Estero Bluffs State Park preserves 353 acres and more than 4 miles of largely undeveloped shoreline on Estero Bay north of Cayucos, protecting low bluffs, marine terraces, wetlands, lagoons, dunes, grassland, and rocky coast. Chumash and Salinan peoples lived here for more than 10,000 years before the Portolá expedition passed in 1769 and European arrival devastated Indigenous communities. The land later served as mission grazing land and became part of Rancho San Geronimo in 1842. After local opposition blocked resort and subdivision plans, the Trust for Public Land bought the property in 2000 and transferred it to California State Parks in 2002, ensuring protection for distinctive geology and habitat used by species including western snowy plovers, sea otters, harbor seals, and migrating gray whales.