Coastal Discovery Celebration Continues to Grow as Key Stewardship Travel Opportunity
We all want more immersive experiences in our lives, especially when we travel. The new year should ring in less calendar obsession and bring more opportunities to lose ourselves in our surroundings. The Coastal Discovery Celebration offers just such an opportunity to unwind, expand and contribute to making our surroundings (and ourselves) more meaningful. From January 18 to February 29, the 72-mile Highway 1 Discovery Route will lead visitors along the trail to new discoveries and personal stewardship possibilities.
The Coastal Discovery Celebration provides an annual opportunity to go deep in our exploration and appreciation of the region. In addition to regular adventures like guided kayaking and hikes, unique events are scheduled like the Coastal Discovery Celebration Film Festival. The Hearst Castle Theater will host a large format film twice nightly. National Parks Adventure is narrated by Robert Redford and explores several of our majestic National Parks including Yellowstone, Glacier, and Redwood.
As Williams describes it, when managed well, the relationship between a rancher and the land is a harmonious one. “If you take care of it, it takes care of you.”
Just like at these iconic National Parks, the outdoors is always calling in vivid 3D along the Highway 1 Discovery Route. The Adventures with Nature series offers more than 150 programs every year. Unlike many places, where winter may slow down activities, the opportunities increase here when monarch butterflies are on the move and elephant seals settle into their rookeries, the most accessible sea lion habitat viewing in the world. Naturalist-trained docents also set up spotting scopes to watch the sea otters float above the kelp forest, pelicans and other seabirds hunt for food via spectacular dives, and the world’s largest mammals traveling along the famed Central California Whale Trail, a series of viewing platforms enhanced with spotting scopes and annotated identification signs.
The cultural history is just as robust as the natural history here, home to both a historic mid-19th-century jailhouse and America’s premier castle. Nine heritage sites on the Historical National Register can be located along the Highway 1 Discovery Route. Cambria alone is home to 28 preserved historic landmarks that include a 19th-century cemetery, a Chinese Temple and chapel dating back over 150 years. Today this bohemian town features a bevy of galleries and independent restaurants without ever losing its movie set star good looks. A self-guided tour that illuminates local lore and film productions begins from the Cambria Historical Museum.
Higgins oversees the Hearst Ranch at San Simeon, a sweeping 83,000 acres that surrounds Hearst Castle in California.
“We manage grazing very carefully here. We have a roster of full-time cowboys, which are looking after not just the animals, but the state of these individual pastures.” At San Simeon Ranch, they’re constantly monitoring their slice of nature and moving cattle across the property. “These are wild, rugged, expansive spaces,” says Higgins. Spaces that “…give cows a lot of room to be cows and to lead very natural lives.” In return, they do what they can to keep the land healthy. And while grazing certainly feeds their cattle, it also gives a little something back to the landscape.
“We use cattle to beat back brush and mixed chaparral—mostly invasive species. We maintain a fairly constant battle against noxious weeds and other species that threaten these native landscapes, and grasslands especially.”
Higgins’ experience at Hearst Ranch has been similar. “This…is a singular, intact piece of wildlife habitat; that’s an incredibly important environmental benefit in and of itself.” The preservation of rangelands aren’t just important to ranchers and their herds, he says, “but for the people of California and all the native species that inhabit them.”
“We’re not just cattle ranchers here. We’re stewards of this incredible place.”
The outdoors is always calling in vivid 3D along the Highway 1 Discovery Route.
Other than preventing the spread of invasive weeds, grazing is also an effective way to reduce the risk of wildfires. Livestock, like cattle, will happily munch on the dead plants that wildfires thrive on, ultimately lowering the risk of a fire that burns hot and fast. Grazing can even improve groundwater infiltration and lower the risk of flooding. For all of their trampling and manure-dumping, cattle activities can actually help the health of the soil, when managed properly. Healthy soil, in turn, promotes forage growth and enhances the soil’s capacity to hold water.
