California Coast Day Trip to Waddell Beach
Sept 8, 2024 10:24:26 GMT -5
Pat, vegasjames, and 8 more like this
Post by demihuman on Sept 8, 2024 10:24:26 GMT -5
I have been meaning to get out to Waddell Beach about 30 minutes north of Santa Cruz on the California coast for while and yesterday I finally went. There is lots of parking, which I think is free. I have a California State Park pass that I renew every year. There are potties too but they are a little rough. California State Parks have a 15 lbs. collecting limit and you aren’t supposed to dig or disturb the area. Fossils and Archaeologically significant materials are off limits. I have also heard that anything below the tide line is fair game. The area is patrolled by rangers and I saw a ranger there during my visit.
Waddell beach is where Waddell creek flows out from Big Basin CA State park and meets the sea. It’s an easy place to visit that’s really spectacular even without rocks. The creek itself was pretty mossy at the end of summer time, but I found a few some interesting agates closer to where it opens up to the Pacific Ocean. There was a lot what looked to me like agatized sand stone. I grabbed one piece that has the sand stone bands on it but then some clear agate parts filled with broken sand stone bits. I only kept the most agate-y one of these.
It was a beautiful day and there were lots of pebbles in the creak to look at. I found a couple of blue-ish agates too.
I also found a fist sized black agate, which I think must be a petroleum agate? There are a ton of these guys laying around. They almost look like chunks of asphalt.
There is a massive beach area to explore, and I found a lot of the black agates laying around and some other extremely weathered agates. I grabbed a few interesting larger ones for the saw.
And here is my complete haul for the day, I might be a bit over my 15 pound limit, but with my 2 kids I think it works out.
ooh and I found a bonus mystery rock:
Waddell beach is where Waddell creek flows out from Big Basin CA State park and meets the sea. It’s an easy place to visit that’s really spectacular even without rocks. The creek itself was pretty mossy at the end of summer time, but I found a few some interesting agates closer to where it opens up to the Pacific Ocean. There was a lot what looked to me like agatized sand stone. I grabbed one piece that has the sand stone bands on it but then some clear agate parts filled with broken sand stone bits. I only kept the most agate-y one of these.
It was a beautiful day and there were lots of pebbles in the creak to look at. I found a couple of blue-ish agates too.
I also found a fist sized black agate, which I think must be a petroleum agate? There are a ton of these guys laying around. They almost look like chunks of asphalt.
There is a massive beach area to explore, and I found a lot of the black agates laying around and some other extremely weathered agates. I grabbed a few interesting larger ones for the saw.
And here is my complete haul for the day, I might be a bit over my 15 pound limit, but with my 2 kids I think it works out.
ooh and I found a bonus mystery rock:
