The Abandoned Mushroom House on Blacks Beach San Diego

About the Abandoned Mushroom House on Blacks Beach San Diego

A unique mushroom-shaped building hides at the bottom of the cliffs at Blacks Beach. The architect Dal Nagle designed and built it in 1968 to withstand naturally occurring rock slides, earthquakes, and waves. The original name was the Bell Pavillion (for Sam Bell of Bell’s Potato Chips), and you could access it from the cliffs via a nearly vertical tramway running almost 300 feet down the cliff. It was also used as a guest house, offering a 180-degree view from Torrey Pines State Park to La Jolla.

Rumors say UCSD last owned it as a place for professors and administrators to take a sabbatical. You can’t enter the house since it’s private property, but we enjoyed taking photos and relaxing on the beach.

See More: Secret Surf Trail – Ho Chi Minh Trail San Diego

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Directions to the Mushroom House

The Mushroom House has an official address: 9036 La Jolla Shores Ln, La Jolla, CA 92037 (map)

It is tucked away in the cliffs on the south side of Torrey Pines City Beach / Black’s Beach. To get there, you can either take the Ho Chi Minh Trail or hike down the paved road just north of the house. Once you arrive at the beach, just go south, and you can’t miss it. Here is a map of the trail that we took with the Mushroom House marked on it.

If you’ve explored the beaches in San Diego, you’ll know that Blacks Beach is also the nude beach in San Diego. If you want to go nude, you can find the nude side at the north end of the beach.

See More: Ultimate Guide to San Diego Beaches Bucket List

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Our Experience

We headed out to the area primarily for the Ho Chi Minh Trail. We took our time exploring different angles and seeing the beautiful landscapes before making our way down the beach. As we headed towards the road that would take us back to the car, we saw the Mushroom House in the distance and couldn’t resist getting closer to see it in person.

Since we didn’t know what it was, it was fun to speculate before doing research. It was also an awesome spot to hang out during sunset. Since we found the house, we ended up spending another 45 minutes at the beach enjoying the scenery before leaving.

See More: 25 Free Things to Do in San Diego

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Have you checked out the abandoned Mushroom House or what about any other abandoned spots near you?