Las Flores View Point on the El Camino Real

Stop here on your way down for San Diego, it is a beautiful view and a great place to stretch your legs.
Also if you like squirrels these ones have no fear and will come up to you looking for food. You’re not supposed to feed them but I guess enough people do because of how friendly they are.

There are many other and better places to stop at on the 5 for pictures of the landscape. The only interesting thing about this place is the amount of gulls and squirrels there are begging for your food. You can get a few good shots of that. It doesn’t really offer anything else. If you need to stretch your legs before hitting up SD, this would be a good place to do so.

There’s really not much around since it borders Camp Pendleton and is clearly marked US Government Property but that’s not a bad thing. It’s the perfect place to stop get out of the car, stretch, do a little walking around, visit with the sea gulls and the fat little squirrels they all seem to be very friendly and looking for handouts. If you need a restroom there’s one just a few miles up the road but if you don’t this is a much better option. Great scenic view of the ocean, take a breath of the fresh air get recharged and keep heading south it only gets better…

Good view but lots of people stop by to smoke so it gets crowded. Also, people leave a lot of trash (which is sad). You can tell people leave a lot of trash because the birds are super fat here.
Stop by if you need a minute to get fresh air!

When stationed at Camp Pendleton, I used to see the civilians watching us from this little spot. I wondered what the hell could be so interesting about a bunch of Marines running around with no enemy within 6,000 miles. Now I know.

A must stop when you’re driving south on the 5 fwy to San Diego.
It’s easy to miss so once you see signs for Vista Point, start moving to the slow lane. There’s always other people here whenever I stopped by. And while there are signs forbidding people from feeding the wildlife, there seems to always be someone throwing a piece of bread here and there to the seagulls and squirrels. So if that’s your thing, stop on by.
Don’t forget to take a panoramic picture of the view :)

After a LOOONG mind numbing drive thru orchards this is the perfect place to stretch out take a deep breath check out the view and switch drivers. Onward to home sweet home.

Stopping here is a must. EVER single time I’m headed to San Diego, I stop and click off a picture or two. The last time I came through, the Marines were doing some helicopter training just north of us. Pretty cool to watch. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a humvee come flying by on the beach too. Great place for a photo opp, just don’t feed the squirrels– they’re diabetic.

I think I actually checked into the place because Unilocal for some reason does not recognize Vista Point as Vista Point.
Vista Point is a hidden treasure for anyone who is traveling South on the 5 freeway and passed up this vantage point you are missing out. The sign for Vista Point is easily missed as you are driving 80 MPH south of the 5 while looking out for the CHP running Laser/​Radar.
Vista Point is located just past San Clemente so if you see signs for San Clemente get in the far right lane (slow lane) and look out for the small sign that says ‘Vista Point,’ you will not be disappointed that you did.
At Vista Point you are able to view Camp Pendleton and the Pacific Ocean from an elevated position. As you are stretching your legs USMC tanks, Helicopters and personal transport vehicles will pass right below you. While we were there the U.S. Navy (my old employer) & the Marines were running combat drills utilizing all the cool toys I just described, they even waived at us as they flew by and/​or drove by.
At Vista Point signs are posted everywhere advising all visitors to not feed the squirrels and/​or birds, but no one listens, nor did I. I actually was able to hand feed the squirrels part of a multi grain bagel from Starbucks. They would come up, stand on their hind legs and reach up and grab it from you. It was kind of cool feeling their little finger nails scratch against your extended finger as you were offering them food. They knew the drill that to get food for the human folk they had to be nice otherwise people would freak out and that is exactly what happened.
At Vista Point there are no trash cans so make sure whatever you bring with you, you take with you, a little gust of air will blow right toward the Ocean and the plastic cup you brought & placed down for a second or two will now be floating around the Ocean for ²⁰⁄₃₀ years so please make sure you do your part to make sure that does not happen.
Enjoy the view and bring bread and/​or peanuts, the locals will thank you later=)

Just a small little view point right off the 5 freeway. At first I was really confused as to how we were going to get back on the freeway… but it works out. No need to panic ;)
You can stand on a cliff-​ish area and take pictures of the ocean… there were a ton of birds, and some squirrels when we went yesterday.