William R. Hearst Memorial Beach
San Simeon, CA
William R. Hearst Memorial Beach sits below Hearst Castle, a genuine swimming beach with a pier, distinct from the castle tours themselves which start well inland at the visitor center. It's a good, straightforward beach stop if the famous castle tour isn't part of your plans that day.
A genuinely easy swimming beach with a real pier, made more interesting by the famous castle looming above, though it's overshadowed by the more dramatic elephant seal beaches nearby.
How we score beachesThis beach is separate from the Hearst Castle tour, you don't need a ticket to visit, just come straight to the state park entrance near the pier.
Free parking is available at the beach.
A path leads from parking to the beach.
Dogs are allowed on leash at William R. Hearst Memorial Beach, with an informal off-leash stretch beginning a few hundred feet past the pier where the state beach boundary ends.
Fog is common most mornings year round, typical of this stretch of the Central Coast.
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