A day well spent around hike to Mori Point, drive to Halfmoon Bay, Sunset party at State beach and late nigh celebrations at Foster City in California
During my visits to Redwood City in California, I try to connect with friends in San Francisco Bay Area. So this day was special when I met bunch of them and it's so nice of them to drive me around and showing some of these beautiful places around San Francisco. It's not that it was first time to visit places like Halfmoon Bay or other places but the company of these friends make it even more special. Akash picked me from my hotel and we drove to this place called Mori Point which offers brilliant views of the bay, beaches around it, beautiful towns & the golf course on the other side of the bay. This doesn’t end with this short list of things, but it offers brilliant experiences which is hard to capture in photographs. This blogpost shares about our hike to Mori Point, drive to Halfmoon bay, barbecue party, sunset drive around the Bay and after party around the lagoons of Foster City.
As we started walking, we started getting some beautiful views on 3 directions. Above photograph shows the highway which we had to follow for Halfmoon bay after the hike. The town you see has some very interesting places to eat out.
Mori Point Loop Trail is a 4.0 kilometer and is primarily used for hiking, walking, and running and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
From top of the Mori Point you see brilliant views of the bay. There is one pier on one side and rocky structures on the other side. On the top, there are few benches to sit and all of them were occupied when we reached, so we chose to sit down in the grass. Lot of runners, bikers and fitness enthusiasts can be seen around this place. I also saw some interesting cycles around this place.
There is another route which leads you to the beach near Mori Point, but we didn’t go to this beach. We had plans to drive towards Half Moon Bay and take breaks on the way, around Pacifica Beach. Apart from Pacifica, we stopped at few of the other isolated beaches which required a little walk downwards & climb up when you are done with the stroll around the beach. I fallen in love with these beaches - cleaner with green/blue water waves, peaceful & very well maintained.
How to reach Mori Point from different parts of San Francisco Bay area?
Mori point and it's parking area is easily searchable on Google maps. So just follow map and reach this parking area. Parking space at the base of Mori Point can accommodate 8 vehicles and if you don’t find parking, there are more parkings around. There is a road leading towards the Mori Point peak and gradually it changes to rough terrain. The climb is not very steep, but still it’s advised to walk slowly. We were talking while walking, so didn’t realize when we reached the top.
Mori Point is approximately 110 acres park located in Pacifica region of California which is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
The Mori Point park is bounded by Laguna Salada Marsh and Sharp Park Municipal Golf Course to the north, by Highway 1 and Sweeney Ridge to the east. Above photograph shows Sharp Park Municipal Golf Course and the blue water of pacific ocean on left. You can see a pier at a distance and I was eager to walk to that point & also enjoy some beach time. But unfortunately we had to meet a bunch of friends at States beach around Halfmoon bay.
The ponds and wetlands of Mori Point serve as habitat for the threatened California red-legged frog and the endangered San Francisco garter snake. Mori Point also has northern coastal scrub and it's well known for its spring wildflower displays as well.
Above photograph shows one of the benches installed on the ridge for hikers/visitors to sit and enjoy beauty of the place as well as some of the wonderful landscapes around. Mori Point is next to the Pacific Ocean that provides scenic views of the peninsula coastline and some of the wonderful rocky structures around the bay. Mori Point contains a few small ponds, ridge and wetlands.
Please note that it’s a hike but extremely easy one. It hardly took 45 minutes from base to hit top but there is huge area around Mori Point where you can walk & enjoy the weather. We started in the morning & drove to the base. There is dedicated parking slot for visitors. Lot of folks bring their bicycles, dogs, kids & friends along.
Lot of birds can be seen from the ridge of Mori Point and it would be advisable to carry binoculars or telephoto lenses if you are interested in photographing birds. You see some insane views from the top. White clouds creating contrast betweek blue water of pacific ocean and blue sky of california. And these rocky structures make these landscapes even more beautiful.
Mori Point can also be a great place for family picnic, but please note that it's pretty windy. So you would need to spend some time to find a space which is not as windy, so that your family has comfortable space to settle & have good time.
Mori Point Loop Trail is a 4.0 kilometer and is primarily used for hiking, walking, and running and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
The video below is shot from ridge of Mori Point and will give you a sense about panoramic beauty of the space.
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It's a dog friendly space, and lot of families with dogs can be seen around Mori Point. Above photograph shows family with a dog and dog is getting all the attention of family members. There are lot of trails around the ridge of Mori Point and you can spend as much time as you want.
From top of the Mori Point you see brilliant views of the bay. There is one pier on one side and rocky structures on the other side. On the top, there are few benches to sit and all of them were occupied when we reached, so we chose to sit down in the grass. Lot of runners, bikers and fitness enthusiasts can be seen around this place. I also saw some interesting cycles around this place.
There is another route which leads you to the beach near Mori Point, but we didn’t go to this beach. We had plans to drive towards Half Moon Bay and take breaks on the way, around Pacifica Beach. Apart from Pacifica, we stopped at few of the other isolated beaches which required a little walk downwards & climb up when you are done with the stroll around the beach. I fallen in love with these beaches - cleaner with green/blue water waves, peaceful & very well maintained.
After some good time around Mori Point, we headed towarded next part of the journey.
