Driving to Morro State Park you pass an estuary and State Marine Reserve area where we saw a group of white Pelicans, Egrets, Blue herons, and several small species of shore birds. In the Park there are several hiking trails, mountain bike trails, camping, a golf course, and a small museum (mostly done up for children) as well as a Monarch Butterfly roosting area and Heron rookery. We inquired at the gate about the Monarchs which had finished migrating North to South, but were told the numbers were way down (20,000 last year – 1200 hundred this year).
Next day we check out another state park called Montana de Oro. The sand spit that protects Morro Bay, the Marine reserve and Estuary begins in this park (it is about 7 miles long and can be accessed here if you want to spend a day walking the sand spit). It is a more isolated and rugged area – the campground allows only small trailers and there are walk-in sites along the bluffs. We walk along cliffs above the ocean with surf pounding below, in places the surf has pounded the rocks which are shale and so have are carved into interesting shapes and channels where the water comes crashing in. The terrain is mostly small scrub brush.