San Gregorio State Beach is a beach near

San Gregorio, California San Gregorio (Spanish for "St. Gregory") is an unincorporated community in San Mateo County, California, with a population of 214 people. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, south of Half Moon Bay. Just east of Highway 1, it is one mile ...

, United States, south of

Half Moon Bay Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, United States, approximately south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,795 as of the 2020 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is Pillar Point Harbor and the un ...

. Part of the California State Park System, the beach lies just west of the intersection of California State Route 1 and State Route 84.

Geography

San Gregorio Creek San Gregorio Creek (''Spanish for:'' Saint Gregory) is a river in San Mateo County, California. Its tributaries originate on the western ridges of the Santa Cruz Mountains whence it courses southwest through steep forested canyons. The San Greg ...

widens to form a small freshwater lagoon in the park behind a sand berm, or

barrier beach Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...

, which typically blocks the mouth of the creek, forcing the creekwaters to flow underfoot as they seep into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. During the rainy season the creek often cuts through the sand berm and flows directly into the ocean. Historically the creek was a

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientif ...

spawning site, and the Department of Fish and Game is considering restocking it with coho to improve the salmon fisheries south of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. It is one of the cleanest beaches in the state.Bay Area beaches grade well for safe swimming
May 27, 2010 by Carolyn Jones, San Francisco Chronicle

Amenities

Park facilities include restrooms and picnic tables. Dogs are not permitted on the beach, as it has been identified as an itinerant nesting habitat for the locally underpopulated

western snowy plover The western snowy plover (''Charadrius nivosus nivosus'') is a small wader in the plover bird family. It breeds in the southern and western United States and the Caribbean. On March 5, 1993, the western snowy plover was listed as a threatened s ...

. It is considered a self-registered fee area, although there is a kiosk which is staffed during summer months. North of the main beach is a nude beach on private property.

Historical significance

A stone marker with a plaque (now missing) commemorates the three days Spanish explorer

Gaspar de Portolà Gaspar is a given and/or surname of French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish origin, cognate to Casper (given name) or Casper (surname). It is a name of biblical origin, per Saint Gaspar, one of the wise men mentioned in the Bible. Notable peo ...

's expedition camped at the beach to rest and treat their sick in 1769, during their (failed) attempt to locate

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by ...

. They would go on to discover San Francisco Bay instead. The site is registered as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

26.

Gallery

File:San Gregorio State Beach - Hwy CA 1.jpg, alt=View of San Gregorio State Beach, View of San Gregorio State Beach

References

External links