Coast · Landmark · Book P.45
Santa Monica Pier
About
Santa Monica Pier dates to 1909 and is the symbolic end of Route 66. Out on the pier: Pacific Park (a solar-powered Ferris wheel and a roller coaster), a historic carousel, restaurants and people fishing. Busy all day, lit up at night, and packed at sunset. The paid lots nearby fill up fast on weekends.
Jasmine says
A Ferris wheel, a carousel, the Route 66 end-of-the-trail sign.
Touristy? Very.
But at sunset,
it still makes you forgive all the crowds.
A first-timer classic, but you have to stay for sunset.
Jasmine’s notes
- Santa MonicaVery touristy but still worth it; one whiff of the sea breeze and you know you're in California. Don't leave before sunset. LA's living room by the sea: the Ferris wheel, the 1922 Looff Hippodrome carousel, and where Forrest Gump ran to before turning around. Where Forrest decides to turn around at the Pacific in Forrest Gump; the old carousel on the pier is where Paul Newman's character lives in The Sting.Order: Stand on the pier at dusk and watch the sun drop into the ocean
- Address
- 200 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA 90401
- Website
- santamonicapier.org →
Where I wrote about it
- First Time in LA
- Every LA Itinerary
- Taiwanese folks in LA come in about 6 kinds
- The LA beach town guide | Same Pacific, so why is every beach town different?
- So THAT's where the movie was shot | The LA film location map 2026
Open on the interactive map →Open in Google Maps →The full page on the LA Guide →