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Elkhorn Slough

4.8 (39 reviews)

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Ida H.

Planning our vacation in Monterey received a lot of special attention and research by my traveling companion Joe K. While there are a lot of spontaneous places to visit, he also discovered that there is a lesser known point of interest - Elkhorn Slough located at Moss Landing. A protected state park reserve and cove that is within the Monterey Bay itself and considered one of California's largest wetlands. We got to take an up close and personal "Elkhorn Slough Safari and Nature Tour". We were educated in the history of the area, points of interest and most of all, lifestyles of the ocean loving inhabitants. We saw a multitude of indigenous birds, marine mammals, seals, sea lions, sea otters and even a few surface floating jellyfish! This area gave me a deeper appreciation for nature, mother earth, and all the wonders she provides!

Chris C.

Been visiting Monterey Peninsula for years and can't believe this is the first time I discovered this nature reserve. It seems to be a bit out of the way so even on a sunny spring Sunday it was not at all crowded - we probably saw about 20-30 or so other visitors total for the couple of hours we were there. It's a beautiful scenic spot with flat, easy trails along the wetlands and meadows, not much tree cover so can get quite hot on a sunny day. It's home to many turkey vultures which we encountered along the trails, even saw one taking flight which was entertaining. Parking and Entrance is free, ("at this time", according to the website). The visitor center is not open however when we were there they had set up a table outside with rangers answering questions.

Lyla B.

I had a fantastic kayaking experience here! It was my first time kayaking, and I loved every moment. Our guide, Bella, was brilliant, so knowledgeable, kind and patient. They went above and beyond to show us special parts of the slough, including nudibranchs! I have never seen so much wildlife back to back, it was life changing! The tour was very thorough, did not feel rushed and was very worth it. Ten out of ten stars for Bella and Elkhorn Slough Kayaking!

Look out for starfish here! Seafood Harvest has outdoor patio seating on
Moni C.

The kayak rental in Elkhorn Slough can't be beat. I've been 4 times and I've had all great experiences. You can reserve a time online and choose a guided or non guided kayak experience. Now with Covid, you can fill out your waiver online before you arrive and eliminate the paperwork time. The check in was maybe 5 mins to get equipment followed by a quick orientation. Staff is genuinely friendly and helpful. The slough is super calm, so calm in fact that you'll see otters galore, birds, sea lions, and other cool stuff if you know where to look! I seen tons of jellyfish and some starfish. Overall amazing experience. Take binoculars, a waterproof camera and don't forget the sunscreen.

Kaori M.

I really enjoyed sea animals by kayaking! Seals, sea otters, and birds! They are so cute. Especially sea otters! One of them were right near the kayak and I saw his curious face! It was a part of REI outdoor class, my third time kayaking. Because my first kayaking experience was horrible, I had been a litte nervous, but it turned out great.

Bryan W.

If I told you that it's possible to kayak and paddle next to sea otters, would you believe me? Probably not huh? A week ago, I also didn't think this was "legally" feasible. But, I became a firm believer after making a spontaneous trip to Elkhorn Slough this past weekend with my girlfriend. Here, we were able to spot seat otters, seals, AND sea lions in the water! Located on the coast between Monterey and Santa Cruz, Elkhorn Slough is a natural preserve that's home to an abundance of wildlife. In this diverse, rich estuary you will find many species of birds, plenty of marine animals, and an abundance of plant life For those of y'all who are curious, a slough is a swamp or a shallow lake - usually a backwater to a larger body of water (thank you Wikipedia!). In this case, Elkhorn opens up into the Pacific Ocean. To get the most out of what Elkhorn Slough has to offer, adventure seekers have a couple of options. On one hand, you may consider hiking some of the trails in the reserve. Each one is fairly short (~1 mile), the landscape is gorgeous, and they take you all over Moss Landing Wildlife Area. It's only about $4 to walk the trails, and the experience is totally worth it. On the other hand, you can instead jump right in the water and paddle your way along the slough. There's like 5-6 miles of water waiting to be traversed by some brave soul. When my girlfriend and I visited Elkhorn, we made it our goal to kayak along the slough. For first timers (aka us), it might be a bit hard trying to figure out where to rent equipment - especially since the Elkhorn Slough website directs people to just Google a place. Well let me do you a solid and say that there are at least two main rental places in Elkhorn: Kayak Connection and Monterey Bay Kayaks. They were located right next to each other, so it was quite easy for us to compare prices. We ended up going with Kayak Connection since the cost was slightly cheaper ($55 for a double, up to 4 hours). For some, that might sound a bit unreasonable for a rental but believe me it's totally worth it. Why? Because this was definitely one of the most fun and memorable kayaking experiences I have ever had (with my girlfriend and in general). First off, the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. The water was very calm, sun was shining, and the view of the wildlife area was stunning. Plus, the landscape was constantly changing too and so we never got bored of paddling. Secondly, there were so many cute marine animals! Everywhere we turned, we saw playful otters, sea lions that were chilling, and birds that wanted to steal everyone's food. And I can't believe I almost forget to mention...we also saw jellyfish! If it weren't for the Marine Protection Act (had to be 100 feet away from marine life), I would've just approached them all! My favorite spot had to be this little area nearby the Highway 1 bridge that was considered the "bachelor pad" for the sea lions. Only male, all testosterone! And third, Kayak connection gave us the best possible experience imaginable for a rental place (https://www.yelp.com/biz/kayak-connection-moss-landing). From giving us a comprehensive introduction to paddling in the slough (included a video!), to making sure we felt safe and secure in our kayak, the workers here were 100% genuine and awesome. When driving to Elkhorn Slough, it's definitely worth planning out the type of activity you want to do first. That will determine where you'll park. For example, people who want to launch a boat/kayak will want to park along Highway 1 across from the Moss Landing State Wildlife Area. If anything, just Google Map Kayak Connection. Be sure to watch where you park too, because there are designated spots depending on the rental place you choose. I do recommend coming early because spots are limited and equipment is doubly limited!!! If you're looking for a half-day escape from the Bay Area, I highly encourage y'all to check out Elkhorn Slough. It's only like an hour from San Jose, and the experience is truly one of a kind. You are guaranteed to spot wildlife here, and maybe you'll get a workout out of it too. I wholeheartedly give Elkhorn Slough an "Omg, I'd travel 2 hours for this" rating. Hope the otters smile at you! Have fun and prosper,

