Año Nuevo State Park
Parks Directory of the United States:
Top
Año Nuevo State Reserve
US State Park, California
c/o Santa Cruz District Office
303 Big Trees Park Rd
Felton, CA 95018
www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=523
Phone: 650-879-2025
Size: 1,319 acres (reserve); 2,896 acres (undeveloped Año Nuevo State Park). Location: 27 miles south of Half Moon Bay on Highway 1. Facilities: Visitor center, restrooms, exhibits, picnic area, hiking trails, nature trails (
). Activities: Fishing, hiking, guided tours. Special Features: Reserve is the site of the world's largest mainland breeding colony of northern elephant seals. During the breeding season (mid-December to March), daily access to the reserve is available only via guided walks; reservations are recommended.
Frommer's 500 Places to See Before They Disappear:
Top
Ano Nuevo State Reserve
Love & Sex & the Elephant Seal
Location: Half Moon Bay, California
Disappearing Places > Sea & Stream > Denizens of the Deep
Information: Ano Nuevo State Reserve New Year's Creek Rd, Hwy. 1, Pescadero ☎ 800/444-4445, 650/879-0227;
Airport: San Francisco International
Lodging: Seal Cove Inn 3 stars 221 Cypress Ave., Half Moon Bay ☎ 650/728-4114; www.sealcoveinn.com Beach House Inn 3 stars 4100 N. Cabrillo Hwy. (Hwy. 1), Half Moon Bay ☎ 800/315-9366 or 650/712-0220; www.beach-house.com
Airport: San Francisco International
Lodging: Seal Cove Inn 3 stars 221 Cypress Ave., Half Moon Bay ☎ 650/728-4114; www.sealcoveinn.com Beach House Inn 3 stars 4100 N. Cabrillo Hwy. (Hwy. 1), Half Moon Bay ☎ 800/315-9366 or 650/712-0220; www.beach-house.com
Elephant seals spend most of their lives at sea—they even sleep underwater—but they mate and bear their young on land. Once hunted for their oil, by the late 1800s the world population of northern elephant seals numbered less than 100. Today, elephant seals are no longer on the brink of extinction, but they are still at risk from development and commercial fishing.
Surfers dig shooting the curls at crescent-curved Half Moon Bay, an hour south of San Francisco. Yet how many of them realize that there's a primal scene of sex, blood, and pain a stone's throw away on low, rocky Ano Nuevo Point?
It starts every November—the annual mating and birthing of the northern elephant seals. You can only witness this spectacle on a guided walk (daily Dec 15–Mar 15), which should be reserved months in advance. Nearly extinct until recently, these 3-ton (2,700kg) marine mammals (one look at their pendulous upper lips and you'll know why they're called elephant seals) live on the open sea for 10 months a year. When they start coming ashore in November, in such numbers that they carpet the beach, the females are already pregnant. From a distance (you really don't want to get too close to an elephant seal) you may see one bull seal protecting a harem of females as a few bachelors hang hopefully on the fringes. It's not a sight for the squeamish: Males clash in often-bloody mating battles, they mate frankly on the open sands, and females give birth on the dunes—all redeemed by the tender sight of mother seals cuddling their young.
The mating season runs from November until March, when the adults swim back to sea, leaving weaned pups to mature (by now, approximately 2,000 are born here each season). After April, the youngsters leave too, and the beaches are open to the public again. In spring and summer, however, adults occasionally return to the beach to molt; if you're lucky you'll see some then, but it's nothing like the massed bodies of winter.
Otherwise, you can enjoy the sight of smaller California seals sunning themselves year-round at Seal Cove Beach; in early spring and fall, look for migrating whales from the bluffs above Princeton-by-the-Sea. Birders know to hunt for rare loons, great blue herons, red-tailed hawks, and brown pelicans. Numerous hummingbirds carry out their own elaborate courtship ritual in the spring—but let's face it, that'll never be quite as big an attraction as the elephant seals mating.
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Año Nuevo State Park
| Año Nuevo State Park | |
|---|---|
 Año Nuevo State Park |
|
 |
|
| Location | San Mateo County, California, USA |
| Nearest city | Pescadero, California |
| Coordinates | 37°7′59″N 122°19′59″W / 37.13306°N 122.33306°WCoordinates: 37°7′59″N 122°19′59″W / 37.13306°N 122.33306°W |
| Area | 4,209 acres (1,703 ha) |
| Established | 1985 |
| Governing body | California Department of Parks and Recreation |
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.[1]
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. Cultural resources include the remnants of a prehistoric Native American village site and a number of structures from the 19th century Cascade Ranch. In conjunction with adjacent and nearby public lands, the unit permits the protection of important regional ecological corridors.
The point remains undeveloped, much as Sebastián Vizcaíno saw it from his passing ship in 1603.[2]
|
Contents
|
History
The Quiroste Ohlone people were the first known to inhabit the Año Nuevo area. After Mission Santa Cruz was founded in 1791, the Quiroste population plunged due to the various diseases that the Spanish had brought with them.
The Spanish maritime explorer Sebastian Vizcaino sailed by the point on January 3, 1603.[3] His diarist and chaplain of the expedition, Father Antonio de la Ascensión, named it Punta de Año Nuevo (New Year's Point) for the day on which they sighted it in 1603.[citation needed] They had recently stopped in Monterey and had passed Año Nuevo while heading north.
After the mid-19th century, developments occurred, including the development of Año Nuevo Island and agriculture in the surrounding region. Once home to a large population of elephant seals, hunters greatly reduced the seal population by overhunting the species. Since the mid-20th century, the seal population has had a rebound and multiplied greatly. Elephant seals can be seen today on the wildlife reserve.
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 at Piedras Blancas—100 miles (160 km) 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.[2]
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.
The parking lot is just west of California Route 1 at 37°7′10″N 122°18′25″W / 37.11944°N 122.30694°W.[4]
The former Cascade Ranch unit of the reserve includes steep unmarked hikes in the coastal hills inland of the highway.[5]
Adjacent attractions
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.
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.[2]
See also
References
- ^ California State Park System Statistical Report: Fiscal Year 2009/10. California State Parks. p. 5. http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/795/files/09-10%20statistical%20report%20final%20online.pdf. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Año Nuevo State Park". official web page. California State Park System. http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=523. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ^ William Bright; Erwin Gustav Gudde (November 30, 1998). 1500 California place names: their origin and meaning. University of California Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-520-21271-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=CET4QodMZysC. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^ "Año Nuevo State Reserve, California State Parks, San Mateo County". Bay Area Hiker web site. April 5, 2005. http://www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/anonuevo2.html. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ^ "Cascade Ranch Unit, Año Nuevo State Reserve, California State Parks, San Mateo County". Bay Area Hiker web site. November 16, 2001. http://www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/anonuevo.html. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
External links
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
Parks Directory of the United States
Parks Directory of the United States. Copyright © 2007 by Omnigraphics, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Frommer's 500 Places to See Before They Disappear
Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
