If you are thinking of enjoying one of California’s clothing optional beaches, you should know the laws before you go. It’s a complicated situation, and the law depends on where you go.
You can avoid legal hassles by going to a private clothing optional resort in California.
Nudity on federal lands in California
There is no federal law against nudity, but it is not a guaranteed right either. This means that state, county, and local laws can take precedence.
Federal lands include Point Reyes National Seashore and the beaches around San Francisco that are in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
California State Nudity Law
This law applies to public places anywhere in California. A 1972 California court case ruled that mere beach nudity is not indecent exposure. However, different localities have strict laws against nudity (especially Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties). In those places, beach nudity will give you a fine and a fine with no questions asked.
For other counties where optional beach clothing is available, the laws are summarized in the county beach guides, which you can access through this index.
CALIFORNIA CODES SECTION 314-318.6 (as of 6/2016) says:
» Any person who intentionally and lewdly, either: 1. Exposes his person, or the private parts of the same, in any public place, or in any place where there are other people present who may be offended or annoyed; or 2. Encourages, advises, or assists any person to exhibit or participate in any model artist exhibit, or to make any other exhibit of himself in public view, or the view of any number of people, as is offensive to decency, or is adapted to get excited or thoughts or acts, is guilty of a misdemeanor «.
Keep saying:
«Any person who violates subdivision 1 of this section after having entered, without consent, an inhabited house or a trailer coach as defined in Vehicle Section 635, or the inhabited part of any other building, is punished with imprisonment in the prison state, or in the county jail not to exceed a
year.In the second and each subsequent conviction under subdivision 1 of this section, or in a first conviction under subdivision 1 of this section after a previous conviction under Section 288, each person convicted is guilty of a felony, and It is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison.
Nudity Rules in California State Parks
Many of California’s beaches are in state parks. Enforcement of these policies varies by area and is more likely when visitors in clothing complain about rangers.
Section 4322 of Title 14 of the California Administrative Code regarding nudity in state parks says: » No person shall appear nude while in a unit, except in authorized areas reserved for that purpose by the Department. The word nude as used herein means nude or in such a state of undress as to expose any portion of the pubic or anal region or genitalia of any person or any portion of the breast on or below the areola of any female person.
All sections are misdemeanors that carry a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and / or a $ 1,000 fine.
The regulation allows to reserve optional areas of specific clothing, but the parks department has not taken advantage of that. Instead, the State Park Rangers have operated for many years under a policy known as the “Cahill” policy, named after a former Parks Director:
“It will be the policy of the Department that the application of the rules for naked sunbathing within the State Park System will be carried out only in the face of the complaint of a private citizen. Appointments or arrests will be made only after attempts are made to achieve voluntary compliance with the rules.
However, when the Cahill Policy was written, the public stance on nudity was more liberal than it is now. You can find more details about this on the Bay Area Naturists website.
The people most likely to file a complaint are also the least likely to make an effort to reach a remote part of a state beach, which is why those areas have become clothing optional. If you stay in those areas, they are unlikely to bother you. If a Ranger shows up and asks you to put on your clothes, don’t argue. Comply and stay dressed for the rest of the day to avoid a date.
If you cross the line from sunbathing to other activities, you can be (and probably will be) prosecuted under Section 314 of the California Penal Code, cited above. Any person convicted will keep a lifetime record as a sex offender.
