Ellen Browning Scripps Park, San Diego, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

Ellen Browning Scripps Park is a long grassy bluff above La Jolla Cove in San Diego, California, lined with palms and open to everyone. It was set aside as public land when La Jolla was first laid out in 1887 and named for the philanthropist who shaped the village. Today it works as La Jolla's front lawn, with the Pacific on one side and the town on the other.

The story behind it

When the speculators Frank Botsford and George Heald planned the village of La Jolla Park in 1887, they reserved the bluff beside the Cove as public land that was never to be sold. That was an unusual choice for men in the business of selling lots, and it is the reason the seafront is a park and not a row of private houses.

Ellen Browning Scripps, a journalist and newspaper heiress, settled in La Jolla in 1896 and lived here until she died in 1932 at the age of 95. Her gifts built much of the town, including the Woman's Club, the library, a hospital, the Children's Pool seawall and the marine laboratory that grew into the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. From 1905 to 1910 that laboratory worked from a small building in this very park, above the rocks of Alligator Head. In 1927 the town renamed the park in her honour, and she kept giving money away for the rest of her life.

What to look for

• The line of palms along the edge of the bluff, which frame the ocean and look their most dramatic when fog rolls in and softens them into grey.
• The rocky point of Alligator Head, where the first small marine laboratory stood a century ago, a modest beginning for what became a world-known oceanographic institution.
• The sea lions you can hear barking from the rocks and water below the railing, especially on a quiet morning.
• The railing along the bluff, where people gather at sunset to watch the light change over the Pacific.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 30 to 60 minutes if you want to stroll the length of the bluff, sit on the grass and watch the water without rushing.
• Come near sunset for the crowds and the colour, or early in the morning for a calmer lawn. On foggy days the park feels empty and atmospheric.
• It is an open public park, so you can walk in at any time of day. Check current conditions before you go, as access to the shoreline can change.
• The Cove, the Children's Pool and the shops and cafes of La Jolla are all close by, so the park fits easily into a longer walk. Keep a respectful distance from the sea lions.

See it on a quest

The park is a pleasant stop on foot, and Ghost Hunt in San Diego is a good way to fold it into a wider walk. You reach the park as one stop on a longer route through the area, the app tells you about the place when you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot. The ghostly theme suits a bluff that turns misty when the fog comes in. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever you like with no guide to meet.