A Strand That’s Perfect for a Saunter, Short or Long

Although a state beach boasting 2,000 parking spaces might seem like the last place on Earth to seek solitude, San Diego’s Silver Strand remains remarkably uncrowded. By virtue of its great length (five miles), the strand disperses visitors over its sparkling sands so that coastal congestion of the kind found at other Southern California beaches is rare.

Truly, first impressions aren’t everything. Silver Strand, viewed from the windshield on busy California Highway 75, appears dominated by four aircraft-carrier-size parking lots and the Navy’s “Star Wars”-style communications equipment.

But beyond the steel and asphalt is a strand perfect for a saunter, short or long. Silver Strand, with millions of tiny shells mixed with its sands, sparkles in the sunlight. Wonderful waves, ideal for bodyboarding, arrive in set after dependable set.

The strand has been popular with beach-goers for more than a century. From the early 1900s to 1941, a beach-side resort flourished on Silver Strand, better known in those days as “Tent City” for its predominant style of accommodation. A boardwalk, bowling alley and bandstands were some of the retreat’s attractions. But a highway-widening project and the outbreak of World War II put an end to Tent City.

Silver Strand’s sands actually are part of Border Field State Park, about five miles to the south. Sand is carried away from the border beaches by a longshore current that runs parallel to the coast. Along most of the California coast the current flows south, but here it flows north because of eddies near Point Loma. This unique circulation pattern formed Silver Strand, which separates San Diego Bay from the ocean.

The state beach (2.5 miles of the strand) hosts a multitude of such waterfowl as Brandt’s cormorants, gulls, terns, sanderlings and loons. California sea lions are numerous offshore, and an occasional school of porpoises visits.

The park includes a portion of San Diego Bay shoreline on the other side of the peninsula. From the ocean side of the strand, take one of the pedestrian underpasses beneath Highway 75 to Bayside Picnic Area. Ramada-covered picnic tables dot the bay shore and the crescent of Crown Cove. The calm, warm waters of the bay invite a swim.

This hike offers a mellow beachcomb north across Silver Strand State Beach. More-ambitious walkers will continue onward to Coronado Beach, in front of that rambling, red-roofed queen of Victorian-era hotels, the Hotel del Coronado.

Beach hikers can saunter up the strand to Coronado and return to the trail head by bus. Catch a red, white and blue San Diego MTS bus (No. 901, Imperial Beach) from stops along Orange Avenue (California 75) and ride back to the entrance of Silver Strand State Beach.

Directions to the trail head: From Interstate 5 in San Diego, take the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge exit (Highway 75). Cross over the bay to the peninsula and turn left on Orange Avenue. Follow the Highway 75 signs through Coronado. The highway bends south, assuming the name Silver Strand Boulevard. From downtown Coronado, proceed 4.5 miles south to Silver Strand State Beach. Park (fee) in the most southerly lot and space you can find.

The hike: From the parking lot, hit the beach and start walking up-coast. Point Loma is the predominant view to the north; the Imperial Beach Municipal Pier and the Coronado Islands make up the engaging southern vista. You soon reach the U.S. Naval Amphibious Base, which occupies much of the northern sand spit. The Navy permits beach hiking, but the base is off-limits to the public.

North of the state park the tide tosses up a lot of junk, and beachcombing artists fashion it into driftwood and plastic sculptures. It’s also a good beach to look for shells. At the north end of Silver Strand, you’ll step onto North Island, as this extension of the Silver Strand-Coronado peninsula is called today. You may puzzle over the enigmatic name: What is it north of? Nor is it an island. Yet Coronado Beach is a quiet place, so self-contained that it is commonly thought of as an island.

You’ll encounter modern architecture at its most utilitarian--the blocky style of the Coronado Shores condominium development as you walk Coronado Shores Beach--and a half-mile later you’ll approach architecture at its most whimsical, the wondrous Victorian-era Hotel del Coronado. You’ll hike along the beach south of the hotel known as South Beach, then in front of the hotel (Central Beach). North of the hotel is--you guessed it--North Beach.

Bus stops await the weary beach-walker just north of Hotel del Coronado at the corner of Orange Avenue and R.H. Dana Place; just south of the main hotel entrance; and at the north end of the Coronado Shores development at the corner of Orange Avenue and Avenida del Sol.

Silver Strand Trail

WHERE: Silver Strand State Beach

DISTANCE: To park boundary is 2.5 miles round trip; to Coronado is 6 = miles one way with a return by bus or 12 miles round trip.

TERRAIN: Narrow spit between the Pacific and San Diego Bay.

HIGHLIGHTS: Sparkling Pacific shores and bay environment.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Easy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Silver Strand State Beach, tel. (619) 435-5184. Silver Strand

John McKinney is the author of “Coast Walks: 150 Adventures Along the California Coast” (Olympus Press, $14.95).