What's there to do at Wilder Ranch State Park?

What are you into? History? They have that. Hiking? They've got that too. Biking? Yep. Ornithology? Birds galore. Basically, this is one of the best overall parks in California for a plethora of things to do. It is also centrally located, being literally just north of Santa Cruz and about 2 hours south of San Francisco. It is also not far from many other areas in the greater Bay Area.

A Brief History of Wilder Ranch;

Before the written history of the Santa Cruz area, the land was taken care of by the Ohlone. Once the Spanish arrived, the life for the Ohlone changed. You can read a bit about their life by seeing my page on the Santa Cruz Mission State Park.  This land was once incorporated as part of the vast expanse that was Mission Santa Cruz. It was known as Rancho Arroyo del Matadero, the Missions cattle grazed these lands and were also slaughtered there.

Some time during the 1830s, the Mexican Land Grant lands were eventually re-granted out. By this time the area was known as Rancho Refugio and Joaquin Castro and the Castro family were prolific cattle ranchers in the area. Their land spanned from Gilroy to Santa Cruz. His 3 daughters were granted the land.

All three of the girls eventually married, one of them married to Jose Antonio Bolcoff, who was a Russian sailor. He jumped ship and had been living in the Branciforte across the hill from the Santa Cruz Mission. He was the Alcalde in the year 1834. The Balcoffs were very good at making cheese and butter. Their butter was so delicious that it caught a high price in Monterey. They built the adobe home that you can still see standing on the Wilder Ranch. They raised 11 children in that home!

The lands were eventually split and a gentleman by the name of Moses Meder acquired a large tract of it. Meder Creek is named for him. He was one of the Mormons brought by Sam Brannan on the ship "Brooklyn" which landed in San Francisco in 1846. Meder expanded the farming operations and built the farmhouse in the 1850s. The original portion of the home is now what you see as the front. He, too, sold butter for a good cost of $1 a pound, which at the time was very pricey. 

Deloss Wilder along with a partner, Levi Baldwin, bought the farm and 4,160 acres of it in 1871. The Wilder's made a living over 5 generations and nearly 100 years. Over the years they built onto the original home from Meder and in 1897 They built the Victorian home that you can see today..

By the late 1960's the farm wasn't prospering enough to compete with the inflation of property taxes. With the land being proposed for development, like so many places that were saved, it became a state park.

Wilder Ranch State Park Map:

The photo below shows an aerial view of what the ranch looked like during the 1930's. Since this place is so large, it really gives perspective on where everything is located. 

This building below was the newest home built on the property, built circa 1946. Unfortunately, it wasn't open when we went, so I could only peer inside. But on the chalkboard outside, they list that month's activities. I am hoping to make it back for a "Living History" day. Those are on the 1st Saturday of every month.

As you can see from the photo, there are 2 different styles on this home. The portion on the left was the original Meder Residence, and the area on the left was the addition built by the Wilders.

The shop and bunkhouse was built in the early 1900s. It still contains the tools of a working farm. Being capable to make everything like implements and tools needed to complete the daily tasks.

The horse barn. A truly beautiful building, look at the ornamental shingles. Can you imagine installing something like that now on your own home...and first off, where would you find a craftsman who can even make them? This one is circa 1891-1892.

Next to the Bolcoff adobe is the storage for the larger ranch equipment. It is the equipment and wagon house built circa 1879.

The Victorian home you see was built my Melvin Wilder, the son of Delos D Wilder who was the founder of the Wilder Ranch. It was built between 1897 and 1897. A Victorian era farmhouse in such pristine shape is something to behold. What a wonderful piece of American history.

The slaughterhouse and dairy barn are located next to each other. I was only able to take a peek inside the slaughterhouse which is looks like its just filled with old stuff. The dairy barn used to be much larger but even still it is a very large building. I would have loved to have seen it during its heyday. 

What's Nearby?

There is so much to do in Santa Cruz County and beyond. No matter if you go north or south, there are still options. Heading north of Santa Cruz, you will find a multitude of beaches. When we went, most of the beaches up the coast had little to no people on them. Though, I am not sure what it's like during the heat of the summer.

In the town of Santa Cruz itself, you have the Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz Mission, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, Roaring Camp Train Excursion. Heading south, you can visit the town of Salinas to see John Steinbeck's Cannery Row. And of course Monterey Bay Aquarium is always a joy to visit.

Hiking Trails;

There are many trails over this wonderful State Park. All the trails, