Año Nuevo Reserve

Forty-six miles south of San Francisco and the Golden Gate, a low, rocky, windswept point juts out into the Pacific Ocean. Just offshore from Point Año Nuevo, the Año Nuevo Reserve is a 25-acre portion of the 4,000-acre Año Nuevo State Reserve, all of which is owned and operated by California State Parks. The island contains nesting colonies of sea birds, including the rhinoceros auklet, Cassin’s auklet, Brandt’s cormorant, black oystercatcher, and western gull. It also serves as a breeding ground for northern elephant seals, harbor seals, California sea lions, and federally threatened Steller sea lions. Northern fur seals and federally threatened southern sea otters are occasional visitors. Due to the highly sensitive habitats and protected marine mammals at the island, reserve use is restricted.

Land Acknowledgement

“The land on which we gather is the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, comprised of the descendants of indigenous people taken to missions Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista during Spanish colonization of the Central Coast, is today working hard to restore traditional stewardship practices on these lands and heal from historical trauma.”