Northern San Luis Obispo County Coastal Trail Master Plan

Northern San Luis Obispo County Coastal Trail Master Plan
Segment 1 – County Line to San Carpoforo Creek
Segment 1 is located in a rural area at the southern end of
the Los Padres National forest within the Big Sur
mountain region and includes the Ragged Point Inn,
approximately 1.25 miles south of the county line. The
Inn provides an event venue, restrooms, gas station, small
general store, outdoor café, formal dining facility, and
hiking trails. The majority of this segment is
characterized by sheer cliffs several hundred feet above
the Pacific Ocean. Offshore waters along this segment are
part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Estuary,
which extends from the community of Cambria north
past San Francisco. Informal beach access trails exist
north and south of San Carpoforo Creek. Along Segment
1 the trail alignment will likely be located on existing fire roads on USFS land until reaching San Carpoforo
Creek. The dominant land uses within this segment are recreation, open space, forest, and agriculture.
Segment 2 – Hearst San Simeon State Park – Ragged Point Conservation Area to Piedras Blancas
Lighthouse
Segment 2 stretches approximately eight miles from the
south end of San Carpoforo Creek to about three miles
north of San Simeon Bay and Hearst Castle. The segment
passes through the Ragged Point and Pico Cove
Conservation Areas, which are Hearst Corporation lands
with scenic and conservation easements to the state, and
access easements to DPR, including defined public access
corridors for the CCT and limited, docent-guided public
access to other portions of the sites. Between these two
conservation areas the alignment continues through the
north coast portion San Simeon State Park, past the
Piedras Blancas Lighthouse
Piedras Blancas Motel site, the Piedras Blancas State
Marine Reserve (SMR) and State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA), the Piedras Blancas Light Station, and
the elephant seal rookery north of San Simeon. The Piedras Blancas SMR and SMCA are two adjoining marine
protected areas of nearly 20 square miles, established by the California Fish and Game Commission in 2007
under the California Marine Life Protection Act. De la Cruz Rock, Haystack Rock, and Boot and Slipper
Rocks, each designated California Coastal National Monuments, are located within the SMR.
Several formal and informal beach access points exist along this segment, including: 1) informal trails just
south of Arroyo de la Cruz Creek; 2) informal trails near the Piedras Blancas Motel, located approximately 1.75
miles north of the Light Station; 3) two parking and viewing areas located along the bluffs surrounding the
elephant seal rookery; and 4) various scenic viewpoints and informal parking areas along the coastal bluffs.
Much of Segment 2 includes unrestricted views of the coast and Pacific Ocean from Highway 1. The
predominant existing land uses in Segment 2 include agriculture, recreation, and open space.
1-10
Views of the coastline from the
Ragged Point Inn