Guide brochure- look for the blue sign in the top left
Rachel E.

We originally planned in kayaking with Monterey Bay kayaks but the winds were too high and so we were referred to their other location here at Elkhorn Slough. We came here on a Wednesday in June- pretty late in the day like 5:30 pm since we were coming from Monterey and were waiting to see if the winds would calm down. The Elkhorn slough staff was extremely nice especially for coming later on in the day. Kayaking was $30 for a single kayak for all day and it comes with the wet suit, windbreaker jacket, and life jacket. You can wear your bathing suit or clothes under the wet suit. It's to keep you warm. They were open til 7pm so we had like an hour to kayak. They give you a quick how-to and show you the map of where you can go. George helped us out and was friendly and good-natured. The otters, seals, and sea lions are all really close to the kayak place. You could probably see them all on 30-45 minutes kayak if you really wanted to. Further out though you can see some pelicans and a few more seals. It's crazy to see the pelicans dive in to the water for fish. You can get about 5 kayak lengths away from the animals - by law, but it's honestly a bit intimidating to see them so close up anyways. The sea lions kinda smell and are noisy and always bickering at each other so I would stay further away from them. Some times the otters will follow you for a little bit. And the ones that I passed on the rocks just kinda stared at us! Since we only had an hour, we had to Hurry back so it was a bit of an upper body workout. The water was against us so we had to work harder coming back in than going out. It's a $25 fee if they have to come get you. Overall, I would recommend this place if you want to see some great animals up close and personal. I didn't have any problems with this place though and I didn't notice a smell or anything (unless you are right in front of the sea lions). However i still would love to try the Monterey Bay experience.

David B.

A few seals, a few otters and a TON of birds. Pleasant walk. Paddle boarders and even a tour boat on the water.

Rahul R.

What an amazing place to visit. The staff at the research facility are extremely welcoming and patient in explaining and sharing knowledge about the estuary. I visit, and visit often.

Moss Landing Launch harbor.  Best time to come is October
Mere M.

If kayaking is your hobby and you are in Monterey, please don't miss out kayaking from Moss Landing Launch to the Elkhorn Slough. There's an $11 park and kayak fee. This a must to get up close and personal to see the Otters, Sea Lions, and wildlife birds in a protected park that only kayakers and permitted boats that does excursions go through. I've kayaked up and down the coast. And this one place will be on my top list as a Favorite! Recommendation: Make sure you check when high and low tides are. Makes a whirl of difference because if you paddle in to the slough during high tide, it's easier to get into the slough and when you leave during low tide, it's easier to get out as the current us pulling you back to the ocean. This was 101 on tides taught my my husband in a matter of a minute. lol. Also check for wind advisory. This is most important. It could dangerous for beginner paddlers. Moss Landing launch area has it's own paradise as well. Kayaking across the launch to the beach side are Brown Pelicans lined in rows and as you follow the shore towards the dock you'll find several dozen Sea Lions sunbathing. As you exit out of Moss landing estuary, and head under the highway 1 bridge into the Slough, you'll notice the pier on your left. There's several dozen Sea Lions hanging out. Most people can watch from above. The slough is over 6 miles long. Hug the shores and enjoy hours of kayaking with creatures that you normally wouldn't encounter. Don't forget to bring binoculars, water bottle, snack, sun block, hat, and a wind breaker.

