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Santa Monica Scenic Drive
Including Venice Beach & Dogtown
During this Santa Monica scenic drive and walk, you'll visit —
- Santa Monica Pier (Baywatch, Ruthless People, etc.),
- Venice Beach and Venice Beach Boardwalk,
- Muscle Beach (old and new),
- Santa Monica High School (the celebrity factory),
- Dogtown — skateboarding epicenter,
- Palisades Park for great views,
- Ocean Avenue (numerous films), and of course
- Santa Monica Beach.
Santa Monica: An overview
You may not think of Santa Monica as a celebrity town, but stars such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Robert Redford, June Lockhart, Adam Goldburg, Tom Selleck, Jack Black, Tobey Maguire, and Sean Penn have all lived in Santa Monica.
Hollywood considers Santa Monica its quintessential California beach town. Television shows like Baywatch shot in Santa Monica have been seen by billions of viewers, as well as nearly countless movies filmed there and in adjacent Venice Beach, which you also visit.
Fun-to-visit Santa Monica Pier became a star in its own right appearing in numerous films and television episodes.
Reaching Santa Monica
Option I: From our Malibu Beach Scenic Drive
Start with a beautiful Malibu Scenic Drive and then approach Santa Monica in the afternoon.
From Malibu, Highway 1—the Pacific Coast Highway—runs into Interstate 10. You do not even have to watch for an exit.
You will be on the I-10 freeway just for a moment.
Almost immediately, take the Highway 1 exit of off I-10 at Lincoln Boulevard and then turn right onto Lincoln.
Within a block, turn right onto Pico Boulevard.
Option II: From Los Angeles
From Los Angeles, take Interstate 10, the Santa Monica freeway, westbound.
Exit the I-10 at Lincoln Boulevard, the first Highway 1 exit, and then turn left on Lincoln.
Within a block, turn right onto Pico Boulevard.
Dogtown skateboarding neighborhood
You have reached Santa Monica's Dogtown neighborhood.
At the peak of her fame, Jane Fonda chose to live in this much poorer southeastern part of Santa Monica, commonly called Dogtown, also known, in part, as Ocean Park. Some might say this was "radical chic" at its best.
Dogtown spills over into the adjacent and more interesting Venice Beach district of Los Angeles, another neighborhood past its prime, which we will visit later.
What's so interesting about Dogtown is that you can really say that skateboarding as an extreme sport originated in this part of Santa Monica, as well as some of the more competitive aspects of surfing culture.
The development of a surfing way of life and modern skateboarding techniques in Dogtown, including its fascinating social fabric, are brilliantly featured in the Sean Penn-narrated 2002 documentary "Dogtown & the Z-Boys."
In addition, the 2005 film "Lords of Dogtown" portrayed young people like Tony Alva in Dogtown who changed skateboarding forever.
Rising real estate values (at least until recently) have been profoundly changing the character of Dogtown. You will find more of its old flavor in adjacent Venice Beach later on today, but even that is changing, as wealthier and less culturally and politically radical people move in.
Santa Monica High School
As you turn off Lincoln onto Pico, Santa Monica High School pops up on your right.
Santa Monica High was featured in "Rebel Without a Cause" staring James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo. In my opinion, better teenage angst has never been filmed.
This high school served as a virtual factory for top Hollywood talent.
Former students include Sean Penn, Heather Thomas, Rob Lowe, Gloria Stuart (Titanic), Robert Downey, Jr., Charlie Sheen, and on and on. Not all of these, as you can easily imagine, managed to graduate.
Santa Monica High does not show up well from the street. One wonders whether the high chain fence was built more for keeping restless students in or intruders out.
Just beyond the school, you pass Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, home of the Santa Monica Symphony and numerous rock concerts. From 1961 through 1968, this auditorium hosted the Academy Awards.
Santa Monica Pier neighborhood
Turn right at Ocean Avenue.
Find parking—not always easily done. You can
- Try turning left into the entrance for Santa Monica Pier, where you may find some paid parking below the pier (although this may be a waste of time on warm days).
- Park on or near Ocean Avenue and then walk to the Santa Monica Pier entrance ramp at Colorado Street, or perhaps easiest
- Use the Santa Monica Place shopping center mentioned below, which offers rather inexpensive valet parking, as well as at times (check for promotions) free valet parking for those dining at one of its more upscale restaurants.
One block inland from Ocean along Colorado Street, you reach Santa Monica Place, whose northwest entrance on the other side of the building was "the mall" in the high school classic "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Scenes from Terminator II and others have been shot inside.
Because a recent remodel made the mall more upscale, you may not recognize Santa Monica Place from these films.
The Third Street Promenade, one of the most popular and successful urban pedestrian walkways in the country, starts of the side of Santa Monica Place farthest from Colorado Street.
Santa Monica Pier
As mentioned, Santa Monica Pier has been featured in nearly countless films and television shows, including
- numerous Baywatch episodes,
- Beverly Hills Cops,
- Down and Out in Beverly Hills,
- The Sting, and my favorite pier scene—
- Ruthless People, with Bette Midler kicking Danny DiVito off the pier. (Throwing irritating people off the pier, however morally justified, is sadly illegal in Santa Monica.)
Santa Monica Pier area restaurants
Here are a few dining tips before we before we start walking (or driving if you do not wish to walk).
Santa Monica Pier dining goes beyond the usual cotton candy and hot dogs you expect on an amusement pier. See the website.
For delicious family dining, I recommend three places reasonably close to the pier:
- Blue Stove in Nordstrom at Santa Monica Place serves up a varied and reasonable (for Santa Monica) menu daily.
- El Cholo Cafe, 1025 Wilshire Boulevard (enter off 11th Street—see directions to P.F. Chang's below).
Do not let the valet parking mislead you. This excellent Southern California-style Mexican restaurant does not charge much. El Cholo is sister of oldest Mexican restaurant in California, with same menu and quality.
My "must do" dish has cheese enchiladas in a "combinaciones" plate. Share some sweet green corn tamales in season. The chile relenos, which may remind you of delicious souffles, are also special favorites. You can order a combination that includes both the cheese enchiladas and a chile releno. El Cholo uses no lard.
You may wish to dine inside, instead of adjacent to the valet parking.
- If you are watching the carbs, as I should be, or want a training, vegan, or gluten-free menu, try the following:
P.F. Chang's China Bistro, 326 Wilshire Boulevard. (Exit the pier, turn left onto Ocean, and then right onto Wilshire.)
This location offers the quality you expect from this chain. Very moderate cost considering its location. Very vegetarian friendly, with these dishes cooked in a separate area of the kitchen. Extremely busy, but have your meal at the bar when no tables are available.
Unlike most beach towns, Santa Monica also hosts top-rated restaurants. See Zagat or similar guides.
Santa Monica Beach and original Muscle Beach
Be sure to walk out to the end of Santa Monica pier for great views.
If you wish, take the steps down to the beachfront walk below, but do not walk in unlit and unpopulated areas of the beach after dark. From the pier entrance, you can also drive down to a beach level parking area to access the beach.
The long beach fronting Santa Monica is clean, wide, protected by lifeguards all year, and very popular.
Immediately to the left of the pier, as you face the ocean, was the original location of the portion of Santa Monica Beach called Muscle Beach.
This area—at first a place to practice gymnastics in the ocean air—evolved during the 1930's into an awesome outdoor gym, which attracted body builders from around the world.
Alumni from one or both Muscle Beach locations include Joe Gold, Jack La Lanne, Vic Tanny, Joe Weider, and—of course—former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. An increasing number of female body builders also use the equipment at the new Muscle Beach in Venice.
Without question, Santa Monica Muscle Beach became the birthplace of the physical fitness movement in the United States.
Not only did they culture their appearance, these pioneers also put great emphasis on the foods they ate, making L. A. the "health food" (as it was called then) capital of the world. Where else in the U.S. could you enjoy an organic fresh juice bar in the early 1950's?
Muscle Beach at Venice Beach
Muscle Beach moved to Venice Beach Boardwalk, just over 2 miles down the beach toward LAX airport. We will have directions later.
If you have always wanted to lift 600 pounds outdoors in public, this is the place to do it. The Los Angeles Parks & Recreation Department provides the equipment.
You may find it hard to believe that the human body can do the feats you see achieved here.
The multi-purpose, beach side, outdoor recreation center in Venice, which includes "Muscle Beach," hosted the memorable opening scenes from the movie "White Men Can't Jump."
Venice Beach milieu
Its developers wanted the Venice district of Los Angeles to evoke images of the city in Italy. Unfortunately, the neighborhood and its canals have declined immensely, with some canals holding mostly trash and some filled in, but both the neighborhood and its canals have begun to revitalize, as more affluent people move in.
Although reasonably safe during the day due to the sheer number of visitors, avoid Venice at night, except for the busiest areas. Do not leave valuables visible in your car.
