Will Rogers State Beach


Will Rogers State Beach is a beach park on the Santa Monica Bay, at the Pacific coast of Southern California. Located in Pacific Palisades, the beach is owned by the California Department of Parks and Recreation; however, it is managed and maintained by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. A section just south of the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Entrada Drive is popular within the LGBT community and is therefore considered Los Angeles' unofficial gay beach; this section is often referred to as Ginger Rogers Beach.

Overview

The beach extends one and three quarters miles along the coast.
It has many facilities, including volleyball courts, gymnastic equipment, restrooms, a playground, and a bike path. The bike path is part of the South Bay Bicycle Trail and extends along the shore to Torrance, California. The Beach is also a popular surf spot.
Many films and television shows have been filmed at the beach, including Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Kiss, La Belle dame sans merci, Summer Children, Holidays with Heather, and Hangman. Also, the television show Baywatch was shot at the beach before it moved to Hawaii.
In the sea near Will Rogers State Beach at Sunset Blvd., there is the grounding electrode of the Pacific DC Intertie.

History

The beach is named after actor Will Rogers. In the 1920s, Rogers bought the land and developed a ranch along the coast. He owned along the coast in what is now Pacific Palisades. Rogers died in a plane crash in 1935. Then when his widow, Betty, died in 1944, the ranch became a state park.