Estero Bluffs trail, beach, and shipwreck

A memorable walk is along the clifftop trail at Estero Bluffs, with the wide open spaces, beach below with shiny green rocks, and shipwreck! The adventure starts with the gorgeous drive there. Once on the trail, there are mountains behind you and wide, wide open spaces! Come on a day with blue sky to enjoy it fully. After rains in spring, when the mountains are green, is even nicer! A narrow trail follows the cliffop, and there are other trails too, zigzagging around the open space, though they are less cleared.

Be careful because there are huge drainage ditches that cut across the trail in some spots! They are very steep, so this trail is not as flat as it looks. Also, the trail is cracked, so you have to watch your feet the whole time so that you don't twist your ankle.
The bluffs have only grasses and flowers- no trees- so there isn't any shade. Trust me, you won't want shade because it is COLD!
You can take steep trails down to the coves below. The southernmost cove has a shipwreck! It looks like a movie set the way the ship faces at an angle to the rocky cove- idyllic! Here, surfers ride the waves, and families bring bodyboards to paddle around in the ice-cold rocky pools. The shipwreck is too rusty to walk safely on. 
The next cove up, to the north, has wonderful spherical pebbles that have been pounded by the waves! If you take a pebble and dig with it, you will find smooth shiny green agate rocks just below the surface. Wow! They are so lovely. All diffferent shades of green. The boulders on the beach also have interesting patterns. The rock types are known as the Franciscan Melange (mix). Estero Bluff is unique because it sits on the edge of two continental plates. Chert and blueschist appear where heat and pressure occurred when the ocean plate sank beneath the continental plate. This place is a geologist's dream! 
These little rocks that you find just below the surface are formed by the bubbles in volcanic eruptions. These bubbles are filled with colorful silicates over time. When the lava rock erodes, the colorful silicates pop out into pretty, colored stones called agate!
December to March, you might see gray whales. 
It's best to park in the third parking lot, "San Geronimo Pullout," NOT "Estero Bluffs State Park" on N. Ocean Ave. If you park at the first parking lot, on N. Ocean Ave, you will have to walk down and back up a very steep gully, and risk slipping on the loose rocks. The second parking lot does not have a cleared trail. The third parking lot is the best! It is a much longer walk to the shipwreck- almost a mile- but it saves you traversing the gully.
Come at low tide when the shipwreck looks its best!
From the Estero Bluffs State Park parking lot, you can walk south on N.Ocean Ave, past beach houses, to Lucerne Street. Here you can see wonderful views over Half Seal Cove and then later, over Cayucos Beach and Pier. 
After, warm up with a cup of tea at Bijou Bakery in Cayucos town. Or visit the Cayucos Pier, where you can get ice cream or eat at a cafe.
The land that Estero Bluffs is on used to be part of the California missions, where the cattle belonging to the missions grazed. Later, the land belonged to other ranchers, including Abram Muscio. He installed the silver windmill you see near San Geronimo Creek at the trailhead. The land almost became a resort and residences, but luckily the Trust for Public Lands purchased the land in 2000 and donated it to the state.

Directions

The best parking lot is the one labeled "San Geronimo Pullout" on google maps, across the street from San Geronimo Rd. It is just a pulloff along the ocean side of the road on Highway 1. It is 800m north of N. Ocean Rd where the Estero Bluffs State Park parking lot is located. At the trailhead is a gate and a wide walking path that used to be a road. 
It's best to park in the San Geronimo Pullout parking lot, NOT the "Estero Bluffs State Park" parking lot on N. Ocean Ave. From the Estero Bluffs State Park parking lot you will have to walk down and back up a very steep gully, and risk slipping on the loose rocks. The "San Geronimo Pulloff" is a much longer walk to the shipwreck- almost a mile- but it saves you traversing the gully.

Click on map for interactive view