100% Like It
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(650) 879-2025
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1 New Years Creek Rd, Pescadero, 94060
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Marine protected state park adjacent to Greyhound Rock. Beautiful hike to large, spacious beach. Northern elephant seals, sea lions, otters and other marine mammals visit this beach to rest and mate during the winter months.
Features
Facilities: ADA Accessible
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Facilities: Bathrooms
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Type: Fees For Entrance
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Type: Tide Pools
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Sand Type: Regular
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Parking: Fees For Parking
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Parking: Good / Plenty
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Good For: Whale Sightings
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Año Nuevo State Park is a state park of California, USA, encompassing Año Nuevo Island and Año Nuevo Point, which are known for their pinniped rookeries. Located in San Mateo County, the low, rocky, windswept point juts out into the Pacific Ocean about 55 miles (89 km) south of San Francisco and the Golden Gate. Año Nuevo State Natural Reserve, formerly a separate unit of the California state park system, was merged into Año Nuevo State Park in October 2008.
Facilities
A Visitor Center features natural history exhibits and a bookstore offering educational items such as books, postcards and posters. Restrooms, drinking water and picnic tables are available near the Visitor Center only. Food and beverages are not sold at the reserve, although drinking water is available.
Año Nuevo State Marine Conservation Area and Greyhound Rock State Marine Conservation Area are two adjoining marine protected areas off the coast of Año Nuevo State Park. Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems.
The reserve contains a diversity of plant communities, including old growth forest freshwater marsh, red alder riparian forest and knobcone pine forest. Its four perennial streams support steelhead and coho salmon, and its wetlands are habitat to the rare San Francisco garter snake and California red-legged frog.
Pinniped colonies
Northern elephant seals, California sea lions, sea otters, and other marine mammals come ashore to rest, mate, and give birth in the sand dunes or on the beaches and offshore islands. Hundreds of thousands of people come to witness it each year.
Año Nuevo State Park is the site of one of the largest mainland breeding colonies for the northern elephant seal (another is in Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve and Marine Conservation Area—100 miles south near the town of Cambria and the San Simeon approach to Hearst Castle).
The seals attracted so much interest that early reservations are needed during the winter breeding season. The males battle for mates on the beaches and the females give birth to their pups on the dunes.
From mid-December through late March, daily access to the reserve is available via guided walks only. Most of the adult seals are gone by mid-March, leaving behind the weaned pups who remain through April. The elephant seals return to Año Nuevo's beaches during the spring (females) and summer (males) months to molt and can be observed during this time through a permit system. Reservations for a guided walk during the breeding season are available by phone.
Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park, Butano State Park and numerous other parks and beaches are within 5 miles (8.0 km) of Año Nuevo.
Source: Wikipedia
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