January 15th, 2014
This week’s adventure took us to Año Nuevo State Park which is located in Pescadero between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay on Hwy 1. There are many beautiful coastal parks along Hwy 1 but Año Nuevo is quite different. It is more than that. Año Nuevo is a Natural Preserve established to protect a large colony of Northern Elephant Seals. Every year in the winter, from December 15 – March 31, the elephant seals choose this spot as their malting, breeding and birthing grounds. The best times to visit the park are between January and February. That is when the elephant seals are the most active. It is not uncommon to see the bulls fight over a harem or an amorous young bull being pushy with the females.
The park provides and requires guided walks to see the elephant seals. Since this is a popular attraction, reservations are highly recommended. It costs $7 per person and parking is $10. The walk is about 3 miles round trip, half of it is on a trail and the other half is on sand between sand dunes. It is an easy trail that even a 5 year old can walk it successfully with a little to no effort. The tour guides are volunteers and they make the walk to the elephant seals much more enjoyable and interesting. They are very knowledgeable and share a lot of interesting facts about the elephant seals and the area.
I learned about these “beauties” last year when my sister-in-law Jessica invited us to go to the tour with her family. I am thankful for that opportunity. It is now a tradition for Tom and I to go see the elephant seals at Año Nuevo every year. I loved that this time we went on the last tour of the day. It was warm and the sun helped create beautiful lighting in some of the photos, and we got to see the sunset which is always a great bonus.
After the tour was over (the walk was about 2.5 hrs long), we decided to follow a trail that led us to the beach. There we found this lonely elephant seal. It was the closest we got to one of them this year.
If you love the outdoors and wildlife in it’s own natural habitat, Año Nuevo is a highly rewarding tour for any adventurer.