Dog friendly beach, just gotta keep them on a leash. Path from the parking to the ocean side is a small walk away and there's a elevated pathway down to the sand. Not wheelchair accessible tho. read more

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Now there are guys distinguishing the bonfires and after the sunset they make sure everyone to leave read more

Poplar Beach - Beaches Near Me - Half Moon Bay, California

Large beach with day parking available for 10.00. They have camping also. Great beach to put your day tent up at!

Really nice beach with adequate parking. I went out with some friends and had a picnic and we got to see a bunch of horses and dogs. Everyone kept their space and overall we had a great time. read more

Sitting atop the cliff, the scenery is picturesque.. The winds blow in opposite directions, creating little white waves amidst the blue-green water as far as the eye can see, appropriately depicting the state of things.. Four seagulls in a diamond-like formation glide above us, so elegantly, effortlessly, as the bristle-like plants below sway gracefully left and right. The cool breeze beats refreshingly against our faces, cooling our heads and washing a quiet calm over our inner selves. Driving home, the shades of green and the shapes all around you show a dignified sense of individuality and strength of character, with no two trees sharing the same structure, direction, and limbs... The organic growth of nature all around us is untamable once permitted to just be. In this experience, peace of mind is attainable... if only for a moment. This is where I come to unwind. read more

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Ooops! What used to be my favorite beach in the Bay Area has become a landfill: this morning I made my way to the beach through dog and horse poo, two dead seagulls, and one deer that decided his last place on Earth should be right here - on the beach. Not to mention litter and bottles. City of Half Moon Bay - clean up this mess, please. read more

Like many other bay area people we decided to head to the coast to beat the heat today. Traffic was light in the morning and when we arrived at Poplar beach there were still a few spots left. It is a paid lot and there was a long line to use the single fee machine. There is a row of porte-potties which were absolutely disgusting and out of toilet paper. It's a nice wide beach with plenty of room to spread out, but unfortunately many people were not observing social distancing nor wearing masks. It is a dog friendly beach and we saw many pups enjoying the water. When we left in the early afternoon the parking lot was packed with tons of people waiting for spots, so go early to secure one! read more

A beautiful beach to take the family, enjoy a walk, or simply sit and take in God's marvelous creation!! read more

Poplar Beach - A beautiful beach, on a cloudy day! - Beaches Near Me - Half Moon Bay, California

I read bad reviews of this beach because of the poop, so calling it Pooplar beach is not that inaccurate. So just avoid that little matter and concentrate in the beauty and the freedom. You can take your dog, your grandma and the piano to this beach if you want. People seem to have real fun, improvising pic-nics, BBQs and screaming loud while swimming. No, is not a posh beach and is somewhat dirty, but somehow I liked it a lot. Maybe those nice cypress tress, the trail on top, the overlook and the fact that is so easy to park on the streets and no need to pay for parking. You can easily avoid the $2/hour parking. We did and we did not have to walk too much. read more

Poplar Beach - Beaches Near Me - Half Moon Bay, California

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As others have noted, there are horses that occasionally poop on the trail down to the beach. But I say don't let that stop you from easy access to a remarkable section of the California coastline. And I promise there's no discernible poop once you get down to the beach (quite frankly I find the horse poop not nearly as offensive as the human poop in the porta-potty). If you're not feeling like heading down to the beach, you can head South from the parking lot on a nice hike along the palisades toward the Ritz where I hear the poop smells great. The parking lot a poplar beach is free so if you're ever looking for a place to park near 92, this is a good bet. It does get a bit crowded during the day on weekends. read more

Gorgeous beach! I absolutely love this dog friendly gem! It seems this secret beach is no longer a secret, so I figured I would share with the Yelpers. This beach is off the main highway, tucked behind a neighborhood. There is a parking lot, that is now charging for hourly parking. Dont think you can sneak through the cracks, they patrol this lot every few hours, so pay up before getting caught. There is a great paved trail that follows the coast line atop the cliffs, or you can hit the sand, however this site is not handicap accessable, there is a large slope to go down to the sand. Many beaches in this area do not allow dogs, so most people here have a dog, which is lots of fun for dog lovers. t can be very windy here, so bring warm clothes, along with your beach gear. And get ready for a good time!!! I read more

