Parking & Directions

Bolsa Chica State Beach runs about three miles along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Huntington Beach, between Warner Avenue and Seapoint Street, with paid parking lots right behind the sand. The posted address is 17851 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach, CA 92649. Parking is $15 per vehicle, or $20 on summer weekends and holidays, paid by scanning a QR code in the lot.

Getting There

The beach sits on the ocean side of PCH (California Highway 1) in northern Huntington Beach, Orange County. California State Parks gives the address as 17851 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach, CA 92649 and notes it is not a USPS mailing address, so use it for navigation only. The State Parks park page also links Google Maps directions to the coordinates 33.6951, -118.04684.

The beach stretches about three miles, from Warner Avenue in the north to Seapoint Street in the south. South of Seapoint the shore becomes Huntington City Beach, which the City of Huntington Beach runs.

The Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve is across PCH from the beach. It has its own separate parking lots: one by the Interpretive Center on Warner Avenue and one across from the state beach. Do not confuse them with the state beach lots.

Paying for Parking

Bolsa Chica now uses park-and-pay with LAZ Parking. Drive straight to an open space, then scan the QR code posted in the lot and pay online. No app is needed. The beach is cashless, and LAZ may charge a service fee on top of the day-use fee. Help with a payment problem: LAZ customer care, (949) 402-0303.

Annual pass holders pay nothing more: display the pass on the dashboard or hang the hangtag from the mirror, facing out. Disabled Discount Pass holders choose the "Disabled Discount Pass" day-use option in LAZ to get the discount. Full rate table on hours and fees.

When the entrance kiosk is staffed, the attendants can help with camping questions and sell annual passes. The Visitor Center is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

When Lots Fill Up

State Parks warns that the park can close fully. During a full closure only vehicles with a campground reservation are let in until it reopens. Your day-use fee allows re-entry the same day, but only if there is space when you come back.

RV and Oversize Vehicle Rules

State Parks enforces these rules year-round in the day-use lots at Bolsa Chica and Huntington State Beaches:

• Park between the white lines. No parking across spaces or straddling lines.
• Oversize and towed vehicles that will not fit in one space must park in the middle row, taking only two spaces, one in front of the other.
• No slide-outs, awnings, chairs, tables, E-Z Ups, barbecues, artificial turf or bikes in the next space. Only vehicles go in parking spaces, and you cannot buy extra spaces for these things.
• Animals outside the vehicle must be on a leash held by a person; no tethering pets to the vehicle or building pens.
• Areas painted yellow or red are not for parking or for anything else.
• Maximum oversize vehicle length is 40 feet.

The park page adds that pop-outs and awnings are not allowed and that if you bring an RV, you must be inside it or on the beach at all times. Day-use oversize parking (25 feet or longer) is $30, or $40 on summer weekends and holidays. Overnight stays are only in the RV campground.

Accessible Parking

Accessible parking and restrooms are in every day-use lot, and accessible outdoor rinse showers sit between the lots by the beach trail. Two paved Spencer Ramps cross the sand toward the high-tide line, one next to Lot 18 and one by the campground. A free beach wheelchair can be borrowed; ask at the entrance kiosk or the Visitor Center, or call (714) 377-5691.

Getting Around on the Trail

Every day-use lot connects to the paved Bolsa Chica Multi-Use Trail, which runs the full length of the beach. The accessible trailhead is at the south end of Lot 14.