Best Beaches Near Apple Valley, CA in Fall for Toddlers
In fall, the best toddler beach within reach of Apple Valley is on the coast, not in the mountains: Baby Beach in Dana Point Harbor is shallow, waveless, free to park at, and open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. all year. If the drive is the deciding factor, Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area is the closest real swim beach, about half an hour up Highway 138, and it stays open through winter on 7 AM to 7 PM hours for $10.
The eleven beaches split on two questions a parent asks in October. Is the swim area still open after Labor Day (three of the five lakes say no)? And is there surf? The four harbor and bay beaches sit behind a breakwater or inside a bay with no surf (at Cabrillo, that means the inner beach), while Corona del Mar and Doheny are open ocean with calmer corners.
Our picks
- Shortest drive from Apple Valley: Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area. About half an hour away in Hesperia, with two sandy swim beaches open year-round for $10 a vehicle; read the algae advisory the morning you go.
- Waveless water for a first swim: Baby Beach, Dana Point Harbor. A shallow strip roped off from boat traffic, free parking a few yards from the sand, and open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
- Something to do after the water: Cabrillo Beach, San Pedro. The inner beach sits behind the breakwater, with a children's play area, a fishing pier and a marine aquarium right behind the sand, for $9.
- Open ocean with lifeguards in October: Doheny State Beach. State Parks lifeguards patrol year-round, and the swim area and picnic lawn sit well south of the surf break, for $15.
- Watching the swings and the shallows at once: Mother's Beach at Marine Park, Long Beach. The playground at the north end is within sight of the sand, and Alamitos Bay takes the ocean motion out of the water.
At a glance
| Option | Day Use Fee | Address | Water Type | Swim Beach Season | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10source | 13990 Sawpit Canyon Rd, Hesperia, CA, 92345source | Lakesource | Open year-roundsource | 7 AM-7 PM daily (Oct 1-Mar 31)source | |
| $17source | 24171 Lake Dr., Crestline, CA 92325source | Lakesource | Summer onlysource | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.source | |
| $10source | 41218 Park Ave, Big Bear Lake, California 92315source | Lakesource | Summer onlysource | Fri-Sun, 11 AM-4 PM in seasonsource | |
| $10source | 17801 Lake Perris Drive, Perris CA, 92571source | Lakesource | Open year-roundsource | 6 AM-10 PM daily (Mar 9-Nov 2)source | |
| $15source | 120 Via Verde Park Rd. San Dimas CA 91773source | Lakesource | Summer onlysource | Wed-Sun, 6 AM-8 PM (Mar 1-Oct 31)source | |
| Freesource | 34451 Ensenada Place, Dana Point, CA 92629source | Harbor or baysource | Open year-roundsource | 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. dailysource | |
| 4101 Admiralty Way Marina del Rey CA 90292source | Harbor or baysource | Open year-roundsource | Open during daylight hourssource | ||
| 5839 Appian Way Long Beach, CA 90803source | Harbor or baysource | ||||
| $9source | 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro, CA 90731source | Harbor or baysource | Open year-roundsource | 5:30 am - 10:30 pmsource | |
| $35.4source | 3001 Ocean Blvd, Newport Beach, CAsource | Oceansource | Open year-roundsource | 6am-10pm 7 days a weeksource | |
| $15source | 25300 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point, CA, 92629source | Oceansource | Open year-roundsource | 6:00 AM - 10:00 PM Dailysource |
Lake swim beaches that shut after Labor Day
Three of the five lakes are summer-only swim places. Lake Gregory Regional Park runs its beach Memorial Day through Labor Day, so a fall visit there means trails, fishing and the dog park. The Swim Beach at Meadow Park in Big Bear Lake has already closed for the year. At Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park the park stays open Wednesday to Sunday, but the swim beach is staffed only in summer and on days the county chooses.
Two lakes keep their beaches open on a shorter off-season schedule. Silverwood posts 7 AM to 7 PM from October 1 to March 31, and Lake Perris State Recreation Area posts 6 AM to 10 PM through November 2, with a wide, flat beach at Sail Cove where a toddler can potter. Both are $10 a vehicle, and at Perris swimming outside the staffed season is at your own risk.
