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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature: Cowell Ranch Beach


Located in Sabta Cruz, just off the the pier, Cowell Ranch Beach is a model of conservation, preservation, and accessible open space. Main Beach and Cowell Beach are located like bookends on either side of the Santa Cruz Municipal Pier, near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Cowell Ranch Beach consists of a single trail running between a farm easement and private property, a sandy beach, and a separate harbor seal preserve. The trailhead is a stone's-throw from the Half Moon Bay city limits, but the 1 mile out-and-back walk to the point and beach is a tranquil journey. Packed in under 100 acres there are interesting and beautiful plants in bloom along the trail, a sheltered sandy beach, and views from the bluff to colonies of sleek harbor seals. You'd never guess this gem of a coastal landscape exists so near the rush of traffic along Highway 1. A half-mile walk from a small parking lot along a broad trail leads to jaw-dropping vistas of towering cliffs, curving coastline and surging waves. Honey-colored sands beckon from the foot of Cowell Steps connecting the cliff-top overlook to the beach. Tides and winter storms make this cliff face highly erodible, often causing sand slides to close the steep staircase.
Cowell beach, one Of California's most beautiful natural beaches in Santa Cruz California The bay area is blessed with miles of publicly held coastline, and sand and surf lovers can walk for hours on dozens of state beaches in Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Cruz Counties. With the exception of the Point Reyes Peninsula, where there are quite a few long hikes to beaches, most of our coastline access is just steps from paved parking lots. Cowell Beach is both easy to get to and still a private and nature filled area.

All the water falling down from the sky makes Cowell Beach a wet site; through January this area sees the most rain while July is the month with the least amount of precipitation. High temperatures at Cowell Beach through the summertime months are in the 70's. Summer nighttime lows dip down to the 50's. The cold days of the winter come with highs in the 50's while the cold winter nights at Cowell Beach are in the 30's.


Follow the trail at Cowell Ranch Beach for a wonderful journey into California nature at its best.
 The wide flat dirt and gravel trail heads west, through a mixture of coyote brush, thistles, dock, poison hemlock, wild radish, and mustard. Although the property to the south is a farm easement, land on the north of the trail is privately held. You may catch a glimpse of the Ritz Carlton Hotel up the coast to the right. Interpretive panels along the trail refer to the history of the area, and commonly spotted plants and animals. Hawks sweep over the fields, looking for easy prey. As the trail bends south, you may see a variety of wildflowers in summer, from standards such as buckwheat, beeplant, tarweed, and coyote mint to the more unusual blossoms bog orchid, boisduvalia, and centaury. At 0.48 mile, steps depart on the right, heading down to the beach, an optional trip, or a fine day-long destination.

As the trail runs out of real estate at 0.58 mile. Two benches set back a few feet from the partly-fenced bluff edge offer spectacular views south to the harbor seal preserve, as well as north. Seals may be spotted generally from about February through May, hauled up on the beach or swimming near the shore. Pups are born from March to April . Unfortunately the preserve is off limits to people year round, even when no seals are in view.
Cowell Beach is Santa Cruz is a great place to learn to surf  If you've arrived during seal season without binoculars but still want a better look, there's a coin operated scope on the right. When you're ready, retrace your steps back to the trailhead.

In summer, Santa Cruz’s colorful boardwalk lights up with nonstop activity: Teenagers prowl the arcades, couples cram into shooting galleries, and kids sticky with cotton candy run around dragging giant stuffed pandas, their parents lagging wearily behind. Vendors sell tickets for everything from roller coasters and merry-go-rounds to nausea-inducing gravity-drop rides. Though late winter and early spring are decidedly quieter, this town never really stops moving.

Surfing is a year-round activity; at Cowell Beach, surfers amble along the sidewalks in wet suits. Every other shop, it seems, sells surfing gear, even for those who don’t sur. Kayakers launch their boats from the wharf fronting Cowell’s Beach; joggers run along the sand at the water’s edge; beach volleyball players crowd the sand courts; and cyclists churn up the hills for stunning cliff-side views of the Pacific.

In the 1960s, Santa Cruz was a sun-bleached center of the youth counterculture. The first of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters’ famous “acid tests,’’ those psychedelic-fueled gatherings made famous by Tom Wolfe’s book “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,’’ occurred just outside town in Soquel. The soundtrack to these mind-expansion events was provided by a little band called the Grateful Dead.

These days, an open, progressive vibe persists. You will find a lively community heavy on organic cafes and juice bars, independent bookstores, and hippie street performers. In the midst of this, surfing continues to thrive and is the reason Surfer magazine last year called Santa Cruz the number one US surf town.
 
 
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