Año Nuevo State Park

Año Nuevo State Park is about half way between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz off of Highway 1. The part of the park that is the most interesting is definitely the nature preserve that features the elephant seal sanctuary, where you can see elephant seals year-round.

You should absolutely read the information about the state park published on the California State Park system (linked above), because you don't want to drive all the way out there to find that you neglected to get a reservation to see the seals or you forgot to obtain one of the free permits before 3:30 and not one minute after. But if you can make your way past the surly gate keepers of the park, the docents who volunteer at the nature preserve are not only amazing people but also fonts of information about the elephant seals.

I didn't take any pictures of the elephant seals on this trip because I was too fascinated by the docent's information, but I did snap some great pictures along the one-mile (in and out, 2 miles) hike on our way out of the park. The hike itself is beautiful. We stopped at a scenic outlook near the staging area to look for humpback whales. We heard from some of the park rangers that they have been very active this month. Although we didn't see any today, I know that some were spotted on Friday of this past week!

2014 Trip