Description:

Natural Bridges State Beach is best known for its natural bridge spanning part of the beach and its yearly monarch butterfly migrations. The 65-acre park sits at the western edge of Santa Cruz, east of Wilder Ranch State Park and has excellent wildlife viewing opportunities both on the beach and at its tidepools. Included at the park is a Monarch Butterfly Natural Preserve, where more than 100,000 monarch butterflies winter every year, and a visitor's center, with exhibits on the butterflies and an aquarium of local tidepool animals.