Photos of West Coast Youth of the 1950s

From the sun-drenched valleys of Southern California to the rain-drenched inlets of Puget Sound this new race of children, of whom some three million are now in school, have one big thing in common. It is a lust for the outdoors, and the richly scenic coast offers kids a maximum of temptation and a minimum of inconvenience in fulfilling it.

Here, LIFE shows some splendidly healthy West Coast youth energetically using its splendid outdoors. What use this generation eventually will make of its own tremendous energy, heaven only knows, but properly directed it should be sufficient to move the world.

(Photos by Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)