Life with ArielPacific Coast Highway or PCH is a must-see for anyone who visits California. It’s spectacular and worth a drive. I have driven PCH multiple times between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It never disappoints. For my Thanksgiving trip in 2022, I decided to try the part north of San Francisco. Thanks to the much lighter tourist traffic and less pollution than the south part, the scenery in the north is wilder, clearer, and grander with deeper blue, higher waves, and more cliffs. I fell in love with the Pacific Coast Highway even more.
I drove from Cleone and all the way down to Bodega Bay. All the spots in this blog are dog-friendly (because otherwise what’s the point of having a roadtrip?!). I put them in the order of north to south.
MacKerricher State Park
Given that it’s a state park, not everywhere is dog-friendly. But the Laguna Point Boardwalk Trail is an exception. It connects many of the most iconic sites of the park. The first part of the trail is a wooden bluff-top boardwalk that goes from the parking lot to various lookout platforms where you can enjoy the Pacific Ocean. The platforms are well maintained with benches and rails. At one of them, you can go down to the beach and try to spot tide pools. Laguna Point is another lookout point where you will likely be able to watch whales or seals swimming freely in the ocean. The water here is in deep, clear blue with big and wild splashing waves. It feels more majestic than Big Sur. The middle section of the trail is a narrow, wild trail on the cliff right next to the ocean. But it’s mostly flat and has very light traffic, making it a peaceful and beautiful walk. The last section of the trail is a paved path to the parking lot which also serves as a bike lane.
Pudding Creek Trestle
Pudding Creek Trestle is a wooden historical bridge in Fort Bragg, which is a well-known scenic site. Below the bridge, the Pudding Creek merges into the Pacific Ocean. Ariel enjoyed the shallow and crystal clear water from the Pudding Creek. The Pudding Creek Beach boasts vast and soft sand dunes, providing a great playground for us. It was also very quiet when we visited. Ariel and I were left by ourselves, except that there were people watching us play on the trestle.
Glass Beach
The famous Glass Beach is located close to downtown Fort Bragg. I heard one could find smooth glass pieces on the beach and they made the beach look sparkling under the sun. The beach was once a dump site, so the glass pieces came from the broken bottles in trash. It’s amazing that we could turn a trashy place into a beautiful tourist site. However, I was disappointed at arrival. The beach is only about a couple feet wide, much smaller than I expected. Moreover, I saw no glass pieces, yet there were so many people taking pictures of it. I actually find the beach right next to it much better, quiet, less crowded with soft sand.
Noyo Headlands Park
Noyo Headlands Park features many beautiful coastal hiking trails. The Ka Kahleh Trail is the most popular one. It is one segment of the vast California Coastal Trail and starts from the Glass Beach. It is relatively flat and located on the bluff right next to the ocean. You can enjoy the spectacular Pacific Ocean for about 5 miles out and back. I really enjoyed the sunset here, watching the egg yolk going down below the ocean at the border of the sky and the winter flowers dancing in the ocean breeze.
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens
It surprised me that Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens are dog friendly, which is not typical for a botanical garden. Furthermore, it has ocean access! Winter is not the best season to see flourishing plants and flowers. But it was still a great place to walk around. There were many trails connecting various flower gardens, green plants corridors, veggie gardens, etc. In addition, the trails are mostly paved and easy to walk on. This entire place is well maintained with clear directions of where to go and which sections are steep. Most importantly, the ocean access is the biggest plus. It is a rare feature for botanical gardens. You can spend hours here and won’t be bored. They even hosted a light show for evening admissions during holiday months. Unfortunately, that was not dog-friendly.
Point Cabrillo
Point Cabrillo features a historical lighthouse. Instead of in the shape of a tower like most lighthouses, this one looks like a normal building. To me, its coastline was more memorable. We hiked from the parking lot to the lighthouse on a short but narrow trail guarded by tall bushes. The lighthouse sits on an open bluff against strong winds. Waves splashed violently on the cliffs and formed a rich foamy pool inside nearby coves. Seals floating freely in those coves, they seemed to enjoy the rock of Mother Nature. Everything looked like a story scene from a European fairytale.
Mendocino Headlands State Park
Mendocino Headlands State Park is breathtaking and worth a visit. You can either drive through most part of the park along the Heeser Dr or hike using the Mendocino Headlands Trail. Either way you won’t be disappointed. The ocean here is more active thanks to the numerous small spiky islands and rocks standing out in the middle of the ocean. Wild waves roar and echo among cliffs and rocks. Some will even splash atop the cliffs.
Elk
I didn’t spend much time in Elk. It was simply a drove-by stop. But I was attracted by the ocean lookout on the Pacific Coast Highway. Here, the ocean turns into a lighter shade of blue. With the rocky islands, the view from the distance looks like a paint of a mystery and peaceful tropic.
Point Arena
Point Arena was also a rest stop for me. It has a well-known lighthouse surrounded by water on three sides. It is also one of the best sites to watch whale migrations. At this time of the year, it was pretty quiet. A walk along the coastline will immerse you in nature without any disruption.
Jenner
As I drove south, the road became more windy and steep, the wind slowed down, and the ocean was less splashy. Right before I hit Jenner, the entire section of the Pacific Coast Highway showed a jaw-dropping, panoramic scene of the golden coast, with the mountains on the left, small townships in the middle, and the vast Pacific Ocean on the right waving in slow motion. Traffic noticeably slowed down, not because of traffic jams but as a result of people taking time to appreciate the stunning views.
Before it got dark, Ariel and I stopped at the Goat Rock Beach to play some fetches. It was a pretty rocky and steep hike from the parking lot to the beach. The beach was quiet and clean, leaving us lots of space to run and play.
