Boardwalk

Head down to Newport Beach and park around 36th street. This is the start of the boardwalk, but if you want a shorter hike you can start anywhere along the boardwalk. There is access everywhere. I usually start where ever I can find a parking place. Head toward Newport Pier which is south. The trail is concrete and well marked. You'll pass Newport Pier, Newport Elementary School, Balboa Pier and finally end up where the boardwalk dead ends at E street. At that point you turn around and come back. All the while you'll have houses on one side of you and the ocean on the other side. You can add distance by hiking down both piers. This provides excellent views of the sun set. To make it more difficult you can do the same hike in the sand at the beach. There are no barriers and you can hike underneath each pier. For that matter this is only a small part of the beach. You can continue hiking to the wedge [south] or the Santa Ana River Jetty [north]. There is quite a large channel that is not crossable at the wedge and you can watch the boats come and go. To the north there is an easy to follow road or trail all the way up North to Bolsa Chica State Beach.