Overview
About Big Bend
Big Bend is the wide turn in Laguna Canyon Road where the canyon opens out, and the named area takes in the canyon floor and the ridges on both sides, on Castle Rock Road, Castle Rock Way, Raquel Road, Stan Oak Drive and Gunderson Drive off the highway. The city draws it as evacuation zone 6 and records 150 households inside it. Across 438 acres the assessor counts only 153 parcels on nine named streets, and the zoning is industrial before it is residential: 78 parcels carry a light manufacturing designation against 37 in R1.
Three hundred and fifty-two of the 438 acres are open space preserve, and 212 acres belong to the two county wilderness parks, 153 to Laguna Coast and 58 to Aliso and Wood Canyons. The Big Bend parking lot on Laguna Canyon Road is one of five staging areas into Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and the one with equestrian trailer parking. There are 2.42 miles of city trail inside the boundary and 1.32 miles of wilderness park trail. Laguna Beach Unified serves the canyon from four campuses and 2,291 students.
View available homes in Big BendHistory
How Big Bend was built
An 1841 Mexican map recorded the lakes at this canyon’s upper end as the only spring fed lakes in what is now Orange County, and the Spanish name for the ground was Cañada de las Lagunas, the glen of the lagoons. The canyon itself was cut by San Diego Creek grinding through the San Joaquin Hills as they rose over roughly 1.22 million years, and when the creek later changed course the canyon was left behind as a wind gap. Until Coast Highway opened in 1926, the long winding canyon road was the main way in and out of Laguna Beach.
Big Bend is the hard turn in that road. In 1989 somewhere between eight and eleven thousand people walked the canyon to stop the 3,200 unit Laguna Laurel housing plan, and Laguna Coast Wilderness Park was established in 1993 on the land they were walking to save.
By the Numbers
Big Bend by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Big Bend 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 Big Bend
Laguna Beach Unified serves Big Bend 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 Big Bend
What is Big Bend?
The wide turn in Laguna Canyon Road where the canyon opens out, and the city's name for evacuation zone 6, a 438-acre area taking in the canyon floor and the ridges either side. The assessor counts only 153 parcels on nine named streets inside it, with 150 households on the city record, so it is among the least densely built parts of the city.
Which schools serve Big Bend?
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.
Is Big Bend residential?
Only partly. Of the 160 parcels the city zones inside the boundary, 78 carry a light manufacturing designation and 37 are R1, with 25 more in residential hillside protection. The canyon floor along Laguna Canyon Road is the city's industrial ground, and the ridges either side are largely park. Check the zone on a specific parcel with the city before assuming what may be built.
How do I get into the wilderness park from here?
The Big Bend parking lot on Laguna Canyon Road, roughly a mile south of the El Toro Road intersection, is one of five staging areas into Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and the one that takes equestrian trailers. The park covers 7,000 acres with forty miles of trails, day use runs 7:00 a.m. to sunset, parking is three dollars daily, dogs are not permitted, and trails may close for three days or more after rain.
How did the canyon become protected land?
Through a local campaign. A march to save Laguna Canyon in November 1989 was followed by a bond measure Laguna Beach voters passed in November 1990, and in 1991 the city's voters chose four to one to tax themselves to acquire land, leaving Laguna surrounded by 22,000 protected acres. Laguna Coast Wilderness Park opened on April 10, 1993, and the Laguna Canyon Foundation has continued buying parcels around the bend since, including four acres in 2012.