Harbor water, open ocean, and who is on the tower
Water Type is the column that decides whether a two-year-old can stand up in the water. Baby Beach, Marina "Mother's" Beach in Marina del Rey, Mother's Beach in Long Beach and the inner beach at Cabrillo all sit behind a breakwater or inside a bay. On the ocean side, Corona del Mar State Beach has a calm jetty end for wading while the open stretch draws surfers, and Doheny keeps its swim area south of the break.
Lifeguards thin out in fall almost everywhere here. Baby Beach is guarded only in summer, Long Beach's Mother's Beach during peak periods, and Doheny's towers are staffed from about Memorial Day to Labor Day even though its lifeguards patrol year-round. Marina del Rey's beach, renovated by the county in July 2026 with a beach access mat and an expanded restroom building, has lifeguards in daylight hours.
What the day use fee covers
The fees count different things. Silverwood, Lake Perris, Bonelli and Doheny charge per vehicle; Lake Gregory ($17) and the Big Bear swim beach ($10) charge per person, with under-threes free. Corona del Mar's $35.40 is the daily cap on a metered city lot that does not take the state parks annual pass, and its October to April weekday rate is roughly a third of summer's, so a short fall weekday visit costs far less than that figure.
The options in detail
Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area
The closest place to Apple Valley with an actual swimming beach, about half an hour up Highway 138 in the San Bernardino National Forest. It is a State Water Project reservoir with two sandy swim beaches, and the park keeps shorter hours rather than closing for winter, so a fall afternoon on the sand is realistic even after the lifeguards go home. The catch is water quality: the Department of Water Resources tests weekly for harmful algae and posts a separate advisory per beach, and Cleghorn Beach has been carrying a warning, so read the park's advisory page the morning you drive up. Dogs are not allowed on the beach or in the water.
Lake Gregory Regional Park
A mountain lake in Crestline, run for San Bernardino County by the Lake Gregory Recreation Company, with a roped swim beach, a splash pad and an inflatable water park on the water. It is the closest lake to Apple Valley that is built specifically around small children, and passes are sold per person rather than per car, with under-threes free. Everything on the water is a summer operation: the beach runs Memorial Day through Labor Day and the swim beaches themselves only from mid-June, so a fall visit means the trails, the dog park, fishing and non-powered boating instead.
Swim Beach at Meadow Park, Big Bear Lake
Big Bear Lake's only stretch of shoreline designed and staffed for swimming, tucked inside Meadow Park on the south shore with a sandy beach, a snack bar and lifeguards on duty during open hours. Admission is per person with under-threes free, which makes it a cheap, well-supervised first lake swim at 6,700 feet. It is also strictly a summer operation, open Friday through Sunday only in its last season and already closed for the year, so treat it as a plan for next June rather than a fall option.
Lake Perris State Recreation Area
A big reservoir south of Riverside with a long sandy shoreline and designated swim areas, and the only lake here besides Silverwood that stays open through the winter on a shorter schedule. The drive from Apple Valley is longer than the mountain lakes but it is nearly all freeway, and the shallow beach at Sail Cove is wide and flat enough for a toddler to potter around in. Swimming outside the staffed season is at your own risk, and dogs are kept off the sand and out of the water because the lake is a municipal drinking-water source.
Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park
An 1,800-acre Los Angeles County park in San Dimas wrapped around Puddingstone Reservoir, with a designated sand swim beach, children's play areas and shaded group picnic shelters. The park itself runs Wednesday through Sunday all year, which makes it a reasonable fall afternoon even when nobody is getting in the water. The swim beach is the summer-only part, staffed Memorial Day to Labor Day and on days the county chooses, so call the park before you count on swimming in September.
