Park Avenue Estates

What it’s like

Park Avenue starts in the downtown blocks and climbs toward Alta Laguna Boulevard and Top of the World. Federal elevation data puts a point on lower Park Avenue near 40 feet above sea level, a point at Thurston Middle School near 730 feet and a point on Hillview Drive near 755 feet.

Hillview Drive branches off Park Avenue just past Thurston Middle School and runs below the main road, according to a 2013 Laguna Beach Magazine article. The article describes modern, Mediterranean, cottage and cabin designs side by side, with views of the canyons and the ocean beyond. It also records that the 1993 fire reached this part of Park Avenue, that many houses are new and that some original homes survived.

realatrends.com’s home search lists Park Avenue Estates as a Laguna Beach community of single-family homes in the Laguna Beach Unified School District. The city’s list of evacuation management zones includes one named Park Avenue, zone LAB16, and each zone has its own map. The city’s list uses Park Avenue, not Park Avenue Estates; the longer name is the one the MLS uses, so confirm an address with a broker before you rely on it.

Two schools sit on Park Avenue. Thurston Middle School is at 2100 Park Avenue and Laguna Beach High School is at 625 Park Avenue; the schools guide covers the district. Alta Laguna Park sits at the north end of Top of the World, about half a mile from Hillview Drive in a straight line. OC Parks’ trail map marks a public access gate into Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park at Top of the World, where Park Avenue meets Alta Laguna Boulevard and the West Ridge Trail begins. OpenStreetMap labels Hillview Drive and the upper stretch of Park Avenue as Top of the World, so area names overlap here. Read about the ridge on the Top of the World page.

Getting around

By road, Hillview Drive and Thurston Middle School each sit about 1.7 miles from Main Beach, and the drive from Hillview Drive down to Main Beach drops about 745 feet. Irvine Spectrum is about 11.2 miles from Hillview Drive by road and John Wayne Airport about 16.4 miles. The city’s Coastal Route trolley runs on Coast Highway. The city also runs Laguna Local, a free on-demand shared ride service between residential neighborhoods and major activity centers; ask the city whether it covers your street. The getting around guide explains both.

The hillside neighborhoods are steep, so expect steep driveways and tight turns. Park Avenue itself climbs from about 40 feet near downtown to more than 700 feet at Thurston Middle School.

Things to know before you buy or rent

The October 27, 1993 fire started near Laguna Canyon Road and destroyed hundreds of homes in the city. The city’s Fire Department offers a free wildfire consultation at home on defensible space and home hardening. Book one once you move in.

Views are part of what a hillside home offers, and the city’s municipal code has a chapter on view preservation and restoration, Chapter 12.16. Read it with Community Development before you plan an addition or new landscaping.

The city sends major remodels and any improvement taller than 15 feet to a public design review hearing. In 2026 it adopted an urgency ordinance to streamline design review, so ask which path your project takes today.

The Laguna Beach County Water District serves central Laguna Beach, so confirm your address with the district.

See the homes for sale in Park Avenue Estates on realatrends.com, and see the cost of living guide for the cost of owning here.