Cloverdale Ranch Open Space Preserve

Cloverdale Ranch Open Space Preserve, near Pescadero, became Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District's newest preserve in 2023 and is the closest of its preserves to the coast. The land was protected first by the Peninsula Open Space Trust, which assembled it between 1997 and 2012 and restored Butano Creek's floodplain, re-establishing about 140 acres of willow and alder forest that also help protect the town of Pescadero from flooding. Midpen bought the 5,100-acre upland portion in 2023, while POST kept the surrounding farmland.

The preserve is mostly coastal grassland and coastal scrub, one of North America's most threatened ecosystems, with more than 600 plant species and nearly 450 acres of sensitive habitat such as riparian forest and freshwater wetland. Rare wildlife includes California red-legged frogs, northern harriers, loggerhead shrikes, and grasshopper sparrows, and endangered marbled murrelets have been seen flying over. Cattle graze the grasslands as part of Midpen's conservation grazing program.

For now, public access is limited to the 1-mile, out-and-back Wilbur's Watch Trail, which climbs from a small unpaved lot (about six spaces) on Pigeon Point Road, just off Highway 1 south of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, to a lookout over the coast, the lighthouse, and Point Año Nuevo. Dogs, bikes, and horses are not allowed, and the preserve is open from a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset.