles. Don’t turn your back to the incoming waves; otherwise, you may get even wetter.

      Successful tidepool gazing requires both good light (midafternoon is best) and negative tides. These conditions occur during either new or full moons from October through March. On about 20 afternoons each year, the tide drops to less than minus 1 foot (zero is defined as the average of the tides across the United States), which is low enough for you to examine marine life in the intertidal zone. Plan to start your walk about an hour before a predicted low tide.

      These tidepools are remarkably pristine, and your good manners will help keep them healthy. Tidepool explorers should take care not to step on living creatures and should be especially watchful for delicate sea anemones that can be hard to recognize. Remember not to pick up, touch, or poke the tidepool life. Don’t turn over rocks because the creatures living under them need to stay there, and those on top of the rocks won’t fare well if they find themselves under them. Please don’t collect shells.

      Rocky reefs are exposed frequently along Crystal Cove State Park’s beachfront, but not to the degree found along a 0.5-mile stretch of coast just north of the park. As you pay your parking fee, you may be able to pick up a brochure with pictures to help you identify tidepool life. Docents also sometimes lead walks on weekends coinciding with low tide, and you might consider joining one of these walks at Pelican Point before continuing up to Little Corona Beach.

      From the northernmost Pelican Point parking area (lot 1), a paved bike path—lined with native planted shrubs and spring wildflowers—swings toward the edge of the bluff. Soon there’s a split: left toward the beach, right toward a viewpoint overlooking the ocean. For the rock-hopping trip, descend to the beach and head up the coast over boulders and finlike rock formations beside a sea cave into the tidepool area, 0.6 mile from the parking area. The rock formations in the tidepools and the nearby cliffs are thinly bedded shales, gently tilted and sometimes fantastically contorted, dating back about 12 million years. In most but not all places in the intertidal zone, this rock affords good traction even when wet.

      In the intertidal strip itself, a few dozen steps from high-tide to low-tide level encompass a complete spectrum of marine plants and animals adapted to the various degrees of inundation and exposure. In the high intertidal zone, hardy species like periwinkle snails, limpets, mussels, barnacles, and green sea anemones are found. Some of these creatures are adapted to survival in habitats moistened only by the splash of breaking waves. Shore crabs patrol these bouldered spaces, but they’ll likely be hiding.

      Closer to the surf, the middle intertidal zone features rock depressions called tidepools, and luxuriant growths of surfgrass, which look like bright, shiny green mats of long-bladed grass. The tidepools serve as refuges for mobile animals like fish, shrimp, and the sluglike sea hare, as well as some of the relatively immobile animals like urchins and various shellfish. Here, the effects of biological erosion (or weathering) are apparent in the many pits and cubbyholes in the rocks occupied by various creatures.

      In the low intertidal zone, many kinds of seaweeds thrive, including the intriguing sea palm. Animal life, however, is usually concealed beneath the rocks. Look for sea stars, sea urchins, sponges, worms, chitons, snails, abalones, and hermit crabs. If you’re very lucky, an octopus may come your way. Remember that all marine life, shells, and rocks are protected.