Portuguese Bend Trail to Sacred Cove | Palos Verdes Nature Preserve, CA

The Portuguese Bend Reserve is one of nine reserves that make up the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve, in the southwest corner of Los Angeles County. It is a good place for walking and seeing wildlife and native plants. 

The Portuguese Bend Reserve consists of rolling hills, canyons and rock outcrops. The zone contains coastal sage scrubs habitats, a community of fragrant and drought resistant shrubs and flowering plants.

The well-marked network of trails within this reserve offers an extraordinary scenic views of the Pacific Ocean and the Catalina Island.

View of Catalina Island

The main entrance of the park is near Del Cerro Park, at the end of Crenshaw Boulevard. A wide dirt trail descends towards the Palos Verdes Dr S highway. Then we followed the beach trail down to Sacred Cove.

The Sacred Cove (or Smuggler's Cove) is a deep cove bordered by two prominent points: the Portuguese Point and the Inspiration Point. Sacred Cove beach is mostly rocks with little patches of sand.

You can head out to the Portuguese Point where there are tide pools and a sea cave. We saw sea urchins, anemones, fishes, tiny hermit crabs and a bunch of other sea creatures. If you’re lucky there’s also the possibility of spotting seals and dolphins.

The Sacred Cove