San Gregorio State Beach
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San Gregorio State Beach is a beach near San Gregorio, California, USA, south of Half Moon Bay. Part of the California State Park System, the beach lies just west of the intersection of State Route 1 and State Route 84. San Gregorio Creek widens to form a small freshwater lagoon in the park behind a sand berm, or barrier beach, which typically blocks the mouth of the creek, forcing the creekwaters to flow underfoot as they seep into the Pacific Ocean. During the rainy season the creek often cuts through the sand berm and flows directly into the ocean. Historically the creek was a coho salmon spawning site and the Department of Fish and Game is considering restocking it with coho to improve the salmon fisheries south of San Francisco.[1]
Park facilities include restrooms and picnic tables. Dogs are not permitted on the beach, as it has been identified as potential nesting habitat for the endangered (official status "threatened") Western Snowy Plover, a subspecies of the Kentish Plover. North of the main beach is a nude beach - there's a for-fee parking lot north of the park's lot that provides closer access.
A stone marker with a plaque commemorates the three days Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolà's expedition camped at the beach to rest and treat their sick in 1769, during his first (failed) attempt to reach Monterey Bay. They would go on to discover San Francisco Bay instead. The site is registered as California Historical Landmark 26.
[edit] External links
- Official site from the California State Parks Department
- Pictures of beach and plaque
- Picture of the beach, creek, and highway from the California Coastal Records Project
- Monterey Marine Sanctuary page on San Gregoria State Park
- SF Bay Guardian Nude Beaches Guide, San Mateo County
- San Gregorio State Beach is at coordinates Coordinates:
