Black's Beach

Location

South edge of Torry Pines State Beach

N 32.887734 W 117.243721 (GPS)

Website

http://www.blacksbeach.org

Black's Beach is the historical and currently unofficial name for a 1-mile clothing-optional stretch on the south end of Torry Pines State Beach. The area is isolated by cliffs and generally difficult to reach without some acrobatics, but popular with artists and surfers. Natural life such as dolphins, birds, stingrays and jellyfish are also plentiful in the area, likely due to a community commitment to environmental responsibility and the general remoteness of the area.

There's a nice trail for walking, too.

Nudity is not normally allowed on California state beaches. This is loosely enforced as a result of a 1979 decision by Russell Cahill, director of the Department of Parks and Recreation: Since the public was highly polarized on the issue of designated clothing-optional areas, officially designated nude beaches would probably attract rabid opponents, tying up police in protecting what would otherwise be a victimless and innocuous activity. Instead, there are no beaches marked clothing-optional, but police will not cite nude beachgoers unless a private citizen makes a complaint. This way a community can unofficially allow nudity on a local beach without making the area a magnet for anti-nudity zealots, and citizens who are routinely bothered by a nearby nude beach may appeal to the authorities to enforce the use of clothing.

For more information on this policy, see http://www.cspra.com/ccr4322/.

The clothing-optional area is demarcated by a few somewhat ambiguous signs and markers, usually cones, stakes marked "boundary" and signs stating that nudity is prohibited on state beaches.

Source: http://www.blacksbeach.org/routes.html

Take Interstate 5 toward La Jolla. Exit Carmel Valley Road and go west. Turn left at Camino Del Mar and enter through the gate, then park here (pay) and walk to the beach. Head south (left) about 2 miles.

This route is difficult (read: impossible) at high tide.

Take Interstate 5 toward La Jolla. Exit Genesee and go west. Turn left at North Torrey Pines Road, then right on Torrey Pines Scenic Drive (near the Salk Institute). Look for a sign that says "Torrey Pines Gliderport" and follow that road to the cul-de-sac at then end. Take the dirt road through the gate and bear left. Parking should be available near the gliderport.

Walk along the path to the south, bearing left. Eventually you'll see signs about beach usage and regulations, and a steep hiking trail that leads to the beach. Take this trail (through a narrow ravine and some carved steps and stairs, normally maintained by volunteers) to Black's Beach; you'll arrive at the south end of the clothing-optional area — look for signs.

This route is also not recommended at high tide.

Take Interstate 5 into La Jolla. Exit La Jolla Village Drive and go west over the hill and towards the north. La Jolla Village Drive becomes North Torrey Pines Road. Turn left at La Jolla Shores Drive, then right at La Jolla Farms Road. At the intersection with Black Gold Road is the Black's Beach access road. Park here; note that this is a 2-hour parking zone monitored by UC San Diego.

Walk through the gate and down Salk Canyon Road to Torrey Pines City Beach (this used to be called Black's Beach).

Continue walking north about half a mile to Torrey Pines State Beach. The southern boundary of the nude beach is marked by a line of orange cones and a stake that reads "boundary."

Take Interstate 5 into La Jolla. Exit La Jolla Parkway and go west. Turn right on La Jolla Shores Drive, then left on any of Vallecitos, Calle Frescota or Calle de Oro (all three work) to La Jolla Shores. Park here; spaces can be hard to find.

Walk down to the beach and head north (right) about three miles to the clothing-optional area, marked by a line of orange cones and a stake.

Comments: