Año Nuevo State Park

Año Nuevo State Park
IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)
Año Nuevo State Park
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Location	San Mateo County, California, USA
Nearest city	Pescadero, California
Coordinates	37°7′59″N 122°19′59″W / 37.13306°N 122.33306°W / 37.13306; -122.33306Coordinates: 37°7′59″N 122°19′59″W / 37.13306°N 122.33306°W / 37.13306; -122.33306
Area	4,209 acres (17.03 km²)
Established	1985
Governing body	California Department of Parks and Recreation

U.S. National Natural Landmark
Designated	1980

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 coastal geographic center of California is located at the Northern end of this park at N 37°09′58″, W 122°21'40", as the absolute geographic center of California falls at N 37°09′58″, W 119°26′58″W.^[2]

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.

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. 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.^[3] They had recently stopped in Monterey and had passed Año Nuevo while heading north.

The first European land exploration of Alta California was the Spanish Portolà expedition of 1760-70. Guided by Vizcaino's landmarks as it traveled north along the coast in 1769, the explorers recognized Point Año Nuevo. On the return journey to San Diego, the party camped at Año Nuevo Creek on November 19. Franciscan missionary Juan Crespi noted in his diary, "We...halted on a steep rock, in sight of the point which we judged to be Año Nuevo, on the bank of an arroyo which empties into the sea."^[4]

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

Elephant seals at Año Nuevo during the mating season in early February

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 in Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve and Marine Conservation Area—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 on 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.^[5]

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 / 37.11944; -122.30694.^[6]

The former Cascade Ranch unit of the reserve includes steep unmarked hikes in the coastal hills inland of the highway.^[7]

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.^[5]

References

↑ "California State Park System Statistical Report: Fiscal Year 2009/10" (PDF). California State Parks: 5. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
↑ Exact Center of California: North Fork National Geographic/ Sierra Nevada Geotourism. By Maureen Walling. Downloaded July 22, 2017
↑ 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. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
↑ Bolton, Herbert E. (1927). Fray Juan Crespi: Missionary Explorer on the Pacific Coast, 1769-1774. HathiTrust Digital Library. pp. 238–243. Retrieved April 2014. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
1 2 "Año Nuevo State Park". official web page. California State Park System. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
↑ "Año Nuevo State Reserve, California State Parks, San Mateo County". Bay Area Hiker web site. April 5, 2005. 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. Retrieved August 31, 2011.

External links

Parks.ca.gov: Año Nuevo State Park

Protected areas of California

National Park System

National Parks	Channel Islands Death Valley Joshua Tree Kings Canyon Lassen Volcanic Pinnacles Redwood Sequoia Yosemite
National Preserves	Mojave
National Monuments	Cabrillo Castle Mountains Cesar E. Chavez Devils Postpile Lava Beds Muir Woods World War II Valor in the Pacific
National Seashores	Point Reyes
National Historical Parks	Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front San Francisco Maritime
National Historic Sites	Eugene O'Neill Fort Point John Muir Manzanar
National Memorials	Port Chicago Naval Magazine
National Recreation Areas	Golden Gate Santa Monica Mountains Whiskeytown

State Parks

State Parks	Ahjumawi Lava Springs Andrew Molera Angel Island Annadel Año Nuevo Anza-Borrego Desert Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland Bidwell–Sacramento River Big Basin Redwoods Border Field Bothe-Napa Valley Burton Creek Butano Calaveras Big Trees Castle Crags Castle Rock Caswell Memorial China Camp Chino Hills Clear Lake Crystal Cove Cuyamaca Rancho D. L. Bliss Del Norte Coast Redwoods Donner Memorial Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point Emerald Bay The Forest of Nisene Marks Fort Ord Dunes Fremont Peak Garrapata Gaviota Great Valley Grasslands Grizzly Creek Redwoods Grover Hot Springs Hearst San Simeon Hendy Woods Henry Cowell Redwoods Henry W. Coe Humboldt Lagoons Humboldt Redwoods Jedediah Smith Redwoods Julia Pfeiffer Burns Leo Carrillo Limekiln MacKerricher Malibu Creek Manchester McArthur–Burney Falls Memorial McLaughlin Eastshore Mendocino Headlands Mendocino Woodlands Montaña de Oro Morro Bay Mount Diablo Mount San Jacinto Mount Tamalpais Navarro River Redwoods Pacheco Palomar Mountain Patrick's Point Pfeiffer Big Sur Placerita Canyon Plumas-Eureka Point Mugu Portola Redwoods Prairie Creek Redwoods Red Rock Canyon Richardson Grove Rio de Los Angeles Robert Louis Stevenson Russian Gulch Saddleback Butte Salt Point Samuel P. Taylor San Bruno Mountain Sinkyone Wilderness South Yuba River Sugarloaf Ridge Sutter Buttes Tolowa Dunes Tomales Bay Topanga Van Damme Washoe Meadows Wilder Ranch
State Natural Reserves	Antelope Valley California Poppy Armstrong Redwoods Azalea Caspar Headlands John B. Dewitt John Little Jug Handle Kruse Rhododendron Los Osos Oaks Mailliard Redwoods Mono Lake Tufa Montgomery Woods Point Lobos Smithe Redwoods Torrey Pines Tule Elk
State Marine Reserves	Albany Big Creek Carmel Pinnacles Del Mar Landing Emeryville Crescent Estero de Limantour Fitzgerald Laguna Beach Lovers Point Montara Moro Cojo Slough Natural Bridges Point Lobos Point Sur Russian River Stewarts Point
State Historic Parks	Anderson Marsh Antelope Valley Indian Museum Bale Grist Mill Benicia Capitol Bidwell Mansion Bodie California Citrus California State Indian Museum Chumash Painted Cave Colonel Allensworth Columbia Cowell Ranch/John Marsh El Presidio de Santa Barbara Empire Mine Folsom Powerhouse Fort Humboldt Fort Ross Fort Tejon Governor's Mansion Hearst San Simeon Indian Grinding Rock Jack London La Purísima Mission Leland Stanford Mansion Los Angeles Los Encinos Malakoff Diggins Marconi Conference Center Marshall Gold Discovery Monterey Old Sacramento Old Town San Diego Olompali Petaluma Adobe Pigeon Point Light Station Pío Pico Point Sur Railtown 1897 San Juan Bautista San Pasqual Battlefield Santa Cruz Mission Santa Susana Pass Shasta Sonoma Sutter's Fort Tomo-Kahni Wassama Round House Watts Towers of Simon Rodia Weaverville Joss House Will Rogers William B. Ide Adobe Woodland Opera House
State Beaches	Asilomar Bean Hollow Bolsa Chica Cardiff Carlsbad Carmel River Carpinteria Caspar Headlands Cayucos Corona del Mar Dockweiler Doheny El Capitán Emma Wood Gray Whale Cove Greenwood Half Moon Bay Huntington Leucadia Lighthouse Field Little River Malibu Lagoon Mandalay Manresa Marina McGrath Montara Monterey Moonlight Morro Strand Moss Landing Natural Bridges New Brighton Pacifica Pelican Pescadero Pismo Point Dume Point Sal Pomponio Refugio Robert H. Meyer Memorial Robert W. Crown Memorial Salinas River San Buenaventura San Clemente San Elijo San Gregorio San Onofre Santa Monica Schooner Gulch Seacliff Silver Strand Sonoma Coast South Carlsbad Sunset Thornton Torrey Pines Trinidad Twin Lakes Westport-Union Landing Will Rogers William Randolph Hearst Memorial Zmudowski
State Recreation Areas	Admiral William Standley Auburn Austin Creek Benbow Lake Benicia Bethany Reservoir Brannan Island Candlestick Point Castaic Lake Colusa-Sacramento River Folsom Lake Franks Tract George J. Hatfield Harry A. Merlo Kenneth Hahn Kings Beach Lake Del Valle Lake Oroville Lake Perris Lake Valley Martial Cottle Park McConnell Millerton Lake Picacho Providence Mountains Salton Sea San Luis Reservoir Silverwood Lake Standish-Hickey Tahoe Turlock Lake Woodson Bridge
State Vehicular Recreation Areas	Carnegie Clay Pit Heber Dunes Hollister Hills Hungry Valley Oceano Dunes Ocotillo Wells Prairie City
Other	Burleigh H. Murray Ranch California State Mining and Mineral Museum California State Capitol Museum California State Railroad Museum Castro Adobe Delta Meadows Estero Bay Hatton Canyon Indio Hills Palms Point Cabrillo Light Station Point Lobos Ranch Point Montara Light Station Reynolds Wayside Campground San Timoteo Canyon Stone Lake Verdugo Mountains Ward Creek Wildwood Canyon

National Forests and Grasslands

National Forests and Grasslands	Angeles Butte Valley NG Cleveland Eldorado Humboldt-Toiyabe Inyo Klamath Lake Tahoe Basin Lassen Los Padres Mendocino Modoc Plumas Rogue River – Siskiyou San Bernardino Sequoia Shasta–Trinity Sierra Six Rivers Stanislaus Tahoe
National Wilderness Preservation System	Agua Tibia Ansel Adams Bucks Lake Caribou Carson-Iceberg Castle Crags Cucamonga Desolation Dick Smith Dinkey Lakes Emigrant Golden Trout Hoover Inyo Mountains Ishi Jennie Lakes John Muir Kaiser Marble Mountain Mokelumne Mount Shasta Wilderness North Fork San Gabriel Sanhedrin San Jacinto San Rafael Sespe Siskiyou Snow Mountain South Fork Eel River South Sierra South Warner Thousand Lakes Trinity Alps Ventana Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Yuki
National Monuments and Recreation Areas	Giant Sequoia National Monument San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Smith River National Recreation Area Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area Sand to Snow National Monument

State Forests
Boggs Mountain Demonstration Ellen Pickett Jackson Demonstration Las Posadas LaTour Demonstration Mount Zion Mountain Home Demonstration Soquel Demonstration

National Wildlife Refuges

State Wildlife Areas

Wildlife Areas	Antelope Valley Ash Creek Bass Hill Battle Creek Big Lagoon Big Sandy Biscar Butte Valley Buttermilk Country Cache Creek Camp Cady Cantara/Ney Springs Cedar Roughs Cinder Flats Collins Eddy Colusa Bypass Coon Hollow Cottonwood Creek Crescent City Marsh Crocker Meadows Daugherty Hill Decker Island Doyle Dutch Flat Eastlker River Eel River Elk Creek Wetlands Elk River Fay Slough Feather River Fitzhugh Creek Fremont Weir Grass Lake Gray Lodge Green Creek Grizzly Island Hallelujah Junction Heenan Lake Hill Slough Hollenbeck Canyon Honey Lake Hope Valley Horseshoe Ranch Imperial Indian Valley Kelso Peak and Old Dad Mountains Kinsman Flat Knoxville Laguna Lake Berryessa Lake Earl Lake Sonoma Little Panoche Reservoir Los Banos Lower Sherman Island Mad River Slough Marble Mountains Mendota Merrill's Landing Miner Slough Monache Meadows Morro Bay Moss Landing Mouth of Cottonwood Creek Napa-Sonoma Marshes North Grasslands O'Neill Forebay Oroville Petaluma Marsh Pickel Meadow Pine Creek Point Edith Putah Creek Rector Reservoir Red Lake Rhode Island Sacramento River San Felipe Valley San Jacinto San Luis Obispo San Luis Reservoir San Pablo Bay Santa Rosa Shasta Valley Silver Creek Slinkard/Little Antelope Smithneck Creek South Fork Spenceville Surprise Valley Sutter Bypass Tehama Truckee River Upper Butte Basin Volta Warner Valley Waukell Creek West Hilmar Westlker River White Slough Willow Creek Yolo Bypass
Ecological Reserves	Albany Mudflats Alkali Sink Allensworth Atascadero Creek Marsh Bair Island Baldwin Lake Batiquitos Lagoon Blue Sky Boden Canyon Boggs Lake Bolsa Chica Bonny Doon Buena Vista Lagoon Butler Slough Butte Creek Canyon Butte Creek House Buttonwillow By Day Creek Calhoun Cut Canebrake Carlsbad Highlands Carmel Bay Carrizo Canyon Carrizo Plains China Point Clover Creek Coachella Valley Coal Canyon Corte Madera Marsh Crestridge Dairy Mart Ponds Dales Lake Del Mar Landing Eden Landing Elkhorn Slough Estelle Mountain Fall River Mills Fish Slough Fremont Valley Goleta Slough Indian Joe Spring Kaweah Kerman King Clone Laguna Laurel Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Lokern Magnesia Spring Marin Islands Mattole River McGinty Mountain Morro Dunes Morro Rock Napa River North Table Mountain Oasis Spring Panoche Hills Peytonia Slough Pine Hill Piute Creek Pleasant Valley Rancho Jamul Redwood Shores River Springs Lakes Saline Valley San Dieguito Lagoon San Elijo Lagoon San Felipe Creek San Joaquin River Santa Rosa Plateau Springville Stone Corral Sycamore Canyon Sycuan Peak Thomes Creek Tomales Bay Upper Newport Bay Watsonville Slough West Mojave Desert Woodbridge Yaudanchi
Marine Protected Areas	Abalone Cove Albany Mudflats Anacapa Anacapa Año Nuevo Asilomar Atascadero Beach Bair Island Batiquitos Lagoon Big Creek Big Creek Big Sycamore Canyon Bodega Bolsa Chica Cambria Cardiff and San Elijo Carmel Bay Carmel Pinnacles Carrington Point Catalina Marine Science Center Corte Madera Marsh Crystal Cove Dana Point Del Mar Landing Doheny Doheny Duxbury Reef Edward F. Ricketts Elkhorn Slough Elkhorn Slough Encinitas Estero de Limantour Fagan Marsh Farallon Islands Farnsworth Bank Fort Ross Gerstle Cove Goleta Slough Greyhound Rock Gull Island Harris Point Heisler Park Hopkins Irvine Coast James V. Fitzgerald Judith Rock Julia Pfeiffer Burns La Jolla Laguna Beach Lovers Cove (Catalina Island) Lovers Point MacKerricher Manchester and Arena Rock Marin Islands Mia J. Tegner Moro Cojo Slough Morro Bay Morro Bay Morro Beach Natural Bridges Niguel Pacific Grove Marine Gardens Painted Cave Peytonia Slough Piedras Blancas Piedras Blancas Pismo Pismo-Oceano Beach Point Buchon Point Buchon Point Cabrillo Point Fermin Point Lobos Point Reyes Headlands Point Sur Point Sur Portuguese Ledge Punta Gorda Redwood Shores Refugio Richardson Rock Robert E. Badham Robert W. Crown Russian Gulch Russian River Salt Point San Diego-Scripps San Dieguito Lagoon San Elijo Lagoon Santa Barbara Island Scorpion Skunk Point Sonoma Coast Soquel Canyon South Laguna Beach South Point Swami’s Tomales Bay Upper Newport Bay Van Damme Vandenberg White Rock (Cambria)

