Thanks to Instagram I learned that the Colinas Bluff trail has a secret swing in Laguna Niguel. I saved the post and put this hike on my to-do list. The only problem was that the post on Instagram shared no information on how to get to the swing.
*Someone recently said they could not find it, so the swing might have been taken down.
I googled it and all I could find was a post on the FotoSpot website that said to park at the dog park and it would be a mile from there. Never once did anyone give clear or direct information about the trail or getting to the swing. My goal with this post is to give you all the information that you’ll need.
I spoke about secret swings with LA influencer Brenda Cisneros. She has been to more Secret Swings than anyone else I know which is why I am now referring to her as the queen of the Secret Swings. If you want ideas of things to do for fun in LA check out her Instagram. You can listen to us talk about secret swings on the newest episode of the LA Dreaming Podcast. You can listen to the podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, or Podbean.
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I parked at the pooch park per the information on the Fotospot app. Do yourself a favor and park much closer. Only park at the pooch park if the other parking lot is full. I recommend parking at 30241 Golden Lantern, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677. This is the shopping center parking lot. By parking, at the pooch park, you are adding on roughly 1.8 miles each way.
The shopping center pictured above is directly across from the entrance to the Colinas Bluff Trial. If you do decide to park at the pooch park you will need to get out on the sidewalk on Golden Road and take that down to the trail entrance, again roughly 1.8 miles away each way. Since the trail I was looking for was not clear to me in the Instagram post I went the wrong way and did so much more walking than I needed to.
We wound up not taking Golden Lantern down to the trail but going under Golden Lantern and winding up on a dirt trail above some houses. This trail is something I would recommend avoiding by taking the sidewalk on the street. We heard rattlesnakes and were told by another family that they saw them. It is a very steep trail. However, it got much more beautiful and scenic the closer we got to the swing.
This is the gate that is the entrance to the Colinas Bluff trail. Once you walk across the street from the shopping center all you need to do is go past the gate and walk up the hill. Once you reach the stop you’ll find a fork in the road. Follow the trail to left and you’ll shortly be at the secret swing. It should be about a mile or a little more from the parking lot. Because I was not given directions and parked further away I ended up walking about 6.8 miles total.
After you check out the swing if you want to go a much longer way back you can start walking the opposite way (the way I came) and you’ll see a great view of the ridge. The swing is at the top of the ridge pictured above.
The bench says it is dedicated to all of the front-line Covid workers so it is a new addition. We had the place to ourselves which was wonderful for really getting to enjoy the space. The swing is great for posing on but it doesn’t really allow for much swinging.
I am so thrilled that I found it and was even more thrilled to find a better way to get there. We decided to see where the trail continued which is how we found the entrance and the shopping center. I would definitely do this hike again with the knowledge that I have now. It was a really fun hike but much longer than I had anticipated due to not really knowing where I was going.
You can read about the secret swing in Los Angeles also!
