The Dana Headlands Public Funicular

The city sold out and ruined the last pristine untouched beautiful coastline and cliffs in the O.C.
Everytime I come here I shed a tear over how it used to look. ;(
Now its over run with obnoxious tourists who have to use a electronic funicular to get their fat butts down to the beach and back up again, and cluttered with huge-​a$$ McMansions barely a foot apart all the way down the hillside.
I hear there are plans to tear apart the marina and make way for more chain restaurants and Baby Gaps… gawd forbid they should leave any place on the Cali coast genuine…
Shame on you, Dana Point.

This thing is pretty cool… like a smaller modern version of the Angel’s Flight funicular on Bunker Hill, Los Angeles. It seemed like it had a lot of mechanical trouble at first and was out of order a lot. Now it seems to be running pretty regularly. Inside it’s small like an office building elevator. Unlike most elevators, people seem to open up socially and are quite chatty for Southern California based on my experience.
The disabled should be aware that there is a steep 250 foot asphalt ramp between the bottom of the ride and the beach itself that might be an issue .
I mostly take the adjoining stairs for exercise on my daily walk to Strand Beach, but it’s nice to know this little «railway» will be there for me in my decrepit old age! Strand Beach Park is just awesome, with FREE parking. Thanks to the City of Dana Point for providing this free amenity. If only neighboring Laguna Beach wasn’t so damn money grubbing with their ripoff parking fees.

What already has the word ‘fun’ in it, is free, and barks like a dog? (at least it used to until they greased it or sumthin’)
The Dana Headlands Funicular! Now come on, it already gets a handful of stars for being fun to say. say it with me now: Fun-​ICK-​U-​Lar (gotta love the 4 syllable words!)
I had never heard of such a thing before but have already been to it twice since Dec. while visiting my grandma. it’s sort of become a nice thing to do when getting the family together ever since it opened (end of Dec. 2009). There is really only so much adventure/​stimulation in strolling down the boardwalk of Dana Point, after all.
So in short, this is a small, glass cart that travels up and down the hill connecting the Strands beach to the parking lot above. Apparently it was created as an appeasement to the public for the Über-​wealthy real estate being built along the beach (you can read about it on the site)
This thing seriously travels like a snail and has about a 10 – 15 minute turnaround if you just missed the boat (or had to wait b/​c its too packed to enter). It really is super impractical and seems to be a reverse psychology for getting exercise since the alternative for impatient people is walking up the giant staircase.
but let’s face it, it’s all about the novelty factor, and it’s basically a free «disney land ride» — i.e. an excruciating wait for a few minutes of fun.
Currently it’s running on the off season schedule (weekends and holidays only). I cannot imagine what madness will ensue when summer hits… given its already gotten a lot of attention and is always a full ride when ive gone.
Might end up being the less-​than-​fun-​icular experience. we’ll see!