Asilomar State Beach, State beach and conference grounds in Pacific Grove, US
Asilomar State Beach is a 107-acre state park unit in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula, made up of a narrow 1-mile strip of sandy beach and rocky coves plus the Asilomar Conference Grounds. A 1-mile dune trail runs through the dunes, and a wooden boardwalk of weathered gray-brown planks with raised edge rails curves across pale white sand between low green and brown shrubs. At the shoreline, large pale grey and tan boulders eroded into rounded, lumpy forms carry dark wet bands of algae along their lower edges.
The Asilomar Conference Center was designed in 1913 by architect Julia Morgan for the YWCA movement. The complex earned National Historic Landmark status in 1987, recognizing its architectural and historical value.
The name Asilomar combines the Spanish words "asilo" and "mar", meaning "asylum or refuge by the sea"; it is pronounced a-SIL-o-mar. The site lies within the native homeland of the Rumsen Ohlone people. The Asilomar Conference Grounds, built by the YWCA in 1913, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
A one-mile dune trail runs through the park and is open to pedestrians; it is wheelchair-accessible, and a beach wheelchair can be borrowed at the front desk inside the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Social Hall at the Conference Grounds. Bicycles are allowed on the paved lane along the road, parallel to the Coast Trail. The water here is cold and known for rip tides and unpredictable surf. There is no restroom at the beach; public bathrooms are in the Hearst Social Hall.
The adjacent Asilomar Marine Reserve prohibits fishing to protect thousands of marine organisms in its waters. This allows visitors to observe an intact coastal ecosystem that has become rare.
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