Poplar Beach - Beaches Near Me - Half Moon Bay, California

Freakin love this beach and so does my dog, Hendry! I was headed toward St. Francis Beach one-day but I realized theey don't allow dogs so I went to Poplar Beach instead. I recommend parking in the residential area and walking over because you have to pay at the parking lot and it can be a mad house. My dog loves the beach (he gets excited when he can run in the sand) and it's very safe to have your dog run around. The waves aren't too big/ crazy usually, which is a plus since my dog isn't the greatest swimmer. read more

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I like Poplar since it does not get too busy and is fairly well hidden, you have to drive through a nice residential neighborhood to get here. The approach to the beach is a little steep and a little tricky to navigate especially if you are lugging a water cooler, tent, chairs and a bag of food like I was. But once you get there, this is heaven. You sit in your chair and observe the waves of the great Pacific and it puts everything into perspective. A great reminder that there is more to life than the hustle and bustle of the bay area. read more

My bf's dog loves this beach. And as a result, so do we. I am not sure if you are supposed to keep your dog on leash, but we just let the dog run and play fetch, as we see other dog owners do the same thing. There is a horse track, which you want to avoid since it smells. But it's not a big deal. Weekends in summer gets crowded, but you can still find parkings. If not, there are plenty on the streets, you just need to walk a little bit. read more

Below the Blufftop Coastal Park is the Poplar Beach. Just follow the path from the Poplar Street parking lot down to the beach. It doesn't seem to get that crowded at this beach. It could be because you have to pay for parking. There is one pay station at the parking lot that only takes card. If you don't want to pay, I'm sure you could find some street parking nearby and just walk a little further to the beach. The beach is dog-friendly. Watch where you walk once you get on the beach because there is a lot of horse poo since you can also ride horses along the beach. read more

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One of my favorite places to take my puppy! Not crowded at all, plenty of room to just lay down a towel and relax in the sun. You'll also find other dogs running around and they are usually very friendly. There's also a trail next to the beach to go for a nice jog or walk your dog read more

Poplar Beach - Beaches Near Me - Half Moon Bay, California

This beach is great. Dogs and horses allowed. Nice large beach area for a large number of people. They recently started charging for parking. There's a machine where you have to get a ticket for however long you want to stay. There are outhouses up top with the parking. You have to climb down a little bit of a hill to get to the beach. Not the easiest to deal with at the end of a long day at the beach. I know I get winded. You can build a fire here. We've had some good times. read more

family & dog friendly! port a potties in the parking lot, which is great. we went on a Thursday & there were only a few dogs. all dogs we met were unleashed & well behaved & played with our dog. more of a secluded beach, but that's what you need when you're taking your dog to the beach! gotta pay for beach parking though! read more

Went here during memorial day weekend and had fun here. Plenty of room and not too crowded. We didn't have trouble parking here (given that it was a holiday). Parking was pricey spent like $10 bucks in parking for like 5 hours there. Careful walking down the slope down to the beach. We had a friend who slipped and fell. As I mentioned above the beach didn't have that many people so we were able to play soccer and throw some footballs around without running into people. They have porta potty located in the parking lot for your "business" - just hold your breath lol. read more

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I come to Poplar Beach a lot so My Dogs can Enjoy & Run Freely Off Leash. But today I had to YELL at my Dog to watch out for the HORSES POO On the top of the trail & on the ocean. We dog owners do pick up our dogs Poo, so they need to do it Also... HORSE POO STINKS And are so much BIGGER than Dogs too. We had to walk a ways to find a spot to sit on the Sand near the Ocean. Hope the City fixes the problem soon. There is not much Beach that our dogs can Enjoy. And we do LOVE POPLAR BEACH read more

I'm not sure why this beach has a low rating. I love it here! We take our dog here as often as we can (he loves the sand)!! We're trying to get him to jump in the water lol, but ever since his last episode, hes a little afraid! I would say this place is more dog friendly, then it is is kids friendly, so if you or your kids arent fans of dogs, then you should probably search for another. Beautiful beach, especially for our son dog! read more

Easy parking and access. Great dog area...plenty of room to run. Access to the beach not bad. Stairs would be helpful.