Bureau of Land Management National Landscape Conservation System

National Monuments	Berryessa Snow Mountain California Coastal Carrizo Plain Cascade-Siskiyou Fort Ord Mojave Trails Sand to Snow Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains
National Conservation Areas	California Desert King Range
Wilderness Areas	Argus Range Big Maria Mountains Bigelow Cholla Garden Bighorn Mountain Black Mountain Bright Star Bristol Mountains Cadiz Dunes Carrizo Gorge Chemehuevi Mountains Chimney Peak Chuckwalla Mountains Chumash Cleghorn Lakes Clipper Mountain Coso Range Coyote Mountains Darwin Falls Dead Mountains Dick Smith El Paso Mountains Fish Creek Mountains Funeral Mountains Golden Valley Grass Valley Headwaters Forest Reserve Hollow Hills Ibex Indian Pass Inyo Mountains Jacumba Kelso Dunes Kiavah Kingston Range Little Chuckwalla Mountains Little Picacho Machesna Mountain Matilija Malpais Mesa Manly Peak Mecca Hills Mesquite Newberry Mountains Nopah Range North Algodones Dunes North Mesquite Mountains Old Woman Mountains Orocopia Mountains Otay Mountain Owens Peak Pahrump Valley Palen/McCoy Palo Verde Mountains Picacho Peak Piper Mountain Piute Mountains Red Buttes Resting Spring Range Rice Valley Riverside Mountains Rodman Mountains Sacatar Trail Saddle Peak Hills San Gorgonio Santa Lucia Santa Rosa Sawtooth Mountains Sespe Sheephole Valley South Nopah Range Stateline Stepladder Mountains Surprise Canyon Sylvania Mountains Trilobite Turtle Mountains Whipple Mountains

National Marine Sanctuaries
Channel Islands Cordell Bank Greater Farallones Monterey Bay

National Estuarine Research Reserves
Elkhorn Slough San Francisco Bay Tijuana River Estuary

University of California Natural Reserve System

Angelo Coast Range Reserve
Año Nuevo Island
Blue Oak Ranch Reserve
Bodega Marine
Box Springs
Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center
Burns Piñon Ridge
Carpinteria Salt Marsh
Chickering American River
Coal Oil Point
Dawson Los Monos Canyon
Eagle Lake Field Station
Elliott Chaparral
Emerson Oaks
Fort Ord
Hastings
James San Jacinto Mountains
Jenny Pygmy Forest
Jepson Prairie
Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh
Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino
Landels-Hill Big Creek
McLaughlin
Motte Rimrock
Quail Ridge
Sagehen Creek Field Station
San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh
Santa Cruz Island
Scripps Coastal
Sedgwick
Stebbins Cold Canyon
Steele Burnand Anza-Borrego
Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains
Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center
Valentine Eastern Sierra
Younger Lagoon

Heritage registers: National Natural Landmarks

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