BOLSA CHICA STATE BEACH is located on Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, California, between Golden West Street and Warner Avenue.  It is located in the County of Orange. 

Telephone: 714.846.3460 or  800.444.7275 (no tent camping)
Operating hours: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The entrance gates close at 9:00 p.m. 
Watchable Wildlife Site   Camping Information Full hookups and pay showers
Parking fee $15 parking.  See state parks fees list

Camping fees for RV camping is around $65-75/night or $455/week. No tent camping is allowed. Book online at reserveamerica.com

Bolsa Chica State Beach is a popular place for surf fishing for perch, corbina, croaker, cabezon and sand shark. Also popular is in the summer is bare-handed fishing for California grunion, a species that only spawns on sandy southern California beaches. The beach extends three miles from Seal Beach to Huntington Beach City Pier. A bikeway connects it with Huntington State Beach, seven miles south. Wildlife and bird watching are popular.  Across the road from the beach is the 1,000-acre Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, operated by the California Department of Fish and Game. 

Bolsa Chica State Beach features bathrooms, concessions with food, a paved bike and jog path, fire rings for barbeques (first come, first serve basis), a paved parking lot and sand beaches. Orange County Transportation Authority OCTA buses stop regularly at Pacific Coast Highway and Warner Avenue, next to Bolsa Chica State Beach.

Getting to Bolsa Chica State Beach

Exit San Diego Freeway at Bolsa Chica Street when coming from the north; or exit San Diego Freeway at Beach Blvd. when coming from the south. Turn on Pacific Coast Highway till you see the entrance to the state beach between stoplights at Seapoint Street and Warner Ave. in Huntington Beach, CA.

Long Beach is to the north, and Newport Beach is to the South of Huntington Beach. On a clear day you can see Long Beach skyline.

Accommodations / Hotels

Those who prefer a hotel at the beach can sleep in comfort adjacent to the beach at Ramada Ocean Front hotel.  Parking at the hotel is free. There's also a  Jack 'n the Box next door to the beach and a Super Mex across the street. For nightlife, enjoy Blue Cafe, a club that features live bands, J.King Neptune, or Harpoon Harry's.

HISTORY: Bolsa Chica  Circa 3209 BCE

As early as 6,000 B.C., it is believed that Hokan speaking aboriginal tribes occupied the coastal region around Huntington Beach. Artifacts from this group are scant. The sculpture above depicts what local inhabitants likely collected and ate.

There is more information available about the Shoshonean Indians who lived along the coast 1,500 years ago. Semi-permanent villages were built near the beach and were used primarily during the summer months. The tribes then  migrated to foothills of local mountains as temperatures dropped and colder days set in. Probably related to Hopis, Comanches and Utes, they moved around as hunters and gatherers.

One of their villages called Lukupa may have been on the land later inhabited by the Newland family. You can see the Newland's historic house still standing near the corner of Beach Boulevard and Adams Street.

The Shoshoneans had no written language but passed information through song, ceremony, dance, story-telling, petroglyphs and pictographs.

Information from: Huntington Beach , The Gem of the South Coast, by: Diann Marsh 
Hertage Media Corp., 1999, ISBN1-886-483-20-5