SOUTH SHORE TRAIL

Between Sea Lion Point and Bird Rock parking area; 1 mile, 40 minutes one way. Along cliffs. Access to rocks, pebbly beaches.

Here at the ocean's edge, you may leave the trail at various points between Sand Hill Cove and Weston Beach, where there are no guide wires. Be aware of your own safety (waves and slippery rocks) and of the fragility of bluff plants and tidepool creatures. Each plant, animal, piece of driftwood, empty shell, stone, or clump of washed-up seaweed is an important part of nature's cycle. Protect these; take nothing but photographs and memories, and keep to obvious trails and side paths.

You may see shorebirds feeding among intertidal rocks, locate stone ribbons where molten quartz once filled fissures in the granite at Hidden Beach, or discover varicolored patterns formed by erosion on uplifted sedimentary rocks.