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Año Nuevo State Reserve
Año Nuevo is fifty-five miles south of San Francisco
and the Golden Gate, in San Mateo County. A low, rocky,
windswept point juts out into the Pacific Ocean. It
remains much the same today, lonely, undeveloped and
wild, as the day Spanish maritime explorer Sebastian
Vizcaino sailed by the point and named it Punta de Año
Nuevo, which means New Year’s Point, for the day
on which it was sighted in 1603. State Reserve is the
site of the largest mainland breeding colony in the
world for the northern elephant seal. The males battle
for mates on the beaches and the females give birth
to their pups on the dunes. It is a unique and unforgettable
natural spectacle that hundreds of thousands of people
come to witness each year.
Point Lobos State Reserve
Located on the central coast of California in Monterey
County, the entrance is located three miles south of
Carmel on Highway One. The reserve area contains headlands,
coves and meadows. The offshore area forms one of the
richest underwater habitats in the world and is very
popular with divers. Wildlife includes seals, sea lions,
sea otters and migrating gray whales (from December
to May). Thousands of seabirds also make the reserve
their home. Hiking trails follow the shoreline and lead
to hidden coves. It got its name from the offshore rocks
at Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Point of the Sea Wolves,
where the sound of the sea lions carries inland. The
reserve has often been called "the crown jewel
of the State Park System." Point Lobos State Reserve
is outstanding for sightseeing, photography, painting,
nature study, picnicking, SCUBA diving, and jogging.
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