Things To Do on the North Coast

Beaches & coastline

Jenner

Goat Rock Beach

Sandy beach at the Russian River mouth, with a resident colony of harbor seals hauled out on the sand.

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Jenner

Blind Beach

Secluded cove at the end of a short trail, with dramatic rock formations and a small cliffside waterfall.

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The Sea Ranch

Shell Beach

Prime tidepooling and beachcombing along The Sea Ranch's coastal trail system.

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Fort Ross

Salt Point State Park

Miles of rugged sandstone coastline with tidepools, including Gerstle Cove, Fisk Mill Cove, and Stump Beach.

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Fort Ross

Stillwater Cove Regional Park

A small crescent beach and cove with a redwood-canyon campground and bluff-top trails.

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Fort Ross

Ocean Cove

Popular cove for beach camping, diving, and abalone season along Highway 1.

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Mendocino

Mendocino Headlands State Park

Bluff-top trails wrapping the entire town, with sea arches, blowholes, and tidepools right off Main Street.

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Fort Bragg

MacKerricher State Park & Glass Beach

Dunes, tidepools, a haul-out point for harbor seals, and the sea-glass-strewn shoreline of Glass Beach.

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Elk

Greenwood State Beach

A small beach below dramatic sea stacks, with a visitor center on the history of the old lumber-shipping town.

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Fort Ross

Stump Beach Cove

A sandy cove within Salt Point State Park, reached by a quarter-mile trail down from a Highway 1 parking area. Tide pools, a small sea cave, and kelp beds at low tide.

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Photo: Dirtsc · CC BY-SA 3.0

Little River

Van Damme State Park

Sheltered cove beach popular with kayakers and divers, plus a fern-filled canyon with miles of hiking trails and a rare Pygmy Forest.

Photo: Sequoiasempervirenssssssssss · CC BY-SA 4.0

Westport

Westport-Union Landing State Beach

Over three miles of rugged, bluff-top coastline with 86 campsites across three campgrounds.

Photo: Bjorn · CC BY-SA 2.0

Manchester

Manchester State Park

5,272 acres of coastal wilderness with nearly 18,000 feet of ocean frontage — dunes, driftwood-strewn beach, and gray whale sightings Dec–April.

Trails & redwoods

Jenner

Kortum Trail

Easy, cliffside 4.5-mile round trip between Wright's Beach and Blind Beach, with near-constant ocean views.

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Jenner

Pomo Canyon Trail

A 7-mile out-and-back following an ancient Pomo trading route through redwoods, oak woodland, and coastal prairie.

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Jenner

Jenner Headlands Preserve

5,630 acres of redwood and Douglas fir forest and coastal prairie above the Pacific.

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Garberville

Founders Grove, Avenue of the Giants

An easy loop trail through old-growth redwoods, including the fallen Dyerville Giant, off the famous 31-mile scenic drive.

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Scotia

Scotia Community Forest

22.5-acre riparian forest nature walk along the Eel River.

Wildlife & whale watching

Point Arena

Point Arena Lighthouse

Daily tower tours, plus periodic Full Moon Night Tours. One of the best whale-watching spots on the North Coast.

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Jenner

Goat Rock Seal Colony

Harbor seals haul out year-round at the river mouth — keep your distance, especially during spring pupping season.

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Mendocino

Point Cabrillo Light Station

A restored 1909 lighthouse on a headland preserve, with a small museum and good whale-watching in season.

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Eureka

Sequoia Park Zoo

California's oldest zoo, set inside a 60-acre old-growth redwood grove, with an aerial redwood-canopy walk.

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Scotia

Scotia Fisheries Exhibit

Free self-guided tours of an indoor/outdoor fish rearing facility run by Humboldt Redwood Company — Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. Weekdays, 8am–3:30pm.