Skip to content
Pescadero State Beach, Pescadero, CA

Photo: Parnowk, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & Outdoors

Pescadero State Beach

Coastal state beach in San Mateo County with tide pools, rocky cliffs, and access to a nearby wetland preserve.

Pescadero, CA

About Pescadero State Beach

Pescadero State Beach sits beside Highway 1 on the San Mateo County coast, roughly 14.5 miles south of Half Moon Bay. Visitors find a roughly mile-long shoreline with sandy coves, rocky cliffs, tide pools, fishing spots, and picnic areas. Across the highway lies the Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve, a favored destination for bird watchers, and the marsh shelters herons, kites, and various mammals. Dogs are not permitted on the beach or in the preserve, beach fires are banned, and camping is not offered at this park.

  • #beach
  • #tide pools
  • #wetland
  • #bird watching
  • #picnic

What's around here?

The closest stops to Pescadero State Beach, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Pomponio State Beach

    Check prices

    Windswept San Mateo coast beach with sandy flats, tall bluffs, a small lagoon and a creek.

    2.1 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    San Gregorio State Beach

    Under $25

    A sandy state beach south of Half Moon Bay with bluffs, a creek, and a protected estuary for birds and wildlife.

    4.3 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing

    Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park

    No admission fee

    A California state historic park centered on a 115-foot lighthouse that has operated since 1872 on the central coast.

    5.6 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Butano State Park

    Under $25

    A redwood canyon park in San Mateo County with hiking trails, campsites, and ocean views, recovering from a 2020 wildfire.

    6.6 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing

    James Johnston House

    No admission fee

    An 1853 pioneer-era residence in Half Moon Bay, California, where costumed guides share the house's history and the family who lived there.

    13 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sightseeing

    Woodside Store

    No admission fee

    Restored 1880s country store that once supplied the Peninsula's lumber workers, run by the San Mateo County Historical Association.

    14 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing