Zmudowski Beach State Park
Rating: C
Named after Watsonville teacher Mary Zmudowski who donated the land to California in the 1950s, this beach is one of 70 parks and beaches being closed by the state under an austerity budget that Jerry Brown signed into effect on June 30. Park officials say the closures will not take effect until at least July 2012, but before then days and hours open may be reduced.
Occasional nudist activity is still reported at the beach, in the north end of the county, south of the Pajaro River, where ranger patrols and development of homes around the site have combined to make sans-suit sunbathing mostly a thing of the past. In its heyday as a nude beach, the area was called Hidden Beach.
Legal status:
State beach property.
How to find it:
Follow Struve Road from Highway 1, just north of Moss Landing, to its intersection with Giberson Road. Then take Giberson to its end, at the state beach parking lot. Hike to the north tip of the beach via the dirt access road that starts at the small lot. The beach path runs parallel to the shore, but nude sunbathers usually gather behind the sand dunes.
The beach:
No longer "hidden" (see above), the site is now ringed by houses and condos.
The crowd:
Mostly a family beach.
Problems:
Rangers (keep your swimsuit on when rangers or clothed beachgoers are in the area); cold water; wind; fog; riptides.
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