The beach at the Santa Monica Pier and the ones we discuss along the Malibu Beach Scenic Drive are usually much cleaner than Venice Beach.
Venice Beach Boardwalk
The Venice Beach Boardwalk along Venice Beach fronts a fascinating neighborhood, one of the most unique in the U.S. What out-of-the-ordinary Southern California characters and behaviors you are guaranteed to witness!
You may not wish to make fun of these people. With California being the cultural trendsetter that it is, you might find yourself behaving like them someday.
"So jump for joy
Be blithe and gay,
Or weep my friends with sorrow
For what California is today
The rest will be tomorrow"
—the late poet Richard Armour
The boardwalk becomes especially interesting to visit on weekend afternoons, but any nice afternoon will do.
Reaching Venice Beach
You have two options. I hope you will walk.
- WALK
A really pleasant and interesting beach side walkway leads you from Santa Monica Pier to the Venice Beach Boardwalk and its Muscle Beach facility.
Before or after visiting Palisades Park in the Ocean Avenue section below, walk eastward along the beach just over 2 miles until you are a little less than a half mile or so from Venice Pier in the distance.
This puts you at Muscle Beach and at the center of the boardwalk area on your left.
If you would like to walk just one way, either return by taxi or use Santa Monica's excellent Big Blue Bus system. See the map and daily schedules for line 1.
- DRIVE
After visiting Palisades Park in the Ocean Avenue area described below, take Ocean Avenue southeast from the Santa Monica Pier (the direction away from Malibu).
Ocean Avenue turns into Neilson Way and then into Pacific Avenue, but you continue in the same general direction.
When you reach North Venice Boulevard, turn right. A large but sometimes full parking area lies ahead.
After visiting Venice Beach, return to Los Angeles by driving away from the beach on South Venice Boulevard or any other major northbound boulevard.
Then, turn left onto Lincoln Boulevard, the name for Highway 1 in this area.
After reaching Santa Monica—the street signs change color—stay in the right lane.
Then, take the eastbound onramp to Interstate 10, the Santa Monica freeway, toward Los Angeles.
West Ocean Avenue
From the Santa Monica Pier ramp entrance or wherever you parked, drive or preferably walk westward parallel to Ocean Avenue—along Palisades Park—for some great views.
Walk along the cliff side path that overlooks Santa Monica Beach. You see Malibu on your right and LAX airport on your left, as you look out toward the Pacific.
Ocean Avenue and adjacent Palisades Park are favorite filming locations.
When she won her cash prize in "White Men Can't Jump," Rosie Perez moved into one of the ocean view condos along Ocean Avenue. In "Bringing Down the House," Steve Martin opened a law practice here.
Historic Route 66 once ended where Santa Monica Boulevard runs into Ocean Avenue near the pier. Bandleader Lawrence Welk once owned the tall office tower at the corner of Wilshire and Ocean.
At the far end of Palisades Park, you'll notice steep stairs descending down into Santa Monica Canyon. An amazing number of locals jog up and down these at full speed each day.
The immediate Ocean Avenue area—both east and west of the pier—hosts nearly all of the better hotels in Santa Monica.
Returning to Los Angeles
If you drove to Venice Beach, see the "Drive" section in Reaching Venice Beach above.
Or, drive the same way back to Santa Monica Pier and then follow the route below.
If you walked to Venice Beach, follow these directions:
Because I do not know where you parked near the Santa Monica Pier, let's do this in a simple, not confusing way. You will also see "nicer" Santa Monica residential areas than you have so far.
From wherever you are near Santa Monica Pier, take Ocean Avenue westbound in the direction of Malibu (not Venice Beach).
Near the end of Palisades Park, most traffic veers right onto nicely landscaped San Vicente Boulevard.
Take San Vicente Boulevard.
This is the wealthier area of Santa Monica. "Restraint" best describes their size. These people carry their wealth with good taste.
Very soon, turn right onto Fourth Street.
Continue on Fourth Street past Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards.
After crossing over Interstate 10, turn left on Olympic Drive at the light.
Stay to the left and follow the overhead sign to the eastbound 1-10 onramp.
Continue on the I-10 toward Los Angeles.
Why not enjoy BidonTravel's scenic night-time drive? Don't worry if it's not dark yet. This drive starts with daytime sightseeing.
Take I-10 eastbound to La Cienega Boulevard and then follow the signs to northbound La Cienega. Drive north to the Beverly Center Mall at Beverly Boulevard.
To proceed from there, go to Los Angeles and Hollywood at-night scenic drive.
Have a super time in Santa Monica!