“Cattle have been running on these grasslands since, oh, early 1800s,” says Williams. “They’ve been an important part of the ecosystem on these grasslands and maintaining them…”
Of course, it’s no surprise these actions not only support the land itself, but the variety of wildlife you’ll find on rangelands. Williams points out that on his ranch alone you might spot deer, mountain lions, coyotes, rabbits, hawks, and eagles. Just a handful of the thousands of plant and animal species that coexist on his property.
Higgins oversees the Hearst Ranch at San Simeon, a sweeping 83,000 acres that surrounds Hearst Castle in California.
“We manage grazing very carefully here. We have a roster of full-time cowboys, which are looking after not just the animals, but the state of these individual pastures.” At San Simeon Ranch, they’re constantly monitoring their slice of nature and moving cattle across the property. “These are wild, rugged, expansive spaces,” says Higgins. Spaces that “…give cows a lot of room to be cows and to lead very natural lives.” In return, they do what they can to keep the land healthy. And while grazing certainly feeds their cattle, it also gives a little something back to the landscape.
“We use cattle to beat back brush and mixed chaparral—mostly invasive species. We maintain a fairly constant battle against noxious weeds and other species that threaten these native landscapes, and grasslands especially.”
Other than preventing the spread of invasive weeds, grazing is also an effective way to reduce the risk of wildfires. Livestock, like cattle, will happily munch on the dead plants that wildfires thrive on, ultimately lowering the risk of a fire that burns hot and fast. Grazing can even improve groundwater infiltration and lower the risk of flooding. For all of their trampling and manure-dumping, cattle activities can actually help the health of the soil, when managed properly. Healthy soil, in turn, promotes forage growth and enhances the soil’s capacity to hold water.
“Cattle have been running on these grasslands since, oh, early 1800s,” says Williams. “They’ve been an important part of the ecosystem on these grasslands and maintaining them…”
Of course, it’s no surprise these actions not only support the land itself, but the variety of wildlife you’ll find on rangelands. Williams points out that on his ranch alone you might spot deer, mountain lions, coyotes, rabbits, hawks, and eagles. Just a handful of the thousands of plant and animal species that coexist on his property.
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We assume Stewardship Travel exclusively benefits the environment but this important trend possesses important cultural influence in Cambria and elsewhere. Nipomo’s Dana Adobe Cultural Center, housed in the oldest home in San Luis Obispo County, invites hourly volunteers to help maintain the grounds, aid building improvements and produce outreach materials. Because we should all “Travel for Good,” it’s a great idea to check with each cultural center before visiting to learn if there’s an opportunity to contribute while there. For example, The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Natural History Center schedules “Restoration and Stewardship Days” as needed so there are often opportunities for people of all ages to work in the native plant program or help out in the dunes like removing invasive ice-plant or scattering native seeds. More than fifty attractions participate in the Stewardship Travel program.
The Central Coast Aquarium has always shown the importance of this care, its mission “to cultivate a community dedicated to ocean stewardship.” Located in Avila Beach, the marine center is designed with the belief that the more we interact with the sea and its inhabitants the more we come to understand and appreciate the biological intricacies of the ocean, and its vulnerability. Mommies & Guppies starts this education early, as families arrive on the first Monday of each month to explore for hands-on tide-pooling and an interactive tour of the aquarium. Daily jellyfish and shark feeding are also cherished traditions.
During the Coastal Discovery Celebration aquarium, staff naturalists venture into the wild to explore tidepool communities and to participate in beach clean-ups utilizing the free clean-up kits, as well as buckets and trash pickers, that are available every day at the aquarium. Other docent-led excursions abound whether traipsing through the El Moro Elfin Forest, taking in a historical tour at Piedras Blancas Light Station or the Point San Luis Lighthouse, where you can also join an interpretive hike on the Pecho Coast Trail or guided kayak to and from the lighthouse.
The Coastal Discovery Celebration is not simply an honoring of local heritage and natural history, the six-week event issues an invitation to join together as a community to take care of the places we love whether residents, first-time or seasoned visitors. Officially scheduled for January 18 to February 29, the Central California Coast comes alive with butterflies, seabirds and thousands of human hands working together to preserve this cherished land and sea. Visit the 2020 Coastal Discovery Celebration webpages on the California Highway 1 Discovery Route website to learn more about the 35+ events scheduled for this year.