Cabrillo National Monument overlooks the spot where in 1542 the first European, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, set foot on the West Coast. Today it seems nearly as unspoiled as it was many years ago.
Photo: J.P. Greenwood
San Diego may dead-end at Point Loma, but the views from Cabrillo National Monument at the tip of this peninsula go on forever. Along the monument's east side, you get a sweeping view of the city and San Diego Bay, where Navy jets surge into the sky and cruisers churn toward port.
But along the other side, it is untamed: Pelicans and red-tailed hawks glide over sandstone cliffs and topsoil eroded into formations reminiscent of organ pipes. Surfers work a break just offshore, kicking out from waves that foam and spray onto ledges of tidepools.
For all this land's-end grandeur, you are just a few minutes from the La Playa district, a harborside hub for Point Loma residents and boaters, and Liberty Station, an emerging city (and formerly a Naval Training Center) within a city.
