[Image-1]
The stretch between Morro Bay and
Cayucos has million-dollar plans in store
after the Land Conservancy of San Luis
Obispo secured another 750 acres to preserve
for public recreation.
Nearly 10 years ago, the Land Conservancy
of SLO (LCSLO) had a vision of preserving
thousands of acres between Morro Bay and
Cayucos to create a new county park named
Toro Creek Park, conservancy Deputy
Director Daniel Bohlman said.
Utilizing a three-phase approach, the
nonprofit hoped to slowly purchase nearly
2,000 acres of land from Chevron Corporation
by 2030, protecting the land and preserving it
for public uses like camping and hiking.
On Feb. 6, the Land Conservancy
completed the second phase of the project,
a $5.5 million transaction for 750 acres
stretching from Del Mar Park in Morro Bay
up through the Alva Paul Canyon, land that
is now owned by SLO County and will be
maintained by Parks and Recreation.
The purchase was funded through
$3.5 million in grants from the Wildlife
Conservation Board, $1.5 million from the
California State Coastal Conservancy, and
private donations of $500,000.
“Overall, the vision has always been
to protect around 1,500 to 2,000 acres of
the overall 3,000 [acres] and bring it into
community use, right?” Bohlman said. “And
so with phase 1 complete, now phase 2
complete, we can really focus on that third
phase.”
The first phase secured right of way along
the highway, allowing the county to purchase
the land that would connect Morro Bay
to Cayucos via the connector trail, which
was approved by the California Coastal
Commission last June.
“So, a safe means of moving between those
two communities off-highway, which is just
going to be a really wonderful amenity,” he
said.
With construction anticipated to start on
the trail in summer 2025, the SLO County
Board of Supervisors recently OK’d Parks
and Recreation to apply for a California
Coastal Conservancy award of up to $2
million toward the Morro Bay-to-Cayucos
connecting trail.
One public commentor at the Feb. 25
meeting asked if the connecting trail was
necessary and said, “I guess you could walk
on the beach the whole way. You don’t need
the trail. What’s wrong with just walking on
the sand?”
Another asked the board to approve the
application with excitement about being able
to walk from Morro Bay to Cayucos.
Bohlman said the first phase of Toro Creek
Park also secured Dog Beach and the scenic
views between Morro Bay and Cayucos.
The third and final phase of the project
will be to obtain another 800 acres in the
next five years, which would allow for
additional open space and recreation, as well
as low-cost coastal accommodations like tent
camping and RV parking.
California voters have historically voted in
favor of conservation, which has helped the
effort to create the park and connector trail,
Bohlman said. Voters passed Proposition 4 in
2024, which allocates $10 billion in bonds for
conservation efforts.
“We have passed a number of propositions,
which more or less secure funding to
[preservation] and so we’re doing all right at
the moment,” he said. Δ
This article appears in Mar 6-16, 2025.