March 2026: A Message from the CEO
March 6, 2026
Dear Friends of Crystal Cove,
I’ve been thinking lately about the boundaries of Crystal Cove State Park.
They’re clear on a map. But out in the park, they feel less like edges and more like meeting places.
Crystal Cove sits between two coastal communities that shape so much of what “local” means here — Laguna Beach, defined by art and the ocean, and Newport Beach, shaped by sailors, harbors, and life lived on the water. Inland, the trails don’t end at a boundary line; they simply continue into Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. And along the seaward edge, the park opens onto the Pacific — part of a coastline that stays connected across landscapes and continents.
Nature crosses boundaries constantly. So do people. Most of us have had the experience of hiking right past a border without noticing — because the landscape doesn’t announce it, and the experience doesn’t change.
That’s also true of the work.
Next week I’ll be traveling south with a group of supporters to the gray whale lagoons of Baja, where whales that pass our shoreline each winter gather to give birth. When I return, I’ll head in another direction — to Sacramento — to work with our partners at California State Parks on the future of places like this one. In between are the moments that stitch it all together: students at the tidepools, conversations about sharks and ocean science in Laguna, volunteers restoring habitat along backcountry trails.
Like all parks, Crystal Cove has boundaries. But here, those lines are less about where the park ends and more about where connections begin — between ocean and shore, between neighboring communities, and between the people who care for this coastline.
Thank you for being part of that work.
See you around the park,
Kate Wheeler
President & CEO
Read the whole newsletter here: https://conta.cc/40LJcl7