
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.
Long before the road or the pier, this stretch of coast was home to the Tongva — the Gabrielino people — who lived along Santa Monica Bay for centuries, fishing its waters and trading along the shore. A Spanish expedition under Portolá camped nearby in 1769 and left the name of a saint on the place; through the Mexican era the land lay in ranchos, and Tongva Park downtown now carries the first people's name at the center of the city.
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.