Magic Mountain Hotels

Where To Stay Near Six Flags Magic Mountain?

Magic Mountain is on the outskirts of what we’re calling Southern California (the people up in Eureka consider San Francisco to be in Southern California, so it’s all relative). There is a number of very suitable hotels within a short distance of Magic Mountain; here is a good map with details on Magic Mountain hotel options.

Some local hotels have shuttles up to the main gate (Residence Inn by Marriott is free to within 5 miles of the hotel), which will save you parking fees. Stay at a hotel with a breakfast included and load up before leaving. Then snack at mid-day to save money.

Staying near the park would allow you to go back to the hotel in the middle of the afternoon, when it can be really hot at Magic Mountain. After cooling down and perhaps a nice dinner out of the park, you could return for a few hours at night. Confirm closing time of course, and don’t eat too much; the coasters at SFMM will give the old digestive tract a workout if you know what I mean.

Now, if this is a vacation that includes other attractions in Southern California, you should strategize as to where best to stay. Elsewhere we suggested that if the trip includes Disneyland or Universal Studios you may want visit Six Flags Magic Mountain first. That will get the roller coaster itch scratched within your coaster fanatics and help them enjoy the other parks.

Knott’s also has great thrill rides. So you could spend a night at a Magic Mountain hotel in Valencia, before or after your day in the park.

A second half-day at Hurricane Harbor could take you through early afternoon, at which time you high-tail it south on I-5 towards Los Angeles, Orange County or San Diego. You want to be out of Los Angeles by around 2 pm or 2:30 at the latest to avoid rush-hour traffic (although to be honest, it’s not the end of the world if you do catch some traffic).

You probably don’t want to be driving out to Valencia every day of a week vacation from Orange County and the Los Angeles beach areas. If you’re just hitting Hollywood and downtown L.A. it would not be too bad to settle in at Valencia for the whole trip. If you’re going to San Diego, it’s around 3 hours from Six Flags Magic Mountain, assuming light-to-moderate traffic. Hopefully this is enough insight to help you plot out where you’ll be staying. There are too many options for us to present specific suggestions for each scenario.