Montaña de Oro ("Mountain of Gold" in Spanish) is a state park in California, United States. The park is located six miles southwest of Morro Bay and 2 miles south of Los Osos. The name "Mountain of Gold" comes from the golden wildflowers found in the park. It has 8,000 acres (32 km²) of cliffs, sandy beaches, coastal plains, streams, canyons, and hills, including the 1,347-foot (411 m) Valencia Peak. The park has many hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trails, as well as a campground located across from Spooner’s Cove, a popular beach. The Bluff Trail is an easy and popular trail along the scenic coast. Trails lead to the summits of Valencia Peak, Oats Peak, and Hazard Peak.
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=592
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monta%C3%B1a_de_Oro_State_Park
Montaña de Oro ("Mountain of Gold" in Spanish) is a state park in California, United States. The park is located six miles southwest of Morro Bay and 2 miles south of Los Osos. The name "Mountain of Gold" comes from the golden wildflowers found in the park. It has 8,000 acres (32 km²) of cliffs, sandy beaches, coastal plains, streams, canyons, and hills, including the 1,347-foot (411 m) Valencia Peak. The park has many hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trails, as well as a campground located across from Spooner’s Cove, a popular beach. The Bluff Trail is an easy and popular trail along the scenic coast. Trails lead to the summits of Valencia Peak, Oats Peak, and Hazard Peak.
With over 8000 acres, including seven miles of shoreline,
Montaña de Oro is one of the largest state parks in California.
Spectacular views, fresh breezes, and the sound of the pounding surf
add up to invigorating, memorable visits.
More than half a million people visit Montaña de Oro each year
because it offers a wonderful setting for outdoor activities everyone
can enjoy like hiking, jogging, bicycling, horse back riding, camping,
and surfing. You can explore the tide pools, watch for birds, look
for plants and wildflowers, go surf fishing, or just sit and admire
the scenery. There are picnic tables at Spooner’s Cove, and miles of
clean, sandy beaches.
MONTANA DE ORO - Today
If you plan to hike, ride your horse
or mountain bike in the park, please
remember:
The predominant rock found in the park is Miguelito Shale.
These formations are about 5 to 6 million years old. Formerly
ancient sea floor, it is composed of mudstone deposited millions
of years ago when tiny fragments of once-living organisms drifted
to the bottom of the sea and mixed with silt and sand. The mud
solidified into thick layers of diatomite, clay porcellanite, dolomite,
and chert.
Near the unstable western coast of this continent the Pacific
Plate grinds against the North American Plate. This action has
buckled and tilted the sedimentary layers, raising them out of the
sea. Over time, erosion and wave action turned them into a sloping
beach. The level of the ocean also changed as ice ages came and
went. This process has been repeated several times over the past
five to ten million years. You can see the successive marine terraces
(former beaches) as you hike on the present bluff or climb the
slopes of Valencia Peak.
The northern part of the park is a gigantic sand-pile.
Ancient sand dunes are revealed in the bluffs at the south
end of the sand spit, and you can walk for miles along the long
finger of sand that separates the ocean and the Morro Bay estuary.
Exploring Montaña de Oro
on Your Own
All camping reservations: 1-800-444-7275
Ranger Headquarters: 805-528-0513
Emergency: 9-1-1
Important phone numbers
You can find camping and park information at the park
headquarters in the old Spooner Ranch House, located just above
Spooner’s Cove. State Park docents staff a visitor center there which
is open daily during the summer months and Thursday through
Sunday the rest of the year.
Information
For those interested in the natural history of the park, rangers
give programs during the summer. Docent-led walks are also given
year-round. The interpretive garden south of the Ranch House identifies many of the park’s plants.
Nature Programs
For at least nine thousand years the ancestors of today’s
Chumash and Salinan people inhabited the San Luis Obispo county
coast, adapting as needed to climatic and environmental changes.
They lived in small extended family groups, traveling from the coast
to the interior valleys and back to procure their diet of fish and
shellfish, small and large game, waterfowl, grasses, and seeds.
Shelter, tools and clothing were fashioned using resources available
in the immediate area, and what could not be obtained or produced
locally was provided through extensive trade networks.
In 1769, the first European overland expedition, led by Don
Gaspar de Portolá, an emissary of the Spanish government, made
its way up the coast of California from San Diego to Monterey. The
expedition made inroads for Spanish missionaries who followed
closely behind, precipitating sudden, drastic and irrevocable changes
to the landscape and lifeways of the indigenous people.
In 1772, only three years after the Portolá expedition came
through Alta California, Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was
established only a few miles from what is now Montaña de Oro
State Park. Many of the indigenous people were taken into the
mission system, leaving behind their settlements, and adopting new
means of subsistence in the agricultural practices of the mission.
Their population was decimated through disease and violence and
long standing cultural traditions were practiced only in secret.
Camping
• Dogs are not permitted on any trails, beaches or undeveloped areas.
• Stay on designated trails. Mountain bikers should use only those
trails marked for bicycles and equestrians only those trails
marked for horses. Violators can be cited.
• You may camp overnight only in designated areas and with prior
registration.
• Take water with you on any hike that lasts more than one hour.
Be prepared to stay longer than you may have intended.
• Poison oak grows throughout the park.
MONTANA DE ORO - The way it was
A primitive campground in the canyon behind the Spooner Ranch
House offers 47 campsites for tents, trailers, or motorhomes. The
vehicle length limit for all trailers and motorhomes is 27 feet. Tables,
firepits, drinking water, and primitive toilets are nearby. There are no
showers or dump stations.
Some campers may prefer the walk-in environmental campsit
