William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach is located near the historic

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

San Simeon San Simeon (Spanish: ''San Simeón'', meaning "St. Simon") is a village and Census-designated place on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Its position along State Route 1 is about halfway between Los Angeles ...

along California State Route 1, in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. It is named for newspaper magnate

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

(1863–1951), whose family is closely associated with the area.

History

William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach is located in northern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, directly below historic

Hearst Castle Hearst Castle, known formally as La Cuesta Encantada ( Spanish for "The Enchanted Hill"), is a historic estate in San Simeon, located on the Central Coast of California. Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his arch ...

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra founded the Miss ...

State Beach, or "The Cove" as it is locally known, was the hub of trade and shipping in the area, which was once home to the Hearst family newspaper empire. Before the 1800s the land was known to be inhabited by the

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California See also *Chumash traditional n ...

. However the known written history of this beach begins in the mid-1830s when Mission San Miguel was built, and by the early 1850s a small Portuguese whaling village had been built on the peninsula jutting out into the sea. Over the course of ten years the small village managed to hunt down some 370 whales. Though records of what type of whales were not kept, it is assumed the majority of the whales were gray and humpbacks, as these are the whales that are commonly spotted in the area. This village was short-lived, because only ten years after it was built a severe drought caused the town to move to find fresh water.

George Hearst George Hearst (September 3, 1820 – February 28, 1891) was an American businessman, miner, and politician. After growing up on a small farm in Missouri, he founded many mining operations, and is known for developing and expanding the Hom ...

bought nearly 50,000 acres, establishing the ground work for his son William's empire. The Hearst family owned all the land as far as the eye could see from their castle until the early 1950s when the family donated a huge section of land to the state and sold miles of shoreline to be reserved for public use. The pier George Hearst built in the 1800s no longer exists, but a new one was built in the 1900s just a few hundred yards down the beach that now stands in its place. Today the beach is a California state beach. Slack line

Activities

William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach is a quiet place with an abundance of wildlife and nature that can be easily viewed. Hearst Memorial State Beach gives visitors the opportunity to hike, swim, fish and beachcomb. A popular beach spot, this protected cove also offers visitors pier fishing as well as kayak fishing, but there is no large boat launch from the beach. Fishing licenses are not required when fishing from the pier but limits are enforced. The beach has a variety of outdoor activities including, kayaking, kayak surfing,

paddle boarding Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. This article refers to traditional prone or kneeli ...

, slack lining,

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

. Though kayak surfing is becoming more popular along the beach the water is mostly shore break and therefore it is difficult to surf on a normal surfboard. Located on the beach is a small kayak shop, Sea For Yourself Kayak Outfitter, a shop which provides kayak, paddle board, bike, and other beach gear rentals. The beach has more than initially meets the eye. Sights include caves, beaches, arches, and an abundance of wildlife. Different types of wildlife that can be seen in the cove over a year include, but are not limited to,

gray whale The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. gray back whale, Pacific gray whale, Korean gray whale, or California gray whale, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and bree ...

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...

bottlenose dolphin Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the common ...

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...

elephant seal Elephant seals are very large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus ''Mirounga''. Both species, the northern elephant seal (''M. angustirostris'') and the southern elephant seal (''M. leonina''), were hunted to the brink of extinction for oil ...

sea otter The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the small ...

s, and

northern fur seal The northern fur seal (''Callorhinus ursinus'') is an eared seal found along the north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the largest member of the fur seal subfamily (Arctocephalinae) and the only living species in the ...

s. Fishing from both the pier and by boat is also popular and common fish that are targeted here include, but are not limited to,

rockfish Rockfish is a common term for several species of fish, referring to their tendency to hide among rocks. The name rockfish is used for many kinds of fish used for food. This common name belongs to several groups that are not closely related, and ca ...

including

lingcod The lingcod or ling cod (''Ophiodon elongatus''), also known as the buffalo cod or cultus cod, is a fish of the greenling family Hexagrammidae. It is the only extant member of the genus ''Ophiodon. ''A slightly larger, extinct species, '' Ophi ...

cabezon Cabezón is the Spanish word for "stubborn" or "big-headed". In Chile, cabezon means intelligent. Cabezon or cabezón may refer to: Fish species * Cabezon (fish) (''Scorpaenichthys marmoratus''), a species of fish in the family Cottidae * '' Cach ...

, vermilion rockfish, and gopher cod. Other fishes include

halibut Halibut is the common name for three flatfish in the genera '' Hippoglossus'' and ''Reinhardtius'' from the family of right-eye flounders and, in some regions, and less commonly, other species of large flatfish. The word is derived from ''h ...

thresher shark Thresher sharks are large lamniform sharks of the family Alopiidae found in all temperate and tropical oceans of the world; the family contains three extant species, all within the genus ''Alopias''. All three thresher shark species have been ...

smelt Smelt may refer to: * Smelting, chemical process * The common name of various fish: ** Smelt (fish), a family of small fish, Osmeridae ** Australian smelt in the family Retropinnidae and species ''Retropinna semoni'' ** Big-scale sand smelt ''At ...

surf perch The surfperches are a family of perciform fishes, the Embiotocidae. They are mainly found in northeast Pacific Ocean (as far south as Baja California), but a few species (genera '' Ditrema'' and '' Neoditrema'') are found in the northwest Pacifi ...

, and the occasional

stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...

. There is also a peninsula that juts out into the ocean that is still Hearst property today. Visitors are allowed to hike the path all the way out to the ocean. Just above the beach in the upper parking lot is a discovery center, which provides information about the history and the local wildlife. Picnic tables, barbecue grills and restrooms are available. This day-use area offers 24 picnic sites, 150 parking spaces, restrooms, water faucets, barbecue grill stands and easy beach access. Recreational activities include picnicking, swimming, fishing, boating, kayaking and sunbathing, including the kayak and boogie board concession in operation with equipment for rent every day from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The beach is day-use only; no camping or bonfires are allowed. Gates are closed just after sunset.

The beach today

On any given day you can expect to see people kayaking or paddle boarding on the calm waters of the Cove, or fishing the kelp beds. The beach is divided into two sections: from the parking lot down to the water is all state-owned and -maintained beach, but the other half of the beach all the way to the peninsula is private property still owned by the Hearst family today. Although it is private property the Hearst family still allows anyone to come and enjoy the beach. The Hearst warehouses are still standing today. Sebastian's is now a small grill serving all grass-fed Hearst beef, but used to serve as a small general store in the 1800s. There are also two newer buildings: one a small kayak rental shop, and the other a small nature and historic museum or discovery center. San Simeon Point, which is still Hearst property today, is covered in trees and has small trails that go out along its edges to its point, where on a clear day you can see the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse tower; it was built in the 1870s and is still in operation today.

Climate

San Simeon has a mild climate, but it fluctuates day to day. During the summer temperatures can be in the nineties, or as low as the fifties on any given day. During the winter the weather is usually mild with temperatures hovering between the low forties and high sixties. On average San Simeon sees only around twenty inches of rain a year. Most days start with a layer of fog that burns off by mid-morning. Once the fog has burned off, the historic Hearst Castle can be seen from the beach.

References

External links

Official William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach website
{{Protected areas of California, SP California State Beaches Parks in San Luis Obispo County, California Beaches of Southern California Beaches of San Luis Obispo County, California Parks in Southern California