Baby Beach, Dana Point Harbor
The best water in this table for a toddler: a shallow, waveless strip inside Dana Point Harbor, roped off from boat traffic and warm by mid-afternoon. Parking is free and the lots and grass sit a few yards from the sand, which matters when you are carrying a cooler and a child at once. Lifeguards only work it in summer, and it is a working harbor rather than a postcard, so do not expect clear water or white sand. The lots fill early on weekends and there is a designated launch area at the south end where kayaks and paddleboards go in, so keep the blanket clear of the cones.
Marina "Mother's" Beach, Marina del Rey
A man-made beach on the inside of Marina del Rey with no surf at all, a children's playground a few steps from the water, and picnic tables, barbecues, showers and restrooms along the sand. Los Angeles County finished a renovation here in July 2026 that rebuilt and expanded the restroom building, added picnic shelters and a promenade, and laid a beach access mat, so it is in better shape than it has been in years. Lifeguards work daylight hours and there are restaurants within walking distance. It is a long drive from Apple Valley for a beach with no waves, so it earns the trip mainly if you are already headed to the Westside.
Mother's Beach at Marine Park, Long Beach
Long Beach's family beach, on the north eastern side of Naples Island just below Marine Stadium, where sitting inside Alamitos Bay takes the ocean motion out of the water entirely. The playground is at the north end within sight of the sand, so one adult can watch the swings and the shallows at the same time, and a big grassy picnic area with shade trees rings the parking lot. Lifeguards cover it during peak periods rather than all year. Mom's Beach House Cafe on the pier is open weekends if the picnic plan falls through.
Cabrillo Beach, San Pedro
Two beaches on one point at the mouth of Los Angeles Harbor: the inner beach sits behind the breakwater and is the calm one, while the outer beach faces open ocean a few yards away and draws surfers. The inner side has a roped-off swim area, a children's play area, a fishing pier and the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium right behind the sand, which gives you somewhere to take a toddler who is done with the water. It keeps long hours, from before dawn until late at night, and dogs are not allowed on the beach.
Corona del Mar State Beach
Big Corona is a half-mile of sand tucked behind cliffs and the rock jetty that forms the east entrance to Newport Harbor, and the jetty end is calm enough for small children to wade while the open stretch draws surfers and divers. It is a real ocean beach with fire rings, volleyball nets, restrooms and outdoor showers, open the same hours seven days a week all year. Parking is the sore point: the city runs the lot on an hourly meter with a high daily cap, it does not accept the state parks annual day use pass, and the October to April weekday rate is roughly a third of the summer one, which is a real argument for going in fall.
Doheny State Beach
California's first state beach, and the most forgiving open-ocean beach on this list for young children, because the well-known surf break sits at the north end of the park and the swimming and picnic lawn are well south of it. State Parks lifeguards patrol year-round even though the towers are only staffed from about Memorial Day to Labor Day, and behind the sand there is a visitor center with tidepool and ocean tanks, a paved beachfront path and a campground. It is one of the few beaches here genuinely set up for an off-season weekday visit.
How we researched this
Apple Valley has no swimming water of its own, so the table pairs the nearest lakes with calm-water beaches on the Orange County and Los Angeles coast, plus two gentler ocean beaches. A place counted only if it has a public beach you can swim from. That ruled out Mojave Narrows Regional Park in Victorville, the closest water to town, whose lakes are for fishing; the Yucaipa, Cucamonga-Guasti and Glen Helen swim complexes, which are pools open weekends through Labor Day; and Lake Arrowhead, whose beaches are private. Santa Monica and Bolsa Chica are open-surf beaches with no protected swim area. Seal Beach and Newport Dunes may belong here, but their own pages gave us no fee, season or address to cite.
Long Beach publishes no fee, season or hours for Mother's Beach at Marine Park, and the Marina del Rey lot rate sits in a file we could not read while outside parking sites disagree, so those cells are empty rather than guessed. We did not add a drive-time column because no source gives distances from Apple Valley; the map does that job. On the morning of a fall trip, check Silverwood's weekly algae advisory, whether Bonelli's swim beach is staffed, and whether a lifeguard will be on duty at all.