California has no legally designated nude beach, yet it has more well-known clothing-optional beaches than any other state. Every one of them exists by tolerance: a city, county or park agency has decided not to enforce a rule that is still on the books, and that tolerance has survived for decades at Black's, Baker, San Gregorio and Red Rock because the regulars have kept the beaches clean and the complaints few.
The legal picture
Two rules matter. Title 14, section 4322 of the California Code of Regulations prohibits nudity in the state park system. From 1979 that rule was softened by the Cahill policy, a memo from State Parks director Russell Cahill calling nudity a "victimless crime" and instructing rangers to act only on a private complaint. State Parks rescinded the policy at San Onofre as of Labor Day 2008, citing conditions on the Trail 6 beach; the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled in June 2009 that the policy had been an "underground regulation" never validly adopted, and the California Supreme Court declined to hear the case in October 2009. Rangers may now cite without a complaint, and they have at San Onofre. The second rule is local: cities such as San Diego ban nudity on their own beaches, and Los Angeles County has banned it on county beaches since the 1970s. The result is a map of tolerance, and the beaches below are where that tolerance has held. The California beach listings record enforcement changes as members report them.
Black's Beach, San Diego
Black's is the biggest and best known. It sits under 300 foot bluffs below Torrey Pines, about a mile north of La Jolla Shores, and it is split in two. The southern part is Torrey Pines City Beach, where San Diego banned nudity in 1977 and lifeguards enforce the rule. The northern part, roughly 1.1 miles from just south of the gliderport trail to the beached buoy past Flatrock Point, is managed by State Parks and has been the clothing-optional section for fifty years: prohibited by section 4322, tolerated in practice, with lifeguards usually on duty until 6 pm.
Access is the problem. The gliderport trail carries a city "Do Not Use" sign because the cliff is unstable, the paved Salk Canyon road is gated for UC San Diego use, and the walk south from Torrey Pines State Beach lost its path around Flatrock Point to a collapse in summer 2024, leaving a rock scramble or a wade at low tide. Check the tide tables and the listing before you choose a route, and never sit under the cliff.
Baker Beach, San Francisco
Baker is federal land in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a mile of sand with the bridge at the north end, and the National Park Service itself describes the north end as "a well-known clothing optional area." It is the most urban nude beach in the country, a short walk from the Presidio parking lots, and the south end is a textile family beach, so the boundary matters. Fog and wind are the real enemies; the water is cold year-round and there are no lifeguards. Marshall's Beach, just north over the rocks, is quieter and also clothing-optional.
San Gregorio, San Mateo County
San Gregorio, off Highway 1 south of Half Moon Bay, is the oldest nude beach in the United States, run privately since 1967 with a fee charged at the gate for the parking lot and access road; the sand itself is public. It is two miles of beach, driftwood shelters and a long tradition of a naturist end and a textile end. In July 2026 the Peninsula Open Space Trust bought the 238 acre ranch for $10 million to donate to California State Parks, and the property opened to the public as an extension of San Gregorio State Beach from 8 am to sunset. Neither agency has said what happens to clothing-optional use once State Parks takes over, and section 4322 would apply. Check the listing; this is the one California beach whose status may change this year.
Red Rock Beach, Marin County
Red Rock is about a mile south of Stinson Beach, reached by a steep, rough trail down from Highway 1. It is small, sheltered and has been clothing-optional for generations; the climb keeps the crowd to people who meant to come. There is no parking lot to speak of, so arrive early and park legally on the shoulder.
More Mesa, Santa Barbara County
More Mesa is a bluff-top open space between Santa Barbara and Goleta whose beach below has a long informal naturist tradition. It has no designation and no facilities, and it is reached by a trail across the mesa. Treat it as tolerated and check the listing for current access and enforcement.
Beaches that are gone or enforced
San Onofre's Trail 6 beach, once the most popular nude beach in Southern California, has been enforced since 2009. Los Angeles County beaches have been textile by ordinance for decades. Any list that still includes them is out of date, and any ordinary state beach is subject to section 4322 whatever its reputation. When in doubt, the US nudity law guide explains how to find the rule for a specific beach.
Etiquette that matters more in California
- Tolerance is fragile. Every beach above survives on an absence of complaints. Keep the etiquette tighter here than anywhere else.
- Stay inside the traditional section. At Black's and Baker the line between the nude end and the textile end is where the complaints come from.
- Cliffs and tides. Black's, Red Rock and More Mesa all involve bluffs and trails; the sea cuts off the Black's walk at high tide.
Californians are the second-largest naturist community on the site. California members list their beach on their profiles, the San Diego and San Francisco pages are where Black's and Baker regulars gather, and the beach listings carry the trail and enforcement updates.