San Mateo Coast State Parks

San Mateo Coast State Parks Official Facebook account for California State Parks in San Mateo County

Today, September 4th, is the first annual California Wildlife Day! 🐾🐻 Just last week, the California Senate passed Resol...
09/04/2026

Today, September 4th, is the first annual California Wildlife Day! 🐾🐻 Just last week, the California Senate passed Resolution 140, which designated September 4th as California Wildlife Day. This resolution was proposed in honor of the recently passed, and forever beloved, Jackie the bald eagle. State Senator Tony Strickland said, “Jackie captured the hearts of people in California and around the world, giving so many of us a front-row seat to the beauty, strength, and resilience of wildlife. Her story reminds us that wildfire conservation brings people together.”

California Wildlife Day reflects on our state’s incredible biodiversity, and recognizes that this land provides a wide range of habitats for a variety of wildlife, including the bald eagle. 🦅 In memory of Jackie, take a moment this California Wildlife Day to look high up, then look low down, and observe the critters big and small which support our complex and diverse ecosystems of California. 🐝🐋🐇🦋🐾

California State Parks mission statement: “To provide for the health, inspiration and education of the people of California by helping to preserve the state's extraordinary biological diversity, protecting its most valued natural and cultural resources, and creating opportunities for high-quality outdoor recreation.”

📍 Ohlone tribal land

Image 1: Jackie the bald eagle, by Friends of Big Bear Valley
Image 2: A bumblebee collects pollen from native buckwheat plants at Half Moon Bay State Beach.
Image 3: A clutch of barn swallows clamoring for lunch at Pigeon Point Light Station.
Image 4: An elephant seal bull bellows at Ano Nuevo State Park.
Image 5: A vibrant sea anemone visible at low tide at Pigeon Point.
Image 6: Three harbor seals dozing at Pescadero marsh.
Image 7: A banana slug making its way downtown (Santa Cruz).

Do you  enjoy walking on the beach? Birdwatching? Exploring your local parks?Well, you could do all three of those thing...
09/04/2026

Do you enjoy walking on the beach? Birdwatching? Exploring your local parks?

Well, you could do all three of those things at the same time AND contribute to science and the conservation efforts of a threatened species while you're at it!

If that sounds like a fun way to spend your free time, then our Snowy Plover Watch Volunteer program might be the right fit for you! And the good news is, we have a training coming up!

Join us in Half Moon Bay on Sunday, September 27 for our Snowy Plover Watch Volunteer Training. There will be a morning classroom session, a break for lunch, and an afternoon field learning session at Francis. Registration is required. Please register here: tinyurl.com/PloverWatch2026

After attending the 1-day training, trainees will be paired up with an experienced Plover Watch mentor who will guide them through their first few beach surveys. Once trainees fledge into full volunteers, they are asked to do 1-2 beach surveys per month.

Questions? Email [email protected]

Image Description: A flyer advertises the Snowy Plover Watch Volunteer training happening on Sunday, September 27 from 11 am - 4 pm. Graphics show a group of 5 people holding binoculars up to their faces, looking at an enlarged photo of a plover in a heart.

📍: Ohlone Tribal Lands

The Bioblitz is back and bumping! To celebrate California Biodiversity Week (Sept. 5-11), Pigeon Point Light Station is ...
08/26/2026

The Bioblitz is back and bumping! To celebrate California Biodiversity Week (Sept. 5-11), Pigeon Point Light Station is leading a bioblitz nature walk on Saturday, Sept. 5th from 1-2pm. We’ll meet by the parking lot and begin our iNaturalist check list.

Our guides will show you how to use iNaturalist to contribute to citizen science. (We encourage you to download the iNaturalist app before arriving.)You’ll help us log any species we can find, and marvel in the park’s biodiversity as we attempt to find 30 different species. This data will then be verified by scientists and then available for researchers to reference as they proceed with their investigations. Sign up at parks.ca.gov/events (link in bio)!

📍 Quiroste tribal land

Join the San Vicente - Waddell Coast Resilience Community Workshop to help make the North Coast more resilient to climat...
08/22/2026

Join the San Vicente - Waddell Coast Resilience Community Workshop to help make the North Coast more resilient to climate change.

