Monterey Bay Beach Walk

Overview

The whole curve of Monterey Bay on foot, from the sandstone arch at Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz round to the boardwalk at Asilomar in Pacific Grove: about 48 miles, roughly 31 of them on sand. North of New Brighton the shore is cliff and bluff with pocket beaches, so the walk there is mostly path and street. From New Brighton to Del Monte Beach it is nearly continuous sand, and Moss Landing is the only stretch of forced pavement.¹²

Two kinds of obstacle decide the days. The tide decides the Capitola cliffs and the riprap at Stilwell Hall. The rivers decide the Pajaro and the Salinas: each can be crossed on foot only when a sandbar closes its mouth.³⁴ The harbor entrance at Moss Landing is never walked; the way round is a road detour over the Elkhorn Slough bridge.⁵

Research

The line on the map is a plan, not yet walked. Street and path legs were routed over OpenStreetMap with a hiking profile, between the nodes where a path reaches the sand; sand legs follow the OpenStreetMap coastline about 10 meters inland; creek and river mouths are crossed straight over and marked as wades. The site checks the line against the same map data on every build: every street point sits on a mapped way, nothing runs through water except the marked wades, and each leg starts where the last one ended. Distances are measured on that line, so they differ a little from the California Coastal Trail's section figures they were planned from.⁶

Each leg below gives its surface, when it can be walked, and what it feels like on paper. Facts come from the Coastal Trail section guides, California State Parks, the two counties and trip reports.⁷⁸ Anything marked (verify) comes from thin or old sources: check it in person and with the land manager before trusting it with a pack on.

The tide matters most at the Capitola cliffs and Stilwell Hall. A morning low tide below about 1 foot at the Monterey station is a starting guess for both (verify), not a sourced threshold.⁹¹⁰ On the long soft-sand days, start near high tide and walk the falling tide for firmer sand; south of Moss Landing the beach steepens and firm sand gets scarce.¹

Snowy plovers nest on these beaches from March 1 to September 30. Fenced or posted areas are closed at Fort Ord Dunes, Marina, Monterey, Moss Landing, Salinas River and Zmudowski state beaches, and plovers also nest at Sunset and Manresa.¹¹¹² Whether walking the wet sand below a posted area is allowed at each beach is still an open question (verify).

The walk, north to south

01

West Cliff

2.8 mi · 4.5 km · from mile 0.0

• From, to: Natural Bridges State Beach to the Santa Cruz Wharf
• Surface: paved bluff path above rocky cliffs and pocket beaches¹³
• Walkable: any tide, on the path

Surfers below, the lighthouse halfway, the easiest warm-up of the walk. Storm repairs moved part of the path, and a stretch near Lighthouse Field is planned to shift inland.¹⁴

Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

02

Main Beach to Seabright

2.0 mi · 3.2 km · from mile 2.8

• From, to: the wharf, the San Lorenzo mouth, Seabright, the harbor
• Surface: sand or East Cliff Drive, then round the harbor to its bridge²
• Walkable: most tides; the jetty only in calm surf²

The Boardwalk crowd, the river crossed on the trestle walkway, then round the harbor. The line keeps to East Cliff Drive above Seabright Beach; the sand below goes as well at any but the highest tide. Main and Cowell beaches have a midnight curfew.¹⁵

Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

03

Twin Lakes to Capitola

3.7 mi · 5.9 km · from mile 4.8

• From, to: the harbor's east side, Twin Lakes, Black Point, Pleasure Point, Opal Cliff, Capitola
• Surface: sand to Black Point, then bluff-top streets²
• Walkable: Black Point is impassable on the beach at any tide

A street walk along East Cliff and Opal Cliff, surf breaks below and private homes blocking the view.²

Photo: Grmc922, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

04

Capitola cliffs

1.0 mi · 1.7 km · from mile 8.4

• From, to: Capitola City Beach to New Brighton
• Surface: a rocky tidal zone under fossil cliffs¹⁶
• Walkable: low or falling tide only¹⁶

Fossil shells in the cliff face, and the first place the tide decides. Soquel Creek is crossed on the bridge over its estuary.²

Photo: Srishti Sethi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

05

New Brighton to Seacliff

1.3 mi · 2.1 km · from mile 9.5

• From, to: New Brighton State Beach to Seacliff
• Surface: sand¹⁶
• Walkable: most tides (verify)

A short sand stretch. The old cement ship's pier at Seacliff has been gone since the January 2023 storms.¹⁷

Photo: Pamela Carls, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

06

Seacliff to Manresa

4.0 mi · 6.4 km · from mile 10.8

• From, to: Seacliff, Rio del Mar, La Selva, the Manresa stairs
• Surface: sand under 100-foot cliffs past the houses¹⁶
• Walkable: most tides (verify); Aptos Creek's mouth in winter (verify)

Houses on stilts above, a long beach below: the first real distance on sand.

