Vicente Bluffs Reserve

On our list of the best activities in Los Angeles.

The reserve strings together the bluffs by the Point Vicente Interpretive Center, and its Seascape and Golden Cove trails run flat along the cliff edge with benches looking out over kelp beds and rock formations left by ancient undersea volcanic vents. A native-plant garden by the interpretive center hosts the endangered El Segundo blue butterfly on its seacliff buckwheat, and volunteers set up on the patio each winter with binoculars to track the gray whales passing below from December through April.