Gateway to big sur
Adventures
If your idea of a magical Ragged Point vacation involves taking a leisurely garden stroll amidst monarchs and hummingbirds, sipping a glass of fine California wine from your cliff-top deck above the waves, or dining outdoors while you watch the sun set, you never need to leave the resort.
However, there’s so much to see and do if you extend your stay! These are just a few ideas:
CHECK OUT THE WILDLIFE
Be sure to pack your binoculars when you visit! In the nearby hills, you may spot native black tail deer, a fox or two, a bobcat, or even a rarely seen mountain lion or aoudad. (These Barbary sheep are descended from WR Hearst’s zoo collection.) If you’re a bird watcher, look to the skies to see our impressive bird population, which includes California condors, bald and golden eagles, red-tailed, red-shouldered, and Coopers hawks, and California quail.
Look to the seas, and you may be lucky enough to spot gray whales, humpbacks or an occasional Orca frolicking offshore. Our offshore waters feature 34 species of marine mammals, and harbor seals, sea otters, and dolphins and porpoises are also common visitors.
When you’re traveling north from Cambria, look for zebras on the inland side of the highway as you drive north of Moonstone Beach. Continue north toward Ragged Point, and you may spot sambar deer and a herd of Rocky Mountain elk. The zebras, sambar deer, and Rocky Mountain elk ARE also descended from within WR Hearst’s zoo. Buy Hearst Castle tickets here.
Visit a lighthouse
While you’re here, why not tour the historic Piedras Blancas Light Station? The Light Station illuminated the rocky coastline and cut through fog-drenched and stormy nights beginning in 1845.
The Piedras Blancas Light Station historic park, wildlife sanctuary, and research station are accessible by guided tour only. Tours begin at 9:45 am and are two-hours long. Reserve your spot in advance here.
Photos courtesy HWY 1 Roadtrip
VIEW NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEALS
Just 8 miles south of the resort, you’ll find the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery. The rookery has lots of parking, abundant viewing and walking paths, informational signage, and is free and accessible 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. Docents are often on site to provide information, answer your questions and enhance your viewing experience.
This is what you can look forward to each month at the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery:
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· January – First young female elephant seals arrive. A peak of birthing occurs the last 2 weeks of January.
· February - Elephant seal births continue at a rapid rate. Females usually leave after giving birth.
· March - Last adult elephant seals leave the rookery.
· April - Young female elephant seals return to their birthplaces to molt.
· May - Molting season really begins.
· June - Male juveniles and adults return to their birthplaces to molt.
· July – Male juvenile and adult molting continues.
· August - Molting is done ends. By the end of August, most adult elephant seals have left.
· September - Very young elephant seals (both male and female) return to their birthplaces to rest.
· October - Very young elephant seals continue to return to their birthplaces to rest.
· November - Juvenile elephant seals leave the rookery; large male adult elephant seals begin to arrive by the end of the month.
· December - Large adult elephant seals continue to arrive; adult females arrive and the first births occur by mid-month.
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Learn more about the rookery and about Northern Elephant seals HERE.
STEP BACK IN TIME at a WORLD-CLASS MUSEUM
No visit is complete without a tour of Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument or Hearst Castle.
“La Cuesta Encantada,” which was once the home of media mogul William Randolph Hearst, now displays Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquity collections, old master European paintings, sculptures, and decorative art, Chinese and Near Eastern art, carved and painted ceilings from Renaissance Italy and Spain, and more.
Whether you’re into historic art and artifacts, are a student of architecture, love a beautiful, lush garden, or want a taste of the glamor, glitz, and stardom of the 1920s-40s, there’s a Castle tour just for you.
A variety of different tours are available and vary by season. Learn more about Buy Hearst Castle tickets here.
