Address: 2531 West Cliff Drive Santa Cruz, Ca. 95060
Natural Bridges State Beach is famous for its Arch Stone, Monarch Butterflies, tide pools and great sunset views in the Santa Cruz area. The beach has originally have 3 natural arches but the outerpart arch first collapsed sometime in 1905 or 1906. While the inner arch collapsed in 1980 during a storm. As of now, the only arch remaining is the middle arch which may also collapsed due to erosion by wind and waves. The Arch is usually full of birds which they use as a refuge and can also be seen from the Vista Point.
It took us about 1 hour and 30 minutes (68 miles) drive from San Francisco via CA-1 South/Cabrillo Highway North. My family and I enjoyed our scenic drive to Santa Cruz via Ca-1. We passed through beautiful beaches, small coastal towns, organic farms, and a popular lighthouse along the way.
When we arrived at the gate we paid the Ranger $10 for the day use parking fee which is also good for all the other parks in the area. There were a sandy parking area right after the entrance gate but we drove for about 3 minutes to the main parking lot near the Visitor Center. The park or state Beach offers a beautiful beach, public access tide pools and a Monarch Grove where you can see or watch Monarch butterflies on the Eucalyptus Trees.
We only get to visit the beach, Arch Stone, tide pools, and Visitor Center. We didn’t get the chance to visit the Monarch Grove because it was not season yet and there weren’t no butterflies. The butterflies starts arriving in mid October and leave by mid February. But we did enjoyed the beach, picnic area, tide pools and took a lot of pictures with the famous Arch Stone. There were public restrooms available in the main parking lot. We also visited the giftshop which is located inside the Visitor Center and is only open on Friday to Monday from 11am-4pm.
But the best part was watching the beautiful and picturesque sunset with the Arch Stone on the beach. The Ranger also reminded us that they do close the park on sunset. We saw photographers came in to take pictures of the beautiful sunset while the daytime beach goers were leaving. Overall, we enjoyed our memorable experience. Natural Bridges State Beach has something for everyone either by relaxing at the beach, taking pictures of the Arch Stone, watching the Monarch Butterflies, exploring the tide pools, have a picnic or just watching the sunset.
Tips: For safety, try to visit the tide pool when it’s low tide as the waves are strong and unpredictable. There is a Vista Point parking available for 20 minutes only before the entrance gate. Some visitors end up parking outside on the residential area and just walk to the beach to save parking fee. Try to take the West Cliff Drive route going to Santa Cruz beach boardwalk as it is scenic and a few tourist spots to stop along the way. Best time to view the Monarch butterflies is late October and entire month of November.
Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about the Natural Bridges State Beach after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.