Overview
About Bluebird Canyon
Bluebird Canyon runs inland from South Coast Highway along one spine, Bluebird Canyon Drive, which climbs the canyon floor and throws off short residential ways up both slopes. The City of Laguna Beach draws the canyon as evacuation zone 4 and records 403 households inside it. Across 150 acres the county assessor counts 417 parcels on twenty-four named streets, and the city's zoning layer places 424 of its 441 parcels in R1, so the canyon is detached single-family ground almost end to end.
Twenty-five acres inside the boundary are open space preserve and twenty-one acres fall inside the mapped coastal zone. The city's seismic hazard landslide layer covers 100 acres of the canyon, two thirds of its area, and a short public trail runs near the canyon mouth. Laguna Beach Unified serves the canyon from four campuses and 2,291 students, with El Morro and Top of the World elementaries feeding Thurston Middle and then Laguna Beach High.
View available homes in Bluebird CanyonHistory
How Bluebird Canyon was built
Bluebird Canyon was Laguna’s water before it was anybody’s address. Nate Brooks and his brother William bought and subdivided this canyon after they settled in 1876, and Nate piped and tunneled the water out of these hills down to Arch Beach. Through the 1880s and 1890s the canyon was also the divider that kept Laguna Beach and Arch Beach two separate towns, each with its own store, hotel and post office.
The best story on the hillside arrives in 1932. Los Angeles built an athletes’ village for that summer’s Olympic Games, five hundred small cottages each housing three or four men, and when the Games ended a local developer bought cottages and hauled them down to the ocean view slopes of Laguna Beach. The streets went up with the houses and took the athletes’ names: Wykoff for the sprinter Frank Wykoff of the 400 meter relay, Madison for the swimmer Helen Madison of the 100 meter freestyle, and Crabbe for Buster Crabbe of the 400 meter freestyle. Original 1932 cottages are still buried inside houses here. Later that summer Laguna artists launched the first Festival of Arts, staged to catch the Olympic crowds on their way home and to carry the town through the Depression.
By the Numbers
Bluebird Canyon by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Bluebird Canyon lifestyle
Laguna Beach occupies 8.84 square miles with a population of about 23,000 and roughly six million visitors a year on the city's own count, and provides its own police, fire and marine safety protection.
Beaches north of Aliso Creek close between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.; beaches south of the creek close between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.; Thousand Steps Beach closes between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
The city permits surfing at Agate, Brooks, Rockpile and Thalia Street beaches. Smoking fines on city beaches, parks and trails run $100, then $200, then $500 within twelve months.
Schools
Schools serving Bluebird Canyon
Laguna Beach Unified serves Bluebird Canyon along with the rest of the city, from four campuses and 2,291 students on the 2024-25 federal count: El Morro Elementary 404, Top of the World Elementary 536, Thurston Middle 524 and Laguna Beach High 815. Attendance is set by the district and can change, so confirm the current assignment for a specific address with the district before relying on it.
K-5 · 404 students
K-5 · 536 students
6-8 · 524 students
9-12 · 815 students
FAQs
Common questions about Bluebird Canyon
How big is Bluebird Canyon and how is it laid out?
The city's own boundary encloses 150 acres, drawn as evacuation zone 4, with 403 households on the city record. The assessor counts 417 parcels on twenty-four named streets, nearly all of them reached from the single spine of Bluebird Canyon Drive. The city's zoning layer places 424 of the canyon's 441 parcels in R1.
Which schools serve Bluebird Canyon?
Laguna Beach Unified serves the whole city from four campuses and 2,291 students on the 2024-25 federal count: El Morro Elementary 404, Top of the World Elementary 536, Thurston Middle 524 and Laguna Beach High 815. Elementary assignment is set by the district and can change, so confirm the current one for a specific address with the district office.
When was Bluebird Canyon built?
Ten tracts were recorded over the canyon between 1932 and 1964, beginning with Tract 989 in 1932 and finishing with two Winston I. Keerl tracts in 1963 and 1964. Construction ran later than the platting: half the canyon's houses date to 1963 or earlier on the assessor's roll, and the 1960s and 1970s were the heaviest decades for building.
What is the landslide history here?
The western part of the canyon slid in 1978, destroying 24 homes, and a second landslide followed in 2005, both recorded in the Laguna Beach Historical Society's chronology. The city's seismic hazard landslide layer covers 100 acres of the canyon today, two thirds of its area. Ask for the geotechnical file and any city-issued reports on a specific property.
What are the beach and park rules in Laguna Beach?
No alcohol at any age, no smoking in any public area, no fires at city beaches, no balloons and no single-use plastic food service ware at parks, beaches or trails. Smoking fines run $100, then $200, then $500 within twelve months. Beaches north of Aliso Creek close between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., and those south of the creek between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.