So you want to explore the famous Elkhorn Slough by kayak?

If you're coming to discover the beauty of the Elkhorn Slough for the first time, you have two great options. The first option allows you to explore the slough while learning about the local flora and fauna by going on one of our guided naturalist-led tours. The second option entails renting your own kayak and freely exploring it on your own. Whichever option you choose, you're going to be completely satisfied and amazed. But before you decide, why don't you read a little about the Elkhorn Slough, its wonderful marine mammals and birds, and the best times to visit.

The National Elkhorn Slough Estuarine Research Reserve (NESERR), located in beautiful and historic Moss Landing, California, was created in 1980 as the Elkhorn Slough Estuarine Sanctuary with the acquisition of 1000 acres on the slough's southeast side. With further acquirements in 1981 and additional acres in the late 1980's, the slough began a transformation from an old agricultural, whaling, and industrial waterway, into a full fledged, federal, state and locally protected reserve in which you see today. The main channel of the slough winds inland approximately 7.5 miles and encompasses over 3000 acres of marsh and tide flats, which support a great diversity of life. It is the second largest relatively undisturbed coastal wetland in California housing numerous endangered or threatened species including the red-legged frog, the Californian brown pelican, Californian sea otter, the peregrine falcon, and the snowy plover.

Every time you enter the Elkhorn Slough, it is a unique and exhilarating experience. Right after leaving our kayak dock, you'll encounter frolicking sea otters, resting harbor seals, pelicans, cormorants, terns, and a multitude of other birds welcoming you to the slough. The show continues as you paddle under the Highway 1 bridge and enter the calm and abundant waters of the Elkhorn Slough. If you want a fun ride, you can time it right during the day and take advantage of the slough's tidal flow. This flow from the ocean enters and leaves the slough twice a day. Paddling into the slough on an incoming flood tide, and out of the slough on an outgoing ebb tide, can make for an enjoyable and relaxing paddling experience. As a reminder, tides, and tidal flow, are strongest during the periods near a full moon and a new moon. In these periods, we highly recommend taking advantage of this flow.

Each season in the slough is distinctive with strange and beautiful creatures at every stroke. In the summertime, the slough can be visually amazing. The weather, especially in the morning, can be some of the best for kayaking with low winds and mild temperatures. The sea otters and harbor seals are abundant throughout the slough and the hundreds of endangered brown pelicans that come to rest for the summer are out and about for all to see. They join the other permanent residents of the Elkhorn Slough: great blue herons, snowy and great egrets, and numerous gulls, terns, and shorebirds. Look closely to catch glimpses of Smoothhound and Leopard sharks with their fins cutting through waters surface or bat rays feeding in the shallow waters. Summertime in the slough is the most popular season for kayaking when the slough seems happy, plentiful, and flourishing.

In the fall, the pickle weed on the mud banks turns a vibrant red and the smell of new winged arrivals is in the air. September and October are locally considered the best months of the year with near consistent sun and warm temperatures.

If you happen to arrive during the winter season, you can expect to be pleasantly surprised. You'll encounter thousands of migratory birds that stop to feast in the mud banks at low tide with hardly another kayaker for miles. They migrate from northern breeding grounds to their southern wintering grounds. These include, but are not limited to, dowitchers, willets, avocets, black-necked stilts, grebes, loons, surf scoters, and bufflehead ducks. These share the slough with the entire flock of resident birds and the always-frolicking seals and otters. Winter days can be brilliantly clear and fresh with the skies overhead and the land to the side teeming with life.

In the springtime, baby seals are visible and are closely guarded by their vigilant mothers. They can be heard squeaking with delight from their haul-out sites as they play on shore. Temperatures at this time start to warm and the bustling activity in and around the Elkhorn Slough sprouts like the flowers of the harbor's ice plants. Migratory birds are again in full fervor as they stop by on their way back to their summer breeding grounds.

But every time you paddle into the Elkhorn Slough, no matter what season or how often you go, you'll come back thrilled, renewed, and refreshed. It's an easy way to get away from the everyday stresses of your everyday world and become a part of our very special natural world. Oh, and don't forget your camera and binoculars!

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