Forrestal Reserve

★★★★☆

Forrestal is the eastern end of a chain of nature reserves managed by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy that form a continuous corridor along the hillsides facing the ocean away from the Los Angeles Basin. And between upthrust layers, ancient landslides, recent landslides, and an abandoned quarry, it’s what you might call “geologically interesting area.”

Trails range from nearly flat to infuriatingly steep. There’s not much shade unless you’re short and the sun is low.

A panorama shot of mostly green hills, with some dry brush in the foreground and the ocean beyond. A valley curves out of view toward the ocean, what looks like a paved road running along the floor. (It's not - it's actually plastic ground cover. I'm not entirely sure what it's for, but it's a good bet it's related to mitigating the slow-motion landslide that's closed the area to the right due to unstable ground). Off to the left a steeper, bare section of hill is recognizable as the ridge from the first photo in this set.

What Goes Up…

The steepest trail runs up a ridge along the east edge of the reserve. Along the way it looks down into that quarry, splits off horizontally to a much easier trail along the hillside and across a narrow valley, and continues upward as an out-and-back spur of loose rock and slippery dirt called the Cristo que Viento trail, which I think translates as “Christ, how windy!” It took me several visits to reach the top, since I’d let myself get out of shape, and while I’ve built back enough stamina back to handle it now, my calves still complained most of the way up, and my knees complained all the way back down. The view wasn’t even worth it. It wasn’t that much different than the view from the Mariposa Trail.

Looking past the edge of a cliff which runs off into the distance toward the ocean. There's a narrow wooden board at the edge of a trail, and a rope or cable running across the frame. In front of it, there's a post with a sign saying DO NOT CLIMB OVER RAILING. AREA CLOSED. NO ACCESS. (Violators will be Cited). A winding dirt trail with posts and grab ropes on one side leads down a hillside into a narrow valley. A ridge of jagged rocks rises beyond it. A trail is visible curving around the ridge, while a gentle hillside slopes down toward the ocean. The nearby hill is mostly dry grass, but green trees line the valley and brush

The second-steepest trail runs up a hillside along the west edge of the reserve toward a viewpoint, connecting to a trail that runs along the top of a cliff, then back down to the lower areas. This one’s more worth it, because you look out across a canyon that looks like it was formed by a section of the hill detaching and sliding down toward the ocean. And this trail has some switchbacking to it. The last time I was there I approached it from the other side, and heard another hiker complaining breathlessly on his way up!

Canyons and Hillsides

The rest of the trails aren’t that bad, even the ones with significant grade to them.

The Fossil Trail runs through that canyon, and more trails run up and down both sections of the hill. The Vista trail offers a nice view of the cliffs. The Mariposa Trail has some good ocean views, and crosses a narrow valley with an intermittent streambed and actual trees (the only real shade in the place). And you can probably guess how the Cactus Trail got its name.

A short wooden footbridge with only one railing spans a very small stream, surrounded by scraggly-looking trees. A short rock face with narrow layers breaking off unevenly. Otherwise it would look like mid-2000s strip mall rock-face architecture.

The southwest corner used to connect to the Portuguese Bend Reserve. Unfortunately that whole reserve has been closed due to the current slow-moving landslide activity. I spent 10 years saying “I should hike there someday” and never got around to it. (Who knows, maybe it’ll stabilize while I’m still healthy enough to hike.)

A coastal hillside where sections have clearely broken off in the past, leaving stair-steps and a valley. A very winding road along the coast, with some areas clearly much darker and newer than others.

Getting There

One way or another, you need to go around the hill. Coming from the east you’ll either need to go through the hills or all the way out to San Pedro. Coming from the west, you’ll be driving through the active landslide area where the road’s been slipping and repeatedly patched. Either way, you need to turn inland away from the golf course entrance, then up a curving residential street, past a park on the left, to an open area with a gate that’s usually open during the day.

The main trailhead is near the gate, and you can park on either site of the road. There are two more trailheads, one at the end of the road and along another spur that goes past the sports fields, but you’ll have to hike to get to them since the road is closed to vehicles past a certain point. There’s also a city park near the gate, where there are picnic areas and a new community center with bathrooms and a water bottle filling station.

More info at Forrestal Reserve.

View on OpenStreetMap.