Photo: Dg251273, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

07

Manresa to Sunset

3.1 mi · 5.0 km · from mile 14.8

• From, to: Manresa State Beach to Sunset State Beach
• Surface: wide sand under low bluffs³
• Walkable: most tides (verify)

Wide and quiet. Plovers nest here, so keep to the wet sand.¹²

Photo: Davide D'Amico, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

08

Sunset to the Pajaro

3.4 mi · 5.4 km · from mile 17.9

• From, to: Sunset, Palm Beach, Pajaro Dunes, the river mouth
• Surface: sand below the county's biggest dunes³
• Walkable: the river decides, not the tide

The dunes get big. Pajaro Dunes behind the sand is private property.³

Photo: Phorenon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

09

Zmudowski to Moss Landing

4.8 mi · 7.7 km · from mile 21.2

• From, to: the Pajaro mouth, Zmudowski, the north jetty, then the road detour
• Surface: sand, then Jetty Road, the Hwy 1 shoulder and Moss Landing streets⁵
• Walkable: any tide on the sand; the harbor entrance is never walked

The only forced pavement of the walk: the power plant stacks ahead, then traffic on the Elkhorn Slough bridge. Zmudowski has a natural preserve at the estuary.²⁰

Photo: Melissa McMasters, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

10

Moss Landing to the Salinas

3.9 mi · 6.2 km · from mile 26.0

• From, to: the end of Sandholdt Road to the Salinas River mouth
• Surface: sand beside the Old Salinas River channel⁴
• Walkable: the river decides

Back on the sand, steeper now, through plover habitat.¹¹

Photo: Daniel Hoover, U.S. Geological Survey, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

11

Salinas River refuge

3.6 mi · 5.8 km · from mile 29.9

• From, to: the Salinas mouth to the Marina State Beach boardwalk
• Surface: soft sand below steep dunes⁴
• Walkable: any tide; watch for big waves⁴

A national wildlife refuge: stay off the dunes. Soft going with a pack.

Photo: Presidio of Monterey (DLIFLC and USAG), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

12

Marina to Stilwell Hall

2.4 mi · 3.8 km · from mile 33.5

• From, to: Marina State Beach into Fort Ord Dunes State Park
• Surface: soft sand, then a riprap wall²⁴
• Walkable: very low tide only at the riprap²⁴

Hang gliders over Marina, then the old Army beach. Fort Ord Dunes is open 8 a.m. to sunset, and some of its trails are closed.²⁵

Photo: Eric Polk, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

13

Fort Ord to Sand City

3.8 mi · 6.1 km · from mile 35.9

• From, to: Stilwell Hall to Sand City
• Surface: sand; dunes scarred by old sand mining²⁴
• Walkable: most tides (verify)

Long, empty and steep: the hardest sand of the walk.¹

Photo: Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

14

Sand City to Seaside

1.1 mi · 1.8 km · from mile 39.6

• From, to: Sand City to the Monterey Beach Hotel
• Surface: sand with restored dunes²⁴
• Walkable: most tides (verify)

Restored dunes and the first hotels: Monterey is close. Monterey State Beach is a plover beach.¹¹

Photo: Pimlico27, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

15

Del Monte to Wharf 2

1.3 mi · 2.0 km · from mile 40.8

• From, to: Del Monte Beach to Municipal Wharf 2, where the sand ends
• Surface: sand²⁴
• Walkable: parts are impassable at high tide; the Recreation Trail runs alongside²⁴²⁶

The last sand: the bay curves round to the wharves.

Photo: Melissa McMasters, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

16

Monterey waterfront

1.5 mi · 2.4 km · from mile 42.0

• From, to: Wharf 2, Fisherman's Wharf, Cannery Row, the Aquarium
• Surface: the paved Recreation Trail²⁴
• Walkable: any tide, on the path

Crowds and sea lions: the end of the beach walk proper.

Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

17

Pacific Grove

4.4 mi · 7.0 km · from mile 43.5

• From, to: the Aquarium, Lovers Point, Point Pinos, Asilomar
• Surface: path, dirt track, boardwalk and some beach on a rocky shore²⁷
• Walkable: the trail fades past Point Pinos; use the beach or the road shoulder²⁷

Tide pools and the lighthouse, then the boardwalk into Asilomar.

Photo: Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Footnotes

1. fastestknowntime.com ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. californiacoastaltrail.org ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

3. californiacoastaltrail.org ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. californiacoastaltrail.org ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

5. californiacoastaltrail.org ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. californiacoastaltrail.org ↩

7. backpackinglight.com ↩ ↩²

8. adventuresportsjournal.com ↩ ↩²

9. tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov ↩

10. tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov ↩

11. parks.ca.gov ↩ ↩² ↩³

12. parks.ca.gov ↩ ↩²

13. californiacoastaltrail.org ↩

14. cityofsantacruz.com; lookout.co ↩

15. ksqd.org; abc7news.com ↩

16. californiacoastaltrail.org ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

17. parks.ca.gov ↩

18. coastalocean.ucdavis.edu ↩

19. documents.coastal.ca.gov; documents.coastal.ca.gov ↩

20. parks.ca.gov ↩

21. elkhornslough.org ↩

22. scc.ca.gov ↩

23. countyofmonterey.gov ↩

24. californiacoastaltrail.org ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

25. parks.ca.gov ↩

26. monterey.gov ↩

27. californiacoastaltrail.org ↩ ↩²