Natural Bridges State Beach by Ewingjr98
Natural Bridges State Beach is home to a sandstone arch, a nice beach, and a butterfly overwintering area. To park for the day will cost you $6, but if you just want to see the arch or the butterflies, you can park for free at the end of West Cliff Dr along the water, for a maximum of 20 minutes.The main geological attraction of Santa Cruz is Natural Bridges State Beach, with its highlight natural bridge sitting in the bay just feet from the beach. The beach originally boasted three arches all connected to each other and the land, but the inner and outer arches have fallen leaving just the middle arch, which will someday join its companions in the sea.
The beach is less than 300 yards wide and faces almost due south into the bay towards Monterey. At the back of the beach along the woods is a wetlands area formed at the mouth of Moore Creek. Along the water you will find smooth sandy beach and numerous tide pools full of sealife.
Natural Bridges State Beach is also a butterfly overwintering location similar to the one in Pacific Grove near Monterey. The monarchs live here all winter ("overwinter"), never breeding, just saving their energy for survival. As spring approaches, they finally mate and fly north laying eggs along the way. Throughout the summer the butterflies continue to mate, produce offspring, then die, meaning the monarchs that return to Pacific Grove the following year are several generations removed from those who spent the previous winter here...how do they know where to go? They must use this map.
Most of the monarchs east of the Rockies go into the mountains of central Mexico. Interestingly, the overwintering sites in Mexico are typically at 3,000 feet above sea level or more and on south facing slopes, while the California sites are just a few feet above the ocean, and relatively flat. Some of they keys to wintering sites are a constant temperature with no snow or wind, but plenty of moisture in the form of clouds and fog.