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| Seal haul-out North Point Beach |
North Point Beach is located in San Mateo County and is the north border of the
Año Nuevo State Park. This beach is not open to the public because the north end of the beach is occupied by many Northern Elephant Seals. The access to this beach is via highway 1 onto an about 3/4 mile dirt road. The road leads to a small compound including a house that was until recently occupied by a ranger. The ranger retired and now the property sits with no occupants.
In the picture to the left a number of female Northern Elephant seals are basking on the beach with Año Nuevo Island and it's structures in the back-ground.
Año Nuevo State Park,in San Mateo County, preserves and protects the scenic, biological, ecological, and cultural values of the central California coastline, including Año Nuevo Island and properties on the western slope of the coast range inland from Año Nuevo Point. The park protects and interprets the pinniped rookeries, a prime resource, and significant wildlife habitats on Año Nuevo Island and the mainland. It also contains sensitive native dunes and coastal terrace prairie habitats, and a diversity of inland plant communities, including old growth forest, freshwater marsh, red alder riparian forest and knobcone pine forest. Its four perennial streams support steelhead trout and coho salmon, and its wetlands are habitat to the rare San Francisco garter snake and red-legged frog. Cultural resources include the remnants of Native California Indian Ohlone occupation of the area and a number of structures from the nineteenth century Cascade Ranch and historic Steele Ranch. In conjunction with adjacent and nearby public lands, the unit protects important regional ecological corridors and linkages.
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| North Point from northern boundary looking south to Ano Nuevo Island |
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| Ranger House North Point |
