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| Elephant seal colony at Año Nuevo (November 2, 2025) |
The three-quarter-mile-long Año Nuevo Point Trail connects the Marine Education Center in Año Nuevo State Park with the Staging Area, where, depending on season and permit, you may enter the Año Nuevo Coast Natural Preserve.
Año Nuevo Point (Punta del Año Nuevo in Spanish) is a rocky headland jutting into the Pacific Ocean. It is at the key location of a coastal area that includes North Point, South Point and Año Nuevo Island. The island and the coves and beaches between South Point and North Point are elephant seal territory.
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| Año Nuevo Island, home to birds, pinnipeds, and an abandoned lighthouse station |
Like most promontories along the California, this is an amazing area for bird and whale watching. But most visitors come here for the single most compelling attraction: the large colony of northern elephant seals or northen sea elephant (Mirounga angustirostris). They are named for the male's signature feature, the elongated, pendulous nose (proboscis).
Along the way
The first half mile of the trail takes you from the education center (visitor center) to coastal freshwater wetland including a pond. Here, a short side trail invites you for a sidetrip to Cove Beach. Brown pelicans can be seen on the beach, flying across Año Nuevo Bay, resting along the cliffs and splashing around in the pond and cleaning their feathers. The pond also attracts egrets, mallards, coots, as well as rare visitors like the Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
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| Cove Beach: a sand beach alongside the rugged coastline at Año Nuevo Bay |
Continuing uphill on Año Nuevo Point Trail you will get to a point with an interpretive board, featuring the waterbirds mentioned above. Under the title A Symphony of Motion and Song, you will read:
This pond attracts birds of all kinds with food, water, and shelter. Each bird has its own song. If you linger and watch quietly, the pond will come alive with bird activity and sounds.
Actually, when I walked by in November of this year, I heard the songs as well as the diving and splashing sounds early on, even before reaching the Cove Beach trail junction.
When arriving at the Staging Area, a displayed blue whale bone caught my interest. A panel provides details:
This is the occipital bone of a blue whale. It forms the back of the skull, protecting the brain and connecting the skull to the spine. All mammals have one.
We—like all mammals—have one at the back of our head protecting our brains. Of course, it does not have the impressive size of a blue-whale occipital bone. But so doesn't our brain!
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| Occipital bone of a blue whale |
Beyond the Staging Area, you are in restricted-access land. Sand dune trails and board walks will guide you around and towards clifftop or dunetop observation decks. Helpful and knowledgeable nature preserve staff is usually not far away to answer questions you come up with.
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| Sand dune trail towards Bight Beach, North Point and South Point |
From a likely crowded deck of pinniped enthusiasts you may watch a crowded beach of elephant seal—some resting, others moving, playing, or fighting. These are two crowds that want to be respected and are not made for intermingling. Remember that marine mammals are protected by federal law. But you are not (when in seal world): in the case you are coming across an elephant seal at a public beach outside the preserve, you want to keep your distance. Elephant seals have large teeth and can move around faster than you may think. Like with other mammals, males—in particular—can turn aggressive any time, and do so especially during breeding season.
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| Young sea elephants seen from a deck near North Point |
Map
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| Map with Año Nuevo Point Trail and Año Nuevo Island |
References and suggested reading
[1] Año Nuevo Point Trail. Peninsula Open Space Trust 2025. URL: https://openspacetrust.org/hike/ano-nuevo-point-trail/.
[2] Año Nuevo State Park. California State Parks. URL: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523.
[3] Año Nuevo State Park. Visit Half Moon Bay. URL: https://www.visithalfmoonbay.org/places/ano-nuevo-state-park/.
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