Logo Copyright City of Los Angeles Dept. When Muscle Beach is referred to the words conjure up thoughts of muscular toned bodies, sunshine, sand and the Pacific Ocean.
Muscle Beach is host to physical fitness buffs and tourists alike.
Muscle Beach in Santa Monica was closed in 1959. About the same time Muscle Beach in Santa Monica closed, a less prominent facility in the neighboring community of Venice was hosting a small group of weightlifters. Through the 1960's and 1970's, both tourists and local residents alike began to refer to the Venice Beach Weight Pen as California s existing 'Muscle Beach' - mostly unaware that for several decades in the past, the name had referred to the earlier Santa Monica location.