Heisler Park

What Heisler Park is

Heisler Park is a long, narrow park on the bluff along Cliff Drive in North Laguna. The city lists it at 375 Cliff Drive with picnic tables, five barbecues and restrooms. The Coastal Commission describes a bluff-top park with ocean views, bluff-top trails, paths to the beach and metered parking.

It is one of the parks in the city’s park list. Its edge doubles as a lookout, which makes it a stop for sunset as well as a place to eat outside.

The beaches below the park

Three beaches sit under the bluff along the park, with Divers Cove at its north end. Read each beach page for parking, dogs and tide details, and check the city’s warnings, because the city calls the water below Heisler Park hazardous in several places.

• Divers Cove: stairs from the 600 block of Cliff Drive. The city calls the 300-foot beach steep, with a shorebreak in all conditions, and closes the rocks around the north point in high tide or surf.
• Picnic Beach: a ramp through the park leads to this beach of about 700 feet. The city names the table rock area for tide pooling but calls it hazardous in high tides and surf, and the south rocks are closed in large surf or high tide.
• Rockpile Beach: stairs and a path from Cliff Drive, opposite Jasmine Street, at the park’s south end. The city says tide pools show best at lower tides in winter, calls it one of Laguna’s designated surfing areas and does not permit swimming or body boarding. Bird Rock is a sanctuary and off limits to people.

For how to read a tide table before you go down, see tide pools.

Marine reserve rules

The city lists all three beaches as part of the marine protected area. At each, the city says taking or collecting rocks, shells or marine life is prohibited and fishing is not allowed. Look, photograph and leave everything where it is. The marine reserves page explains the boundaries.

Parking and hours

Parking is metered, on Cliff Drive and at the park, according to the Coastal Commission. The city enforces parking from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. City code leaves the hours of beaches and coastal-adjacent parks to a council resolution, and the one the council adopted in 2023, Resolution 23.015, closes Heisler Park from midnight to 5 a.m. The city’s 10 p.m. closing applies to parks away from the coast. Park restrooms are open from dawn to dusk. The parking guide covers the rest of town.

Dogs and bicycles

Dogs must be on a leash at all times in Laguna Beach, except in the city’s dog parks. On the beaches, dogs are allowed from June 15 to September 10 only before 9 a.m. and after 6 p.m. City code makes it unlawful to operate a bicycle within any city park, so lock yours outside the park. The biking page has the rules.

Lawn bowling at Heisler Park

The Laguna Beach Lawn Bowling Club keeps two greens at 455 Cliff Drive, in the park. Its site says bowling is limited to daylight hours because there is no outside lighting, and that you may wear flat, soft-soled shoes or sandals without a protruding heel on the greens. It offers a free introductory lesson; you arrange one by contacting the club.

Access on the bluff

The Coastal Commission’s access list marks Heisler Park as having disabled access and as easy for strollers, with bluff-top trails, paths to the beach and a picnic area. Stairs to the beach are listed too, so the way down depends on which beach you choose: Picnic Beach uses a ramp through the park, while Divers Cove and Rockpile use stairs from Cliff Drive. Check each beach page for the details before you commit to a descent.

Cliff Drive carries a 30 mph prima facie speed limit between Coast Highway and Acacia Drive, per city code, so watch for people crossing to the park. Weddings and filming on city property need a permit from the city, and the city does not reserve the lawn or the barbecues for parties.

When the tide matters

The park itself stays dry, but the shore below it changes with the tide. The city says almost no dry sand remains at Rockpile at high tide, that Picnic Beach’s south rocks are closed in large surf or high tide and that Divers Cove’s rocks and point are closed in high tide or surf. Tide pools show best at lower tides, especially in winter at Rockpile. Read the tide table first, then use the tide pools page for how the pools work.