Palos Verdes Hikes
As you may know, I love hiking. I thought it would be fun to share some of my maps since I’m not leading any hikes these days. I can hardly think of a better way to catch up with loved ones… strolling in nature, away from technology with plenty of time for chatting. All of the links I’m sharing are for walks on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Some of these are strenuous. PV has steeper inclines than many people realize. You can open this map when you get to the trailhead and follow it live, as you go. Let me know if you try one of these! I’ll be adding more in the future.
Our Hill - View Hike - This is a moderate 6 mile walk on trails and streets. Great views of the city, coast and ocean. Perfect for visitors.
PV Marathon Length Walk - Want to do your own Marathon? This route is mostly on streets, but has quite a bit of trails as well. Lot’s of convenient places to stop for food and restrooms. You will experience a good amount of elevation changes, especially as you head up and back down from Hess Park! The views are great, but you will not see much of the wild “back” side of PV that I love so much. You will see: the Redondo strand, Malaga Dunes, the fire trail with views galore, hidden parts of Lunada Bay area, Catalina Island and, of course, the Pacific Ocean. If you try one of these, please click “read more” below and leave a comment… I’d love to hear about your hike.
Three Sister's - Need to train on hills, but think you have to go to the Angeles or Santa Monica Mountains to do so? The first incline on this route is great! Repeat it a few times if you need extreme training. This difficult hike is approximately 7 miles and can easily be made longer or shorter. To make it a lot longer, add on the Forrestal preserve and Quarry Trail.
Forrestal & Portuguese Bend - Seems like a lot of people don’t know about the Forrestal Preserve. It’s so pretty! If you want to shorten up this 7 miler a lot, just do the first loop known as the Quarry Trail… because you can see the old PV stone quarry in the center of the loop. You will only be on trails for this hike. The only restrooms are at the park/school near the parking.
Storm's Ridge - Another good training hill to try! This four mile hike is mostly trails with some roads.
Friendship Park to the Sea and Back - Lots of different terrains on this mostly trails, 6ish mile hike. Beautiful views of the port and Catalina.
Ernie Howlett - Easy - This 2 mile walk is close to Torrance, so it has much quicker access from the South Bay than most of the other hikes listed. It’s not the most spectacular, but in the spring it’s green and you will see horses and parts of PV you may not have seen before. To make it longer, cross under Hawthorne to the Landfill Loop.
25 Mile Boy Scout Loop - I had once read that the Lunada Bay Scouts had created a PV Loop Trail to earn a badge or something. I searched the internet and found the 13 page instructions written in 1995! Some parts of the loop have been officially adopted and you will see signs indicating such here and there. A few years back I used this PDF to map the hike on My Maps. PV Loop PDF It took me all day to transcribe it, but I love maps and enjoyed the project. I never walked the whole thing in one day as I had planned, but I have walked all segments of it. I note one trail that might not go through, but you can easily go around. You can start at any point you’d like. Don’t forget you can use these maps “live”, meaning you can see yourself as a blue dot moving on these maps as you walk. Just have the blue dot follow the blue line as you walk. Happy trails!