William Hearst and his family left us more than a castle. Across Highway 1 from the Visitors’ Center, sitting on San Simeon Bay, is William R. Hearst Memorial State Beach. This was given to the people of California by the Hearst estate in 1951.
Park hours are sunrise to sunset. Day use and parking are free. A 1000 foot pier projects into the bay, providing a nice promenade for fishing or sightseeing. California Kayak Company offers kayak tours and rentals. A picnic area has tables, barbecues and an open air shower. This is a convenient starting point for a hike around San Simeon Point.
Dogs must be kept on a six foot leash inside the park. I explained this to Dexter and told him it was just until we left the park area. I don’t know how much Dexter understands when I explain things to him, but we did give him the Readers Digest Dog IQ test once. He scored Very Smart.
At the north end of the beach, past Sebastian’s General Store, a trail leads up the bluff into a eucalyptus grove. A barbed wire fence separates a narrow pathway along the bluff’s edge from the Hearst property inland. The fence soon disappears and the trail continues along the periphery of San Simeon Point.
Within a few minutes, we entered a grove of pine trees in a grassy meadow. Their branches, hung with tufts of Spanish moss, grew in random patterns. Vines of poison oak wrapped around the trunks and reached upward toward the sunlight. Interspersed among the pines were elderly eucalyptus trees surrounded by slender shoots of offspring. The ground beneath was open and park-like. It reminded me of Point Lobos. To the left, across the tops of berry bushes, we had views across the water to Point Estero and Point Buchon.
Dexter barked to warn me that we had company. Three black Angus bulls were hanging back in the shadows of the trees and giving us wary stares. I called Dexter to my side and we kept walking.
At the tip of the point, a trail led down to a rocky ledge just above the water line.
North Entrance Rock, just offshore, provided a resting perch for en route cormorants. A tiny beach, accessible only by the adventurous, was bounded on the south by an archway cut through the rocky bluff.
We walked around to the north side of the point. Steep trails led down to rocky tidepools. Another isolated beach was more accessible but also more exposed to the cold, onshore wind. We slipped and slid down the slope. There was a short jump to the coarse, wet sand. The tidepools had your standard stuff–crabs, mussels, anemones. Since the sand was wet and the tide was out, I guessed that the beach might go underwater a couple of times a day.
Continuing north, we had our first views of Piedras Blancas Lighthouse. I sniffed the air–salt and iodine, no hint yet of elephant seals. A fishing boat pitched and rolled offshore.
Most of the beach on the north side of the point is made up of striated sandstone, bent and buckled by tectonic forces so that the layers lie almost vertical.
The trail wound through low brush parallel to the cliff. At times it was forced by stiff juniper branches right to the edge of the precipice. That didn’t bother Dexter as much as it did me. At other times, it tunneled through the juniper limbs, forcing me down to dog-level in order to pass underneath.
Finally the coastal trail gave up and turned inland. It continued north through a grove of cypress trees, cutting between parallel rows like a bridle trail. At the edge of the trees, we followed the pathway onto a large, open coastal plateau. We could see the lighthouse ahead of us and cars passing by on Highway 1. We continued north, angling toward the coastline, through fragrant, flowering bushes and busy insects.
Twenty minutes of walking brought us to the south end of Windy Cove. A long stretch of sandy beach rolled north to distant, white dunes. Dexter led me to the end of a small creek where it pooled and sank into the sand. He needed to get a drink of water and soak his feet.
We had a nice view from the creek’s edge of Mr. Hearst’s twin towers on the far ridgeline. We also had closeup views of several dozen Angus bulls who were enjoying the forage around us. Dexter and I both thought this was a good time to walk back to San Simeon and see what we could rustle up for lunch.
Park hours are sunrise to sunset. Day use and parking are free. A 1000 foot pier projects into the bay, providing a nice promenade for fishing or sightseeing. California Kayak Company offers kayak tours and rentals. A picnic area has tables, barbecues and an open air shower. This is a convenient starting point for a hike around San Simeon Point.
Dogs must be kept on a six foot leash inside the park. I explained this to Dexter and told him it was just until we left the park area. I don’t know how much Dexter understands when I explain things to him, but we did give him the Readers Digest Dog IQ test once. He scored Very Smart.
At the north end of the beach, past Sebastian’s General Store, a trail leads up the bluff into a eucalyptus grove. A barbed wire fence separates a narrow pathway along the bluff’s edge from the Hearst property inland. The fence soon disappears and the trail continues along the periphery of San Simeon Point.
Within a few minutes, we entered a grove of pine trees in a grassy meadow. Their branches, hung with tufts of Spanish moss, grew in random patterns. Vines of poison oak wrapped around the trunks and reached upward toward the sunlight. Interspersed among the pines were elderly eucalyptus trees surrounded by slender shoots of offspring. The ground beneath was open and park-like. It reminded me of Point Lobos. To the left, across the tops of berry bushes, we had views across the water to Point Estero and Point Buchon.
Dexter barked to warn me that we had company. Three black Angus bulls were hanging back in the shadows of the trees and giving us wary stares. I called Dexter to my side and we kept walking.
At the tip of the point, a trail led down to a rocky ledge just above the water line.
North Entrance Rock, just offshore, provided a resting perch for en route cormorants. A tiny beach, accessible only by the adventurous, was bounded on the south by an archway cut through the rocky bluff.We walked around to the north side of the point. Steep trails led down to rocky tidepools. Another isolated beach was more accessible but also more exposed to the cold, onshore wind. We slipped and slid down the slope. There was a short jump to the coarse, wet sand. The tidepools had your standard stuff–crabs, mussels, anemones. Since the sand was wet and the tide was out, I guessed that the beach might go underwater a couple of times a day.
Continuing north, we had our first views of Piedras Blancas Lighthouse. I sniffed the air–salt and iodine, no hint yet of elephant seals. A fishing boat pitched and rolled offshore.
Most of the beach on the north side of the point is made up of striated sandstone, bent and buckled by tectonic forces so that the layers lie almost vertical.
The trail wound through low brush parallel to the cliff. At times it was forced by stiff juniper branches right to the edge of the precipice. That didn’t bother Dexter as much as it did me. At other times, it tunneled through the juniper limbs, forcing me down to dog-level in order to pass underneath.
Finally the coastal trail gave up and turned inland. It continued north through a grove of cypress trees, cutting between parallel rows like a bridle trail. At the edge of the trees, we followed the pathway onto a large, open coastal plateau. We could see the lighthouse ahead of us and cars passing by on Highway 1. We continued north, angling toward the coastline, through fragrant, flowering bushes and busy insects.
Twenty minutes of walking brought us to the south end of Windy Cove. A long stretch of sandy beach rolled north to distant, white dunes. Dexter led me to the end of a small creek where it pooled and sank into the sand. He needed to get a drink of water and soak his feet.
We had a nice view from the creek’s edge of Mr. Hearst’s twin towers on the far ridgeline. We also had closeup views of several dozen Angus bulls who were enjoying the forage around us. Dexter and I both thought this was a good time to walk back to San Simeon and see what we could rustle up for lunch.
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