Working with the Waddell Creek Association, Rancho Del Oso Nature and History Center provides educational and recreational opportunities to its members and the public. They sponsor special events such as discovery hikes, a mushroom field trip, bird walks, Waddell Valley history, coastal beach cleanup, astronomy, native crafts and more. Rancho Del Oso is home to the Theodore J. Hoover Natural Preserve, a coastal freshwater marsh, one of the rarest habitats on the Central Coast. This habitat shelters many rare and endangered species such as the California red-legged frog, Western pond turtle, tidewater goby, black rail, San Francisco garter snake, coho and steelhead salmon.
The Rancho Del Oso Nature and History Center is open Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. and is located two miles south of Ano Nuevo. Take the dirt road south of Waddell Creek Bridge and follow the signs.