Slide Ranch

Click here for Long-Term trends

Slide Ranch is located in the North Central Coast region of California, within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

The site is located at the base of a steeply sloped cliff that opens onto a cobble beach. Large boulders are scattered throughout the intertidal zone and into the deep water. Transects and plots are arrayed along the boulder beach. The site receives high wave action but there are many semi-protected areas among the large serpentine and greywacke boulders in the area.

Long-Term Monitoring Surveys at Slide Ranch were established in 2006, and are done by the San Francisco Bay Area Network of the National Park Service's Inventory and Monitoring Program. Long-Term MARINe surveys currently target the following species: Chthamalus/Balanus (Acorn Barnacles), Mytilus (California Mussel), Pelvetiopsis (Dwarf Rockweed), Endocladia (Turfweed), Phyllospadix (Surfgrass), and Pisaster (Ochre Star). In addition, motile invertebrates and mussel size structure are monitored at this site. Click here for detailed intertidal monitoring protocols and additional information about the intertidal habitats of the San Francisco Bay Area National Parks. Click here to view Long-Term trends at this site.

This site was also sampled in 2007 as part of a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA).

For more information about Slide Ranch, please contact Darren Fong (darren_fong@nps.gov).