Fifty-five miles south of San Francisco and the Golden Gate, a low, rocky, windswept point juts out into the Pacific Ocean. Elephant seals, sea lions, and other marine mammals come ashore to rest, mate, and give birth in the sand dunes or on the beaches and offshore islands. It is a unique and unforgettable natural spectacle that hundreds of thousands of people come to witness each year. The interpretative program has attracted increasing interest every winter for the past 20 years.

The Spanish maritime explorer Sebastian Vizcaino sailed by the point on January 3, 1603. His diarist and chaplain of the expedition, Father Antonio de la Ascension, named it Punta de A?o Nuevo for the day on which they sighted it in 1603. New Year's Point.

Today, the point remains much as Vizcaino saw it from his passing ship. Lonely, undeveloped, wild.

• Take guided walks to view the mating and molting of elephant seals, harbor seals and sea lions.
• Enjoy spectacular bird-watching.
• Explore the tidal pools of Cove Beach and various historic buildings.