Malaga Creek

(Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA)

★★★★★

A waterfall about the height of a house, its lowest step clearly a flat block of concrete, drops from behind a sparsely-leaved tree and past a short building with enclosed balconies. Past the edges of the waterfall you can see a pair of spreading concrete walls with water stains and crawling vines. Grasses, mallows and iceplants grow around the edges and up to the foreground.

West of Palos Verdes Drive and downstream from Valmonte and Frog Creek Loop, Malaga Creek carves a canyon (not to be confused with Malaga Canyon up in the hills) through the coastal bluffs down to a narrow, pebbly beach. The canyon is too choked with trees to follow in most places, but an informal trail runs around the top of the canyon, climbing down to the creek in a few spots. A steep service road winds down from the bluffs on the southwest side down to Rat Beach (or rather RAT Beach, as in Right After Torrance) near the spot where the creek runs into the ocean.

A rocky shore, the rocks smoothed by the waves, curves around a quiet ocean cove on a bright sunny day. Cliffs rise on the far side of the cove. A steep, narrow channel curves around a hill beyond which you can see a blue triangle of ocean. The hill is brownish-yellow, but green plants grow in the foreground and down in the channel. Off to the left, if you look closely, you can see a stream at the bottom of the channel.

You can park on the street across from Malaga Cove Plaza, or along Via Almar. But it’s simplest to park at the former Malaga Cove School, now used as district offices.

A stone path runs diagonally from one corner of the frame toward an octagonal gazebo, half-hidden behind a bright green bush. A hill rises in the distance below a bright blue sky. There are several spots where you can walk out to the edge of the cliffs and look across the bay, including a gazebo. Past the turnoff for the road down to the beach, another road continues past the soccer field and basketball courts to a dirt path which connects to the trail along the canyon rim.

The octagonal bell tower at the southwest corner of the school building is nicely scenic, and worth checking out.

A two-level building with shallowly peaked roof and a much taller bell tower with spikes ringing it like the Witch-King of Angmar's crown. One side of the main building, and one side of the tower, are brightly lit by sunlight. The nearer face of each is in shadow, but only by comparison. Bushes and grass line the foreground.

The trail is often overgrown, and while there’s shade on parts of the south side, the north side is mostly open. A smaller stream runs down the hill and joins the trail as it drops down to cross Malaga Creek itself, just above where the culvert below the road opens out. Locals have placed wooden boards along that stretch to make it easier to walk along it. The crossing itself can be muddy.

A dirt trail runs through dry grass next to a steep drop-off. It's not clear how far it drops, but the trees filling the chasm are just barely taller than it is. Looking uphill along a narrow muddy trail shaded by trees on both sides and above. A narrow rill of water runs along it. Small branches and loose wooden planks have been placed along the trail.

There are also a couple of connecting trails: One along the south rim connects to Via Corta near the triangular mini-park. Another just north of where it crosses connects to the much smoother walking/bike path that parallels the shoreward curve of Palos Verdes Drive from Malaga Cove Plaza to the church.

A squat, beige building with a tile roof has glommed onto the side of the bluffs rising from a cove. The shore curves away around a bright blue ocean, the scrub clinging to the bluffs turning the hillside a mottled green. A nearby plant with crinkly, fan-like leaves screens the rocky shore below. Past the building, toward the middle of the cove, the shallow water along the beach is smooth enough to reflect the steep hillside above. On the far side, the bluffs gradually lower until the shoreline barely shows a strip of green between the beach and the jumble of a coastal town. Off in the distance, a layer of haze separates the blue sky from the low silhouette of a mountain range. A narrow valley, choked with greenery, lies in shadow. A single palm tree rises into the sunlight. The far side is lined with eucalyptus trees, catching the yellow light of the late afternoon sun against a clear blue sky.

More info at Malaga Creek.

View on OpenStreetMap.