
Today Santa Monica is California's beach and the end of America's road. Its story runs from the Tongva coast and the senator's 1875 resort, through the amusement-pier era, the birth of Douglas Aircraft, and the 1936 arrival of Route 66, to the solar wheel turning over the Pacific tonight. Wear a little of the place where the road runs out and the ocean begins.
What's with Santa Monica? Santa Monica is where America's road runs out — the beach city at the end of Route 66, wrapped around a wooden amusement pier over the Pacific. It is the Westside's front porch: bluffs and palms above a wide state beach, the Ferris wheel turning on sunlight, and the sign every road-tripper drives two thousand miles to photograph.
Why People Visit Santa Monica
Santa Monica rewards visitors with a rare mix — a historic amusement pier, the western end of Route 66, miles of state beach, and one of America's great walking downtowns, all on a bright Pacific bay. People come for the pier and the End of the Trail, and stay for the sunsets off the bluffs and the easy, salt-aired grace of California's beach city.