Pillar Point Bluff County Park

Spring Summer Fall Winter

The ocean and rocks below Pillar Point Bluff County Park, May 2013 (Jennifer Rycenga)

Description

Area Habitats
Coastal Terrace Prairie, Chaparral, Rocky Shoreline, Mixed Woodland, Riparian, Ocean

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This elevated area along the coast was preserved in the early 21st century, with help from the Peninsula Open Space Preserve (POST). Under the management of San Mateo County Parks, Pillar Point Bluff County Park officially opened in 2011. This cooperation between POST and San Mateo County Parks has worked to the benefit of all, as this beautiful property is now easily and safely accessible. Pillar Point Bluff includes an elevated coastal terrace prairie, excellent opportunities for sea-watching, and a healthy population of California Thrashers. Many birders are unaware of the park's existence, let alone its promising combination of habitats, with chaparral, a small riparian area by a creek, mixed woodlands, and ocean views. Rarities will be found here as more birders take to the hill.

If you park at the lot on Airport Road, the Jean Lauer Trail that goes west provides you with immediate access to the riparian area and the stream. Listen and look here for Common Yellowthroat and Song Sparrow; Marsh Wren could take up residence here, too. Continue on the trail, and you'll come to a fork. Taking the left-hand turn to the south and up the hill will bring you to the Bluff faster. Taking the right-hand turn to the north will keep you at a lower elevation for a longer stretch, increasing your chances for birds like Western Meadowlark and California Quail. However, the entirety of the trail system in this park interconnects and forms a loop - you are never out of sight of how to return to your starting point (rather confusingly, the whole trail system appears to be named the Jean Lauer Trail).

The best sea-watching sites here overlook the Wahleman Harbor, at about the midpoint of the Bluff, and at the northwest end of Pillar Point Bluff park, where the area that can be viewed is roughly equivalent to the Moss Beach site described elsewhere in this guide. The Wahleman Harbor site has the advantage of extensive rocky reefs for shorebirds (and Harbor Seals, which love to haul out in this undisturbed cove). While sea-watching at this site, look and listen to the birds in the canyon below, such as Wrentit, American Goldfinch, Bewick's Wren, and more. All the pelagic birds that can be seen off-shore from Moss Beach - such as Ancient Murrelet (winter), Marbled Murrelet, Sooty Shearwater, and Northern Fulmar (especially in winter) - are likely visible from this spot, too.

The bluff and its scrub habitat hold many local resident species, such as the year-round subspecies of the White-crowned Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, and Wrentit. Most enjoyable, though, for coastside birders, would be the population of California Thrashers. Listen for their nasal, imitative extended song, then search the tops of Coyote Brush for the decurved bill of the vocalist!

If you walk the Jean Lauer trail to the south, it will connect with informal trails that take you to Pillar Point harbor and the Princeton Willows; however, the descent from the bluff can be steep here.

Pillar Point Bluff County Park was the site of the first collaborative Bio-Blitz between Sequoia Audubon, San Mateo County Parks, California Academy of Sciences, Nerds for Nature and iNaturalist, in July of 2014.

Look For These Birds

Brant, Canada Goose, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, California Quail, Red-throated Loon, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, Clark's Grebe, Brandt's Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Black-crowned Night-heron, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Coot, Black Oystercatcher, Black-bellied Plover, Snowy Plover, Killdeer, Wandering Tattler, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone (rare at this location), Black Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Heermann's Gull, Short-billed Gull, Western Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Caspian Tern, Forster's Tern, Elegant Tern, Rock Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Anna's Hummingbird, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Hutton's Vireo, Western Scrub-Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, Bushtit, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (rare at this location), Golden-crowned Sparrow (rare at this location), Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Wrentit, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, California Thrasher, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Spotted Towhee, California Towhee, Savannah Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Western Tanager, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Purple Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

Rarities Seen Here

In this guide, "rarities" are defined as those species given an County Abundance Code of 4, 5, or 6.

Greater White-fronted Goose (2018), Brown Booby (2013), Northern Gannet (2015, 2016), Ferruginous Hawk (2014), Rough-legged Hawk (2021), Eastern Kingbird (2022), Tropical Kingbird (2012, 2017, 2018), Loggerhead Shrike (annual in winter along Airport Street), Sage Thrasher (2018), Clay-colored Sparrow (2016), Blackpoll Warbler (2018), Palm Warbler (2018)

Directions

There is ample parking in a lot off of Airport Road, just north of an industrial warehouse building. This is on the west side of the Half Moon Bay Airport.

Pillar Point Bluff County Park can also be accessed from its north end in Moss Beach, at Ocean Boulevard and at Bernal Avenue. Parking is limited here, but it is possible to combine a walk at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, or from the Moss Beach Distillery, with a walk along Pillar Point Bluff.

Interactive Map

Fees

There are no fees associated with this site

Hours

Officially from sunrise to sunset.

Hazards

Dogs on-leash are permitted here. Ticks can happen, and there is poison oak in the area. Bicyclists also use these trails at times. It is often windier on the bluff top than below, so layered clothing is recommended (this is always true for the coast).

Facilities

There is a bathroom at the parking lot. Restaurants and other emporia for food are easily accessible in El Granada and Half Moon Bay.

Accessibility

  Accessibility information is currently not available for this location.

Contact

The San Mateo County Parks phone number for this site is 650-355-8289.

Links

• The official county parks website for Pillar Point Bluff can be found here.
• Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) page on Pillar Point Bluff.
• History of the transfer from POST to County Parks.
• While this website highlights bike routes around Moss Beach, it has the benefit for birders of showing numerous ways to connect to the Jean Lauer Trail and Pillar Point Bluff.
• Jean Lauer (1973-2005) was a POST land manager; the trail at this park is named after her. You can read an obituary for Jean Lauer here.
• The first-ever collaborative Bio-Blitz between the San Mateo County Parks, Sequoia Audubon, California Academy of Science, iNaturalist and Nerds for Nature, took place here on July 13, 2014. You can view the results here.

Avian Research Status

This is a hotspot in eBird, titled "Pillar Pt.-bluffs," with data in all 48 time quadrants representing 195 species. However, the distinction between the county parklands, and surrounding areas (like the marsh pond or the Air Force land) appears inconsistent in the record. But it remains important for birders to get to know the area, and share your sightings.

The iNaturalist place marker for Pillar Point Bluffs can be found here.

Pillar Point Bluff has been the site of a BioBlitz in 2014; view the results here.

Sequoia Audubon Society has led two field trips to Pillar Point Bluffs since it opened as a county park in the latter half of the 2010s.

Additional Photos

Brown Pelican, July 2014, at the Bio-Blitz (Jennifer Rycenga)

Pillar Point Bluff has a variety of coastal flora, that attracts a wide range of birds, July 2014. (Barbara Kossy)

The coastal rocky reefs visible from the Pillar Point Bluff, May 2013 (Jennifer Rycenga)

California Thrasher in the early morning fog and light, at the Bio-Blitz, July 13, 2014 (Leslie Flint)