We took a pause around Devil’s Slide Bunker and then walked around Gray Whale Cove Beach. Akash was carrying some snacks and drinks, so this was the place where took our snack break. We sat here for some time, watched a family doing fishing. It was interesting to watch them playing with the waves ad catching few fishes in front of us.
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We climbed back to the road again and resumed our drive towards Half Moon Bay State Beach. There were some exciting plans for State Beach and we had brilliant evening around Half Moon Bay. I will be sharing separately about the same and then my day ended with brilliant party at Foster City with more friends from my old office.
After hiking to Mori Point and exploring hills around this place, we had more time during the day and started driving towards Half Moon Bay. On our way we came across various beaches but the one which appealed us the most was Gray Whale Cove Beach. This beach is close to the highway and a small part of this beach is visible through trees.
Across the highway, there are parking areas near these beaches. Some of these parking areas are paid but most of them are free. The one near Gray Whale Cove Beach is relatively bigger and there are no parking charges. There are few toilets near this parking area, although a little hidden. One needs to climb a bit to reach these. While driving from San Francisco to Half Moon Bay, this parking area is on the left and beach is on right side of the highway. Keep a watch on your left for parking after crossing Devil’s Slide Bunker and that’s a good landmark after crossing Pacifica beach and the tunnels.
We parked our car in this parking area, picked our stuff and started going down towards the beach.
There is nice pathway to the beach from main road. Some of the tricky terrains are converted into nice wooden staircases. It was really nice to see all this infrastructure around these beaches. One thing which disappointed me the ignorant behaviour of some people who make these places dirty. If you look down these stairs, you would see plenty of plastic bags and empty bottles.
After reaching the beach, we located a nice place to sit which was a little elevated. We sat there, enjoyed our snacks and drinks while watching people walking around the beach, folks indulged in fishing and a group for professional prepping up for a shoot. We reached the beach at around 9:30pm and gradually lot of families started coming to the beach. By 12 noon, there good number of families settled around the beach to enjoy weekend evening there. But still it was not crowded.
A family was involved in fishing and he had some good catches on that day. The girl was helping her father and there was a moment when a strong wave flew the bucket in which they were putting their catches. They lost some of the fish from that bucket. I felt very bad for them, but that’s a cycle it seems. He was taking out fish from the ocean and ocean took some tax.
We climbed back to the road again and resumed our drive towards Half Moon Bay State Beach. There were some exciting plans for State Beach and we had brilliant evening around Half Moon Bay. I will be sharing separately about the same and then my day ended with brilliant party at Foster City with more friends from my old office.
Finally we headed to State Beach. The arrangements around Half Moon Bay State beach are pretty impressive and convenient for folks to come here and have fun with family & friends.
It was more of Adobe-India reunion in US. 3 of the Adobe friends (Swapnil, Sachin & Rumjhum) came to State Beach with their families ( Nidhi, Aarushi, Chiya & Dhruv) & with all arrangement for best picnic ever. All these folks live in Bay Area now. Another friend from Adobe India (Smriti) joined us, as she was also traveling from India for business.
After parking their cars in the close-by parking area, we took out stuff from the cars and settled around one of the tables put around State Beach. There is dedicated parking area for folks visiting Half Moon Bay State Beach. This is chargeable parking for $10. If you want to save $10, then find place on main road parking areas, but be careful about no parking boards and other signs to avoid unnecessary fine. Paid parking is very close to the beach, so if you are carrying lot of stuff it makes more sense to park your vehicle in paid parking and save effort in moving stuff.
Swapnil was carrying a tent for kids, so we installed the same near our table. Started preparing the barbecue which took some time, but Swap is pro at it and he guided us on how to do things like putting coal, how to ensure that coal get enough fire, oiling of the metallic net on which you put food items. Nidhi & Rumjhum had some good selection of snacks for the day. Sachin & Swap was carrying enough beer in the ice-box. There was lot of stuff to eat and not to miss the accessories for music and playing some games. JBL bluetooth speaker with bollywood songs rocked the party and Dhruv was carrying his kite. Kids had lot of fun around the water.
Half Moon Bay State Beach is one of the most popular beaches in Bay Area, so expect lot of people on the beach. Especially during weekends. Lot of folks do overnight camping here. There is a camping ground which is paid and you get dedicated place for camps. I also observed people camping on the sand around State Beach. People carry everything needed and enjoy their time around the beach.
There are some interesting restaurants around Half Moon Bay, so it’s right place if you are interested in trying local breweries or sea food. I visited one of the brewery during another visit. I didn’t like their beer but sea food was awesome.
It was lot of fun to eat lot of food, enjoy beer, chit-chat about old days of Adobe India & then some philosophical discussions. Plan was to head back to our own homes/hotels but it changed as none of us wanted to end the party. So we headed back to Swapnil’s place in Foster City and had night long party there. There is one special moment of the party which I don’t want to disclose here :). Only few people should know that :).
So the whole day was spent very well about Half Moon Bay in California.
Later to drove back to Foster city and continued our party. That party was very special for reasons I can't share on this blog.
Spent next day at Sachin's place in Foster city only.
Spent good time walking around lagoons of Foster city and beautiful sunset made our evening even special.
If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -
1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter Use dustbins.
2. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
3. Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite
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