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- Los Flores Ranch Park
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Los Flores Ranch Park
There is plenty of "nature" surrounding Santa Maria, so I was excited to see something like this actually in Santa Maria (well, pretty close anyways). The park is located at 6721 Dominion Road, just southeast of Orcutt, CA and opened in June 2009 for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. There are around 8 miles of trails (Los Flores Ranch Trail Map) and plenty of wildlife, including cattle, snakes, lizards, squirrels, and I even saw a roadrunner and some jackrabbits. There are around 12 trails to choose from, some more strenuous than others and most with beautiful views of the surrounding area. There are also benches for you to rest or just enjoy the scenery(jugs of water provided too!) , and porta-potties throughout the park on some of the trails.
Visitors to the park must stop at the Visitor Center and sign in and out of the park. New visitors must fill out registration forms and are given an access card upon completion of the registration, which is then used for future visits. Admission to the park is free for visitors residing within the Santa Maria city limits ( Santa Maria business owners also free), however, for Orcutt residents and other non-Santa Maria residents, the fee is $3.00 ($1.50 for seniors and children 15 and under are free).
For more information on Los Flores Ranch Park, visit the City of Santa Maria Recreation & Parks website.
Los Flores Ranch Park
6721 Dominion Road
Santa Maria, CA 93455
(805)-938-7618
http://www.ci.santa-maria.ca.us/LosFloresRanchPark.shtml
Pismo Beach Monarch Grove
Growing up on the Central Coast, I had never been or even heard about the Pismo Beach Monarch Grove, which is a little surprising, considering it attracts around 70,000 visitors each year during it's four month season (late October to February). There doesn't seem to be as many monarchs this year as in previous years. In the 1990-1991 season, there were as many as 230,000 monarchs. Besides the few monarchs seen fluttering down from the tall eucalyptus treetops, the only way to really view the monarchs up close is to use one of the telescopes placed along the trails. These telescopes will give you a view of just how many thousands of monarchs there really are, high up in the safety of the trees.
There are also talks given twice a day. The history of this monarch grove as well as monarch facts are discussed. I was surprised to learn just how the monarchs are counted. A scientist from Cal Poly SLO comes early in the morning and uses a net with a really long pole to pull a cluster of monarchs from the trees (a little-known fact about butterflies is that they are unable to fly in temperatures less than 55 degees F). He then counts the number in the cluster and multiplies it by the number of clusters in the trees to get the estimated number of monarchs present. Not the most scientific method of counting monarchs, but I certainly do not have a better idea.
Another interesting fact is that monarchs do not need to eat during the entire winter season. They are able to store fat and only need water to sustain themselves during the entire season. The Pismo Beach Monarch Grove is located on Hwy 1 at the very south end of Pismo Beach. There is no admission fee. For more information about the Pismo Beach Monarch Grove, visit their website.
Pismo Beach Monarch Grove
Hwy 1 Pismo Beach, CA
http://www.monarchbutterfly.org
