Estero Bluffs State Park

Estero Bluffs State Park
Estero Bluffs State Park
Map showing the location of Estero Bluffs State Park
Map showing the location of Estero Bluffs State Park
Map showing the location of Estero Bluffs State Park
Map showing the location of Estero Bluffs State Park
LocationSan Luis Obispo County, California, USA
Nearest cityCayucos, California
Coordinates35°26′53″N 120°55′55″W / 35.44806°N 120.93194°W / 35.44806; -120.93194
Area353 acres (143 ha)
Established2000
Governing bodyCalifornia Department of Parks and Recreation
Young harbor seal pup at Villa Creek, Estero Bluffs
Tight fold in radiolarian chert, a deep-water marine rock and one of the diagnostic rock types in the Franciscan Assemblage. This Estero Bluffs outcrop is likely Cretaceous in age.

Estero Bluffs State Park is a state park of California, United States, on Estero Bay. The park protects a grassland-dominated marine terrace that slopes from California State Route 1 to the Pacific Ocean. The property is crossed by San Geronimo and Villa Creeks and is just north of the town of Cayucos. The 353-acre (143 ha) park was established in 2000.[1]

Estero Bluffs has intertidal areas, wetlands, low bluffs, and coastal terraces punctuated by a number of perennial and intermittent streams and containing a pocket cove and beach at Villa Creek. The park provides habitat for a number of endangered species, including the snowy plover.[2]

The park is made up of a coastline that stretches over 4 miles and covers more than 300 acres of land. Though the shoreline is usually no more than 300 yards away from the highway, the intentional lack of development of the land has left it very similar to its natural state.[3]

Estero Bluffs features a variety of scenic sites along its coast. Visitors can park and see San Geronimo Creek or Villa Creek, which are small lagoons that are present year-round and filled by a constantly running creek. There are also multiple lookout points, including Cayoucos Point, Estero Bay.[4]

  1. ^ "California State Park System Statistical Report: Fiscal Year 2009/10" (PDF). California State Parks: 30. Retrieved December 18, 2013. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ "Estero Bluffs". State Parks of the San Luis Obispo Coast. California State Parks. Archived from the original on November 17, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference discover was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Crossley, John. "Estero Bluffs State Park, California". The American Southwest. Retrieved December 9, 2014.