morro bay national estuary

I am a 1982 graduate of New Mexico State University, and I wrote a term paper in my senior year, for my wildlife management class based on this.

Beautiful hike and lots of birds to see. We spent about one hour there. Saw a good variety of birds.Nice boardwalk to hike on.Great activity on nice day

This was my second visit to Morro Bay. On the first, the highlight was a trip out to Montana de Oro State Park where I ventured out onto the sand dunes which are spectacular. On the more recent visit, I again ended up in the dunes but used a kayak as transport. Can't remember when I had this much fun while getting some exercise and wonderful photos of pelicans and other wildlife; Morro Rock and the signature "Three Cigars".

1.) An estuary is the coming together of the fresh water creeks/streams and the salty sea water. This is where they combine. 2.) There are 3 primary "estuary" locations, all under the control of different governmental entities. They begin at the location near the "rock" and continue all the way down to the further-most reaches of the shoreline.From our hotel location (La Serena), it is a 2 mile walk along such beautiful shoreline and past the kayak rental station and the Bayside café. There are some really nice paths through the marshy wetlands (over bridges) and it is so serene! Camp grounds, rest rooms, water fountains, everything here will make a visitor's trek into nature so comfortable.Along our long walk, we passed the museum and the bird rookery and enjoyed every minute of this outing. If at all possible, go by foot. Don't miss one single opportunity to loiter and soak every single bit of nature into your sights and smells.

It was rainy and rather cold....so a short walk around the area. It was a stop over after a rather long trip from LA

See Falcons and enjoy the salt air. You catn climb the Rock but you can make it quiet a ways around. The area has been redone to favor a walking path. Veyr nice.

Rent a kayak from Tony - super reasonable, and well worth it. They have dry-sacks for your gear too.

The locals cherish and treasure their bay and estuary so much, a grass roots group got together long ago and made a concerted effort to establish a Federal umbrella for the ecosystem--and they prevailed in Washington D.C. And 2015 is the 20th anniversary of the Morro Bay National Estuary Program. Side by side, professionals and volunteers regularly monitor the water quality of the estuary--along with numerous other stewardship projects. HIGHLY recommended is a kayak tour of the Bay. You will get close up experiences with a broad range of migratory bird species throughout the year. You'll most definitely watch sea otters cavorting, California Sea Lions watching you, and cute harbor seals checking you out as soaring pelicans zoom past. WONDERFUL destination--not to be missed if you'r holiday plans include a journey up or down the California Coast on Highway One!

Great for kids, history of the area,reasonably priced, little store in front part of museum. By the golf course.

Walk along the beach, watch the harbor seals and shore birds, listen to the surf breaking on the rocks or the water lapping at the shore into the harbor area - very peaceful place to visit!

Many a happy hour spent watching the pelican's diving for their food. A photographers delight. Good parking well worth a visit.

We went bird watching a fifteen minute drive from the Bayfront Inn at the Elfin Forest Park in the evening and the Morro Bay National Estuary early the next morning. I added five birds to my life list!

The national estuary at Morro Bay is quite nice. Today we only saw birds, but sometimes when we have stopped here we have also seen seals.

You can explore the estuary at ground level...Lots of trails. Or you can drive up Black Hill,park, and walk a few hundred feet and get a birds-eye view of the estuary. It is very beautiful.

On our way down Hy1 we stopped at Morrow Bay. Free parking near the end of the estuary for the RV. If you are lucky you will sea lions basking and playing near the moored boats, some were only 8 feet away. You might sea otters. It is a clean old fashioned town that was quite and unhurried. There are few shops some new some old, but well worth a visit