The San Vicente and Waddell Coastal Resilience project focuses on climate adaptation along Highway 1 and the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, near Davenport and Big Basin State Park (Rancho del Oso unit). These transportation corridors are facing growing risks from sea level rise, severe storms, and coastal flooding. The goal of the project is to protect this critical infrastructure while restoring nearby marsh habitats.

At the workshop, the team will present recent technical findings on shoreline changes and flood risks. Most importantly, you will have a chance to ask questions, share your concerns, and help shape potential design ideas for the future.

🗓️Thursday, August 27, 2026
⏰ 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
📍Seymour Marine Discovery Center
Meeting Room
100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA

Kinda chic to visit Half Moon Bay State Beach 💅✨📍 Ohlone tribal land
08/22/2026

Kinda chic to visit Half Moon Bay State Beach 💅✨

📍 Ohlone tribal land

The south parking lot of Bean Hollow State Beach will be closed from Wednesday, August 18 through Friday, August 21.The ...
08/18/2026

The south parking lot of Bean Hollow State Beach will be closed from Wednesday, August 18 through Friday, August 21.

The parking lot will reopen for the weekend before closing again from Monday, August 24 through Friday, August 28.

The closure will allow contractors to complete important infrastructure updates.
The north parking lot of Bean Hollow State Beach --Pebble Beach-- will remain open during normal park hours during this time.

Thank you for your patience!

Educators, today is the day: Registration is open! 🎉 Field trips at California State Parks in Santa Cruz and San Mateo C...
08/14/2026

Educators, today is the day: Registration is open! 🎉 Field trips at California State Parks in Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties are now available to book.

Reserve your date: https://www.parks.ca.gov/santacruzfieldtrips

We can’t wait to 🌊 you and your students this school year!

Image description: Photo of students gathered round a State Parks Interpreter presenting a redwood educational program while standing inside an old-growth redwood tree at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.

📍Ohlone Tribal Lands

📆 Educators, save the date! Field trip registration for California State Parks in Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties open...
08/08/2026

📆 Educators, save the date! Field trip registration for California State Parks in Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties opens Friday, August 14 at 9 a.m.

Bring your students to explore tide pools, redwoods, coastal sage scrub, local history, and more with our State Parks staff and volunteers at these free programs. Have your preferred dates ready — registration is first come, first served.

Register at https://www.parks.ca.gov/santacruzfieldtrips or link in bio.

Image description: Photo of State Park docent showing school group the fossil wall at Seacliff State Beach

📍Ohlone Tribal Lands

Join us this Saturday, August 8th, for our last Coastal Family Ranger programs of this summer! It’s your last chance in ...
08/05/2026

Join us this Saturday, August 8th, for our last Coastal Family Ranger programs of this summer! It’s your last chance in 2026 to collect the official Jr. Ranger badges from Año Nuevo, Pigeon Point, and Rancho del Oso State Parks before the sun sets on summer. 🌞

🌼Nature journal at Pigeon Point Lighthouse (11am)
🦭Explore adaptations of local marine mammals at Año Nuevo (1:15pm)
🐭Navigate critter-created marshy mazes at Rancho del Oso (2:30pm)

Each program attended earns kids (ages 7 to 12 years old) a stamp in your Jr. Rangers logbook and a badge from each park, or a wooden sticker for kids under 7 years old. Search "California junior rangers" for more programs and to sign up online. We'll see you soon!

📍 Ohlone tribal land

Silly guillie! Pigeon guillemots (GILL-uh-motts) are always a hoot and a holler to see at Pigeon Point Light Station. Th...
07/30/2026

Silly guillie! Pigeon guillemots (GILL-uh-motts) are always a hoot and a holler to see at Pigeon Point Light Station. These seabirds have bright scarlet feet which they stick out behind them, and they fly like Superman rather than tucking in their toes like most birds. ♥️♥️ Check them out during the summer months, from about mid-May through late August, before they fly back up to the Arctic for the rest of the year. Their rubber glove-red feet and whistling peeps make them a cheerful sight until they migrate!

📍 Quiroste tribal land

Image descriptions: Pigeon guillemots spending their summer at Pigeon Point.

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Hwy 1
Pacifica, CA
94037

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