This week we’re still over on the coast, still seriously coastwalking. There’s that snippet of Robert Hass you can bring along as a companion: “In California in the early Spring, There are pale yellow mornings, when the mist burns slowly into day, The air stings like Autumn, clarifies like pain— Well, I have dreamed this coast myself.”
A quick reminder before we hike on: You can walk—or dream—the California Coastal Trail on your own, getting to know the territory a section or two at a time. You can also sign up for a guided group trip offered by Coastwalk California, though there aren’t that many, alas. In some counties—including both Mendocino and Sonoma—local groups work to improve trails and often offer local hikes.
Hiking on: South of the Lost Coast—which you must find—you’ll meander farther into Mendocino County, walking much of the way along the shoulder of Highway 1. Often lonely, with breathtaking highway scenery. Mendocino offers so much more —stunning state parks, black sand beaches, white sand beaches, and the appealing, artsy towns of Fort Bragg and Mendocino.
South of Ten Mile River the trail wanders into MacKerricher State Park for miles and miles. At Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, five new miles of coastal trail continue to the harbor, a new use for the old lumber mill site.
The trail then zigzags south to Jug Handle State Reserve, Caspar and the Caspar Headlands, and out to the Point Cabrillo Lightstation before heading inland again to Russian Gulch State Park. Then you come to Mendocino, hike the Mendocino Headlands—great for whalewatching—and explore Big River, Little River, and Van Damme State Parks. After that it’s largely back to the highway, with timeouts hiking Navarro River Redwoods State Park, strolling many miles onManchester State Beach, and following Whiskey Shoals to Schooner Gulch State Beach. Thenthere’s Gualala and Sonoma County, including that hard-fought coastal access at Sea Ranch.
When you get to Salt Point State Park coastal access gets good. As dramatic as Point Lobos in Monterey County, Salt Point is one of California’s first underwater preserves, so “good” includes wonderful tidepools and coves, and a pygmy forest of stunted cypress, pines, and redwoods.
“Good” also applies to coastal access at Fort Ross State Historic Park, next south, once Imperial Russia’s fur-trapping colonial outpost in California. From here south, you can hike along the coast and just keep hiking. There are stretches where you return to the highway—pockets of private land, or beaches with no safe access—but not many. Hiking the coastline is heavenly along the Sonoma Coast State Beaches, tides permitting, from the Russian River to Bodega Bay.
Suddenly you’re in Marin County, where most of the coast is Point Reyes National Seashore, some wonderful state parks, and the northern reaches of Golden Gate National Recreation Area.The upside: You can walk 60 of Marin’s 72 miles of uniquely inviting coastline. The downside: Because the area is so close to San Francisco, many other people have the same idea. Especially on weekends.