Aside from the @&$hole who illegally parked his/her hillbilly white truck next to me and decided it'd be cool to leave a door ding on my car (may you grow a painful sore on your genitalia this week), the Poplar part of Half Moon Bay is a smaller lot as compared to the main beach, but still spacious enough to accommodate people who arrive before 11am. The walk and the trails are nice as most of HMB trails. Some tips below: - parking is not free so bring a debit card. There's a pay station at the entrance by the dumpsters. You don't have to memorize your space number. Just pay and put that ticket on your dash. Tow bucks for every two hours. All day is ten. - the ports potties are as expected horrendously hideous. So before you enter the park, do your business at any of the fast food or mini gas marts along the way. My girl pleaded for me to take her somewhere else so we went to a local Burger King. - you can bring your doggy onto the beach. But wear shoes or sandals because there was a ton of evidence of people building campfires and leaving their trash on the beach (f@!&@ers!). And as such, those knuckle heads are usually the type to burn pallets and throw beer bottles into their fires. And watch out for horse patties too. - The walk to the north edge of the Ritz Carlton golf course is nearly 2.4 miles. The scenery is beautiful but dress in layers. The walk is relatively flat so easy for most. There's a paved section so you can bring bikes. The dirt trails can accommodate mtn bikes as well. - timing: we arrive there 1015am. Less than half of the lot was full on that Sunday morning. By 2pm when we left it was nearly full. By the time we hit the single lane 92 freeway, the inbound traffic was horrendous. All I could think was wow, sucks to be you! So get off your ass, grab a Starbucks and a muffin, and leave early! read more

I'm only a fan of this beach in Half Moon Bay because of it's "easy to find" location. Random driving one day, and stumbled upon this beach, and it has been my favorite spot since! There is no parking fee (even though there is a sign pointing to the ground saying "PAY HERE"), a semi-steep path to walk down that will literally take you 30 seconds, and five minutes if you are someone who keeps telling yourself, "I'm going to fall!! I'm going to fall!" The waves here on some days can be fun and intense, other days, just blehh, and water is really cold. Beach is "KINDA" clean. A lot of riders come here, and unfortunately, their horses leave "trails" behind. The pick up your pets poop should be enforced on them as well! A lot of people bring their dogs here, and I was pissed off last week when I came cause as I was laying on my blanket on that sunny morning doing my homework and snacking on a vietnamese roll, this huge poodle runs over to me, stomps all over my blanket, me, my food, and my homework, sand everywhere, with it's owner yelling "NO! COME HERE!" said "SORRY" in a careless way, grabbed her overgrown poodle and walked off. Next time I come here, I'm bringing one of those silent whistles that dogs hate, so STAY AWAY! (: Hahaha. read more

If you do not have a dog or a horse this might not be the right beach for you but if you do it's perfect! Lots of fun dogs running around in the ocean and lots of room even on the weekends. If you don't have animals there are many other beaches to choose from but it is great that this one is left for the dogs. Although 20 horses walking down the path scared the crap out of our dog! read more

The beach is very easy to find. In a GPS put in the address of 152 Poplar St Half Moon Bay. The parking lot is big enough to carry the average amount of cars. The parking lot is near a residential area so you can park on the street if your not interested in taking part of the metered parking lot. I went on Friday Jan 3 & the meter was locked up. I'm good w/that. I know the address above is for Blufftop Coastal Park but it must be part of the beach b/c it lead us straight to Poplar Beach. I saw there was some trails on the hills of the beach but we didn't take those. Right next to the parking lot there was a hill to go down to the beach. Other reviewers mentioned a STEEP hill to get down to the beach. I'm unsure what their definition of steep is, but I found it moderately hard. If you've been to Fort Funston then Poplar's hill is a piece of cake. So maybe the one others are speaking of is further down the trails. I know the beach is titled a on leash beach, but no body seemed to care I had my Lab/Pitbull mix dog off leash. Many others had their dogs off leash as well. It wasn't very crowded at all. I also enjoyed people weren't paying ball w/their dogs. Mine can get possessive. The sand was a little rougher than some of the beaches I've been to. Along the beach near the cliffs there is a lot of horse poop. Not as much near the middle or along the ocean shore line. The weather is what it is. It was great for a January afternoon. A little foggy but not too cold at all. Overall, i would suggest the beach to anyone who wants to go to the beach w/their dog. read more

