Tunitas Creek Beach to be new San Mateo County park

The planned work involves creating path, picnic tables and scenic overlooks. Improving parking and building public restrooms, ranger facilities and interpretative displays and signs are also planned.

Plans are for construction to be completed in early 2024, or later if winter weather causes delays, according to county officials.

Tunitas Creek Beach — located about 8 miles south of Half Moon Bay — was purchased from a private owner by Peninsula Open Space Trust in 2017 and sold to the county in 2020. The property was reportedly owned by singer Chris Isaak for several years.

Once complete, the Half Moon Bay property will become the county’s first beachfront park featuring a 1 1/2-mile Americans with Disabilities Act accessible loop trail, multiple overlook points, rest stops, a picnic area and additional overlook seating.

The Board of Supervisors had already granted the project its seal of approval in February of 2021, touting the project as a “great asset” to the community and greater Bay Area and a substantial improvement from its current condition which then board President Don Horsley called “sort of a disaster area” at the time.

The site has been known for being the location of unauthorized gatherings but officials hope the improvements will keep parties at bay while also providing greater protection for sensitive wildlife in the area.

The beach is a nesting ground for the federally protected western snowy plovers, a small pale bird often disturbed by human beach activity, hindering the species’ ability to nest. Interested in protecting the birds, the Parks Department proposed installing a boardwalk around the nesting site that would allow visitors to observe from a safe distance while leaving the habitat undisturbed.

County Parks, along with partners Peninsula Open Space Trust and the Coastal Conservancy, unveiled a preferred design that seeks to balance recreation with environmental stewardship. Project design and permitting costs have been funded through a California State Coastal Conservancy grant. 

The county received three bids for the work, with the lowest bid at $11,593,710. The project would be paid with funds from the county’s Capital Projects Fund, San Mateo County’s Measure K funds, and California Department of Parks and Recreation Prop. 68 grant.