Opened in 1962 on a hill above the Morro Bay estuary, this museum occupies a prominent site with sweeping views toward Morro Rock and uses that setting to interpret the surrounding landscape. Its interactive exhibits focus on the estuary’s ecology, including sand dune formation, the hydrologic cycle, and food chains, linking natural history directly to place. It is the only natural history museum in the California State Park system. A three-phase modernization from 1993 to 2002 updated its exhibits, and it remains a key interpretive destination within Morro Bay State Park for understanding the estuary and nearby coastal environment.