367. Point Lobos: No. Shore Trail Overlook Whalers Covel

You are high above Whalers Cove, on the North Shore Trail, with a good view of the Monterey Pine Forest along the eastern shore line. A good vantage point to visualize all the activities that took place before Point Lobos became a Natural Reserve of the California State Parks System.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve contains not only the land you are on, but the surrounding 750 acres of State Marine Reserve, where it is unlawful to injure, damage, take or possess any living, geological or cultural marine resource. In other words, you can look and touch, but don’t remove anything in the Reserve.

Along the trail you may notice the many shell fragments shinning in the sunlight. These are mostly the remains of the mussels and abalone that were harvested by the Ohlone native peoples. The meat was taken back to the village while the shells were discarded and left in what we now call middens. You will generally find middens in picturesque areas where picnics were held over the past thousand years. All eating must be done only at the three picnic areas in the Reserve now-a-days.