RAT Beach

Nope, this isn’t some sort of coastal rodent hangout. But it is a sort of no-man’s-land of city borders, hence the name—an acronym that by most accounts stands for “right after Torrance.” You could access this stretch of sand from the Torrance County Beach parking lot on the edge of Redondo Beach, but there’s a stealthier approach from the south. Venture into Palos Verdes instead, where you’ll find a free public parking lot at the corner of Via Arroyo and Paseo Del Mar. Toward the eastern end of the lot, the mostly unmarked quarter-of-a-mile-long Malaga Cove Trail will lead you to a picturesque stretch of sand at the bottom of a bluff. The Palos Verdes Peninsula is full of secluded coves, but most of them are uncomfortably rocky or only accessible via dangerous dirt trails. By comparison, RAT Beach is nice and sandy, and the Malaga Cove Trail is mostly paved and not too steep.