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Beautiful bit of nature to take in and explore. Lots of wildlife. Just a great place to be outdoors.

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Ask the Community - Elkhorn Slough

Can you fish in elkhorn slough or any good fishing spots near moss landing ? Need help thanks

People do fish in Elkhorn Slough - there are plenty of people standing on the shore or piers with poles. Not sure if they catch anything and you have to compete with sea otters.

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Review Highlights - Elkhorn Slough

Our boys always have an adventure and we have seen numerous sea otters, birds, sand dollars and sea hares.

Mentioned in 18 reviews

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Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

4.4(403 reviews)
37.7 mi

Another great Ca.state park. A short drive from Carmel down the Hwy 1. Plenty of parking. A nice…read morevariety of walking trails. Some short flat trails. We saw a lot of campers heading out on the trails for some overnight camping. Nice to see some hard to find California native flowers. FYI no cell service. Download your maps, or bring a paper map

We stayed two nights at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and while the scenery is absolutely stunning…read more(as expected for Big Sur), the experience was seriously impacted by poor enforcement and lack of oversight from staff. Right off the bat, our check-in experience was frustrating. We had reserved and paid for an ADA campsite, only to arrive and find someone else already occupying it. Apparently, there is no system in place to verify IDs against reservations, which seems like a huge oversight--especially for ADA-designated spots. After spending time sorting that out, things settled temporarily. Our first night at the Weyland campground quickly went downhill once "quiet hours" (10pm-6am) began. Instead of quiet, the majority of the campground was loud, playing music, and talking well into the night--until nearly 4am. There was zero enforcement of quiet hours, and no visible presence from a camp host or ranger to address it. It honestly felt more like a free-for-all than a state park campground. Hoping for a better experience, we moved to the South campground for our second night. Unfortunately, things got worse. The bathroom across from Site 45 was in unacceptable condition. The ADA shower stall took three of my paid shower tokens without working, and to make matters even worse, there was literal human feces on the floor. Not just dirty--completely unsanitary and clearly not being maintained. We attempted multiple times to contact the camp host about both the bathroom situation and earlier noise issues, knocking several times with no response. It was incredibly frustrating to have no support or accountability when problems came up. It's really disappointing because this park is naturally beautiful and has so much potential. But the lack of basic management--no ID checks for reservations, no quiet hour enforcement, and poorly maintained facilities--completely takes away from the experience. It honestly feels like the park is being let down by the very people responsible for running it. Would love to return someday, but until there are major improvements in oversight and maintenance, it's hard to justify coming back.

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Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park - Family Camping September 12-14, 2025

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Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park - Family Camping September 12-14, 2025

Family Camping September 12-14, 2025

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Andrew Molera State Park

Andrew Molera State Park

4.3(135 reviews)
35.4 mi

First time visiting Andrew Molera State park this last weekend 5/25/2024. We were feeling ambitious…read moreand decided to hike the whole 8 mile loop (creamery meadow, ridge, panorama, and bluffs trail) roughly 1450 ft elevation gain total. At the beginning of the hike and at the end of the hike you have to cross a river that is about knee deep for someone around my height of 5"4. The hike took us 5 hours to compete with ample breaks included. We hung out on two different beaches (not included in the time) throughout our day which was a ton of fun. It was my first time ever seeing or even hearing about purple sand and my mind was blown. The trails are VERY overgrown so I'd suggest wearing long sleeves and pants to avoid ticks, poison ivy, and stinging nettle. Parking is free if you are willing to park along hwy 1 and walk/run across the street. There is paid parking inside of the park and there seemed to be plenty of space if that's your preference. Lastly, I love that there are clean bathrooms at the beginning of the trail head. Overall, this loop offered absolutely amazing ocean views during the majority of hike. Bring lots of water, sunscreen, and your camera.

What a nice park. I would recommend the one mile trail walk to the beach. The beach is quite empty…read moreduring the week. Also, while the trail is quite wide, it is lined on both sides with poison oak almost the entire walk which is fine as long as you don't touch it. The trail floor starts out as dirt and small rocks and eventually turns to sand and rock. There's also a small section of a two planks wide stable bridge over a river. It's maybe 30 feet long and the water below is about 6 inches to a foot deep. It would be fine for most children to cross with an adult. The views once you arrive at the ocean are truly stunning . The sand is quite hot and there are many small rocks and lots of seaweed, so I'm glad I wore flip flops. Sneakers would have been better I think.

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Andrew Molera State Park - River to cross before and after

River to cross before and after

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Elkhorn Slough - parks - Updated May 2026

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