Quick answer
The Santa Monica Pier is a landmark at the foot of Colorado Avenue, combining the old Municipal Pier, the Looff Hippodrome, Pacific Park, fishing spots, and ocean views. Walk the deck, watch anglers, and look for the solar Ferris wheel.
Full transcript
Arrival at Colorado Avenue
Stand at the foot of Colorado Avenue and look for the arched sign that frames the pier entrance. This is where the city's shoreline narrows into a wooden deck over the Pacific Ocean. The pier opened on September nine, nineteen hundred nine as the Municipal Pier, a long slender structure meant to carry sewage out to sea while giving people a place to walk and fish. Notice how the entrance mixes painted wood, railings, concession stands, and the smell of salt. The landmark designation came later, on August seventeen, nineteen seventy-six, but the original purpose still shapes the view. Walk toward the water, stop at the railing, and watch the waves break against the pilings.
The Municipal and Pleasure Piers
Move north along the deck and compare the two side-by-side piers. The northern section is the older Municipal Pier, while the southern section was built in nineteen sixteen as a pleasure pier by Charles Looff. Looff began by carving merry-go-round horses, and his refined amusements included a bandstand, a ballroom, and rides. The La Monica Ballroom arrived in nineteen twenty-four, adding a west-end dance hall that later sheltered troops during the war. Look for the Looff Hippodrome, where the original carousel sits beneath hand-carved wooden horses. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Step inside the Hippodrome, find a carved horse, and notice how the wooden animals seem to move even when the carousel is still.
Pacific Park and the West End
Continue west toward Pacific Park, where the solar panelled Ferris wheel rises above the roller coaster lights. The park sits on the pier's amusement side, but the pier's working waterfront remains visible: the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, operated by Heal the Bay, brings ocean life indoors, while anglers gather at the west end with rods aimed at the surf. At dusk, the bright wheel can be seen from a distance, and the deck becomes a mix of music, concession stands, and sea air. Stop at the railing near the end, look down at the pilings, then turn back toward the city skyline. Watch the Ferris wheel lights begin to glow against the fading sky.