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Avoid this beach if you don't like dogs or horse poop cause there's A LOT of both, everywhere, at this beach. Seriously. I went there with my family on a Sunday in July and true to what I read online, parking was easy and the beach wasn't over-crowded. So that was nice. But what I learned very shortly thereafter was that since the state beaches don't allow dogs, everybody who has a dog and wants to take them to the beach so they can play in the ocean and fight with the other dogs brings them to Poplar beach. The other thing I learned is that at very regular intervals a horse tour takes place on the beach which results in horse poop all over the beach. And I mean EVERYWHERE. Yuck. All in all, I would say pass on this beach, especially since I'm the father of a special needs child who's deathly afraid of dogs and I'm just not that into horse crap. But that's just me....... read more

Although they have started charging for parking, Poplar still remains my favorite spot due to fact that it still remains one of the LEAST crowded beach on HMB. Nothing ruins a quiet beach getaway like a crowd of tourists blasting their music and just for that I would GLADLY fork over a couple of dollars so that I can enjoy my moment of peace. For all you Dog-lovers out there, no longer does your furry friend have to miss out on your beach excursions because the beach is Dog-Friendly! Winding paths twist beside HMB's miles of beach providing you and your canine companion a much needed respite from the monotony of suburbia. Just remember to make use of the many Doggy-bag stations conveniently located besides the path. Be CONSIDERATE! You know you would be the first to hitch a fit if you had to step in somebody else's doodoo. read more

Hard call, gonna call it a 3.5 but round down because I think we were there on a perfect day, and the average will be worse. Pros: * huge, not overly busy sandy beach with beautiful surf * you can bring your dog or horse * the dogs don't seem to be running wild and crazy unlike some beaches. * price for parking ($2/hr) not unreasonable. * nice people Cons: * steep walk down to the beach with no stairs * the line to pay for parking was literally 20 minutes, just to buy the ticket to put on the dashboard * horse crap EVERYWHERE, literally everywhere, like every time i went to dig in the sand, voila, another horse turd * sand not the softest, but better than many * porta-potties were the foulest I have ever seen in my life, and I'm a guy. The level of the feces was almost to the level of the seat (maybe 1" below)? I'd rate completely unusable by anyone who needs to sit. * super foggy; I'd imagine it would be freezing on any day other than when we went (90 degrees in the rest of the bay area, low 60's at the beach) read more

Great place to hang with friends and family! Watch out for poop from the horses. We brought our pit bull on Fourth of July here hang out and play with our dog. Lots of people and friendly. We made friends with other dog owners and played with our dogs with them. Bathrooms are a pain. When you have to go you better go. They are located up top on s hill you have to hike up. It doesn't have much parking so don't pack heavy. Pack light. read more

This beach is managed by the city. It is one access point to what is a very long stretch of interconnected beaches. They charge $2.00 an hour, from a credit card kiosk. For some reason, nearly everyone here has a dog, which is kind of annoying. I watched a two year old boy build a sand castle while a dog ran up and took a dump next to it. The owner yelled, "Stop Muffin, stop, but the dog didn't care. The boy move to grab the turd, and his father yelled, Stop Mikey, stop." Fortunately the kid was better disciplined than the dog. read more

Poplar Beach - Beach - Beaches Near Me - Half Moon Bay, California

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We have been going to this beach for many years. It is a great place for hiking and walking with dogs. Good views and trails. The parking was being maintained pretty well with fairly cleaned toilet cabins. Unfortunately things have changed: the parking became paid ($2/hr), and toilet cabins are not clean anymore. Very poor management! This is the only beach with a paid parking in the area, we are going to search for another beach. read more

This review is for the biking trail known as Half Monn Bay Coastal trail. We like to start from poplar beach car park by heading north towards Sam Chowders before making a U-turn back to the car park. Please note that this car park is relatively small (~60 cars) and thus; could be very packed during a beautiful spring day not to mentioned on Summer days. The route from Poplar beach to Sam Chowder are paved except for a small distance will be on a small side street. The overall distance from car park to Sam Chowder is about 5 miles. For those who want more adventures and enjoy more of this scenic place, continue southward past poplar beach. you will then reach the unpaved portion of the coastal trail. you will find yourself biking close to the cliff. Great place to run , hike, and even daze around. With the sound of ocean, colors of the wild flowers, mountain on the back, cool breeze (ahhh, maybe not as we had met more than 30mph gusty wind), this is a great place to chill out read more

Doesn't get too crowded like the state beach. Parking after sunset is kinda far into the neighborhood so don't pack too much stuff to bring down. Not much of a surf spot but a great spot for a picnic or late night cuddling. Just watch out for the drops of horse poop scattered everywhere ... Watch your step coming down the hill towards the beach!!!!! You might want to clear the area before you play ultimate, volleyball, or football! Bring a flashlight at night to light the paths to avoid the land mines... Horse poop. Otherwise it's relatively clean not much for surfing or swimming unless you have a nice thick wetsuit. Its also dog friendly. But again... Good spot to avoid the crowd, but a good picnic and cuddle spot! 3.5 stars!!! read more

We saw the horse poop, we saw the dogs, we enjoyed the free parking. Sums up what every other yelper said :) To add? In order to get down to the beach there is a semi-steep path you have to follow. My husband and I had to trek a diaper bag, beach bag, and kids ages 5, 3, and 1.. we survived with no casualties or boo boos of the sort. Our three yr old daughter is extremely girlie and nonathletic (at the moment.. there is hope) and she was able to get down with just a hand held. BRING A JACKET! it was 80 degrees when we left Union City, almost 90 in San Jose, and it was STILL overcast and chilly there. read more

I enjoy coming here with my 2 Australian Shepherds. There's a nice trail to walk along the cliffs as well as walking along the beach. Seeing the horses walking by is nice too. I keep my dogs away from them... I have no clue if they like horses, I just don't want them to try to herd them! Overall, this beach is clean aside from the horse droppings.... which do not bother me as much as some other reviewers. read more

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A couple weekends ago, we were in the Silicon Valley and realized how close Half Moon Bay was. I suggested that we take the slight detour and go check it out. The drive from Palo Alto was beautiful and you could feel the temperature drop as you approached the ocean. You had hills and water and all sorts of greenery everywhere along with the many fancy cars driving to and from Half Moon Bay. We even saw a Bentley which was kind of cool. As far as the beach goes, it's pretty crowded and you have to pay to park! Also, watch out for land mines! By land mines, I mean random piles of horse poop. It's everywhere and it gets tossed around in the sand so much that you're probably walking around in a sandy, poopy mix. Yuck! As we were people watching, we saw dogs and people walk right through the sandy poop without any notice. Double yuck all the way. On the cool side of the horse poop issue is that you get to see lots of horses! Also, in an unrelated note, you get to see crazy awesome people parachuting off of the cliff and over people into the sand. It's fun to watch! I'd go back; I just won't be thrilled to pay to park again and dodge poopy piles. read more

This beach is OK but not my favorite. The pros: - Free parking (a BIG pro) - Dog friendly, unlike the State beaches - Ocean (duh!) - Views are gorgeous The cons: - The steep, uneven decent from the free parking area to the beach - The horse dung on the steep path AND on the beach itself - ew! - The disproportionate number of little yappy dogs off leash and stalking my on-leash beagles. Yes, I know beagles are not "big dogs," but they are not yappy little dogs either. And yes, a good ass-sniffing is to be expected in a proper dog greeting, but your yappy dog shouldn't follow us a quarter mile down the beach. Where's your mom, little dog?! - Rough sand. Really, it hurt my feet. I like a light sand exfoliation when I walk on the beach, but the grit of this sand was too course to be comfortable. For the price (free), it's hard to complain. Once you're on the beach and plop yourself onto a beach towel or chair, it's a great place to see, smell, and hear the ocean waves, but the trouble getting in and out and the rough sand make my return questionable. read more

Nice to find a sandy beach with great weather that weekend. It was awfully windy, but we kept more to the cliffs so a little less windy and no horse poop there. My 2yo had a blast playing in the sand and watching the dogs and horses go by. The path down to the beach was quite steep, and I'm glad I was able to babywear him since I don't think he'd be able to traverse it by himself. Not many people at all on a Sunday. Not sure it it's cuz it was so windy. Parking - metered. Reasonable since the Half Moon Bay State Beach charged $10 flat and we weren't planning to stay too long. read more

I've taken my dog here twice now and while it is a dog friendly beach, it is not one of my favorites. There is a lot of parking, but on the weekends, it does get quite busy. The downside is the sandy, steep trek down to the beach. It makes it a little unsafe to be bringing beach chairs and coolers since it is pretty steep. However, once down on the beach, you are all set to enjoy a great day at the seashore. read more