General Information
The historic Van Laanan farm provides the backdrop for this large park at the south end of Santa Cruz County. Surrounded by fertile farmland, Sunset State Beach features a wooded campground, picnic area, group campground, and 200-foot high dunes (the largest in the country) built up in front of coastal bluff. The beach itself stretches down to where it meets the mouth of the Pajaro River, giving three miles of unobstructed and spectacular shoreline.

BEACH SAFETY RULES
Follow Safe Swim Rules:

• Qualified Supervision
• Lookout
• Lifeguard (does not need to be BSA Lifeguard, but must be strong swimmers)
• Safe Swim Area
• Buddy System
• Physical Fitness
• Swimming Ability
• Discipline

We will use the buddy system with whistles for safety check. One whistle means you have 10 seconds to grasp your buddy's hand. Two whistles mean resume activity. Three whistles mean leave the water. We must adhere to safety or all scouts will have to leave the water. We will also have to be aware for currents and rip tides. Scouts should not be in water deeper than chest deep. We will need two scouts to act as lifeguards and we'll switch every 30 minutes.

NATURAL HISTORY
Sunset State Beach supports four major plant communities and associated wildlife.

• Coastal scrub - Mock heather, bush lupine, beach sagewort, Monterey and robust spineflower, coyote brush, poison oak, sand giila and seaside woolly sunflower cover the sandy slopes and dunes. Wildlife includes brush rabbits, duskyfooted wood rats, western fence lizards and pacific gopher snakes. Song sparrows, rufous-sided towhees, American kestrels, red-tailed hawks and Anna’s hummingbirds are common.


• Coastal woodlands - Introduced Monterey pine, Bishop pine, and Monterey cypress are dominant. They support an understory of coyote brush and sea fig that shelters California pocket mice, pinyon mice, chestnut-backed chickadees and Steller’s jays. Eucalyptus trees are a gathering place for monarch butterflies.


• Dune mat/Coastal strand - Park managers are replacing the habitat-destroying European dune grass with native beach bur, sand verbena and beach sagewort to attract white-crowned sparrows, California towhees, and dark-eyed juncos. The mouth of the Pajaro River shelters California brown pelicans, Caspian, elegant and royal terns, and California gulls. Deer mice and brush rabbits live in low dune vegetation. Reptiles include black legless lizards, northern alligator lizards and coast garter snakes.


• Marshlands - The coast gum plant, pickleweed and coastal salt grass of salt marsh areas attract cinnamon teals, savannah sparrows, meadow mice and raccoons. The willow, California bulrush and broad leaf cattail in the wetlands at the mouth of the Pajaro River provide food and habitat for cinnamon teals, mallards, American bitterns, red wing blackbirds and long-billed marsh wrens.