The name is a misnomer now. Only one arch remains, its legs straddling foam and kelp where the other two collapsed decades ago. But the single mudstone bridge still commands the cove, its ochre span framing swells that roll in from the Monterey Bay. You stand on sand the color of wet cement, watching sanderlings sprint ahead of the white water, and behind you the bluffs rise in tufted layers of ice plant and coastal scrub.
“The only mainland overwintering site in California where you can watch monarch butterflies and photograph a natural arch in the same hour.”
Credit: UnsplashLong-tail boats moored in clear water
From October through February, the eucalyptus grove transforms into a monarch sanctuary. Tens of thousands of butterflies cluster in the branches, their wings folded tight against the coastal chill. The docents stationed near the boardwalk will lend you binoculars and point out the trembling masses overhead. When the afternoon sun warms the grove, the monarchs lift in slow clouds, drifting orange against the blue.
Low tide reveals another world: pools notched into the mudstone shelves where ochre sea stars cling and purple urchins graze. Families crouch with their fingers in the cold water, children shrieking at hermit crabs. By evening, the arch becomes a silhouette against tangerine and magenta, photographers clustered on the sand with tripods sunk deep. The offshore rocks—Moore Creek's mouth spilling around them—catch the last light, and you understand why Ansel Adams returned here with his view camera year after year.
