Three miles east of Half Moon Bay up the Higgins Canyon road, Burleigh H. Murray Ranch is an 1100-acre state park that protects an intact 19th-century working dairy ranch. The headline feature is the English-style bank barn — a 1889 timber barn built into a hillside, with the dairy floor below and the hay loft accessed from the slope above. It is one of the only barns of this type on the West Coast and was built by an English immigrant family who farmed the canyon for three generations.
The park is undeveloped — no visitor centre, no signage to speak of — and the main activity is the easy four-mile out-and-back trail up Mills Creek to the barn and the ruined old farmhouse beyond. The walk passes through eucalyptus groves and old orchards, with the steep wooded canyon walls rising on both sides. It is a complete contrast to the open coast a few minutes away and very quiet on weekdays. Parking is at the end of a short access road; no entry fee.