Año Nuevo State Park

been here several times, our favorite place to day trip to ! staff is kind and very informed , hiking trails and views are beautiful, elephant seals are amazing ! :)

4.5 stars. Nice hike. Wonderful secluded beach with a few surfers. Several viewing points for elephant seals. Bathrooms located at the parking lot and another one that's located a short walk from the staging area.

Docents are stationed at various viewing points to provide you information regarding the area. $10 parking fee but you will also need to obtain a permit to continue on to the elephant seal viewing areas. The permit is free. We got ours at the staging area.

Great place to view wildlife and practice walking on sand. Some areas are muddy so wear appropriate shoes.

Amazing experience for all the family.
We had a great time.
It does require a total walk of around 2-3 miles , flat rd with beautiful views.
Highly recommended

I had such a magical visit to Año Nuevo! I booked a tour to see the elephant seals and it did not disappoint.

The etrance fee is $10 (credit cards accepted). There was plenty of parking, restrooms, and a water fountain. Out on the trails, there was only a port-a-potty.

My tour was early January. Dress warmly - the coast is cold and windy. And wear comfortable walking shoes - we hiked for 2+ miles out through the dunes. I recommend bringing binoculars to view the seals, as well as the fun variety of birds. I loved our tour guide Sarah - she was enthusiastic and I learned a lot from her.

Such a unique winter day trip for nature lovers!

LIZARDS! Reptilian beauty after reptilian beauty observed us humans traveling on foot along the side of the trails on my visit in the spring of 2018. When I used my Nikon Coolpix camera to take some pictures of the little cuties, they perked up and looked at their reflection in the lens of my camera. They scurried off when we got too close.

Along the water's edge, seals slumbered and played chest bump with each other. Helpful park guides yielded information about different animal whereabouts and were friendly and ready to hold conservation with those interested.

Trails were easy to navigate and traverse. Grounds were well maintained and a main information center was open. The parking lot was large with open spots easy to find.

What an amazing spot to go see awesome wildlife and learn about the coast of California . I would def go and bring the kids. The best time to see activity is in the winter with a guided tour or after April when you can go by yourself. Seeing the animals was so cool.

Dress warm, bring a change of clothes and be prepared to walk a pretty good distance

It was the perfect day to be out and about. Grab your set of binoculars and head out to the coastline. You will spot all kind of wild life. It was a good walk in bright sun. There is still buy of mud on the way to Brighton beach so wear correct gear.

You can stop at white barn and trick up free permit to enjoy viewing elephant seal pups lying on the shores.

Definitely worth going!

Wonderful hiking trail by the coastline with amazing views leading all the way up to the elephant seal viewing area. Depending on the time of year, the number of elephant seals will differ. During the summer, you'll mostly find the males molting. We also saw a couple of sea otters.

The trail, all the way up to the final viewing area, is about 2.5miles one way. It's well maintained and wheelchair accessible up to 1.5 miles, after which it's sand.

The entry fee is about $10 or free if you have a state park pass. There are docents at the gift shop, in the staging area, and in all three viewing areas who are very helpful. They also tell you how many seals you can expect to see, so you can decide how far up you want to hike.

There are plenty of parking spots; although I'd recommend going early in the day as there are not many trees around for shade and it can get quite sunny.

I can't say enough about my tour today at Ano Nuevo! I have been wanting to do this for so long and it was great!

The docent was so knowledgeable, and answered everybody's questions, and was so friendly and sweet.

I recommend this to all families I think kids would love this. If you have somebody who maybe can't do the little hike, they can also go via shuttle..

We had a really great weather today so it made it even better but please just go do this because you will not regret!

One of my fav hiking spots in the Bay Area! No admission fee and there's a parking lot with plenty of parking. Love this spot as you get the chance to see all the lazy elephant seals lounging or occasionally play fight around. The hike was on fairly flat grounds with some areas of sand to get to the different lookout points. Took about two hours round trip to reach all the different lookout points. I also liked how there were different rangers stationed at the lookout points who were very informative. Highly recommend this hike!

There are multiple viewings available to see the elephant seals. The volunteers have a great information about them, ask questions!
The walk isnt too hard but be prepared to walk on sand (sensible footwear and be ready to carry your children).
No pets.
There is a cute hidden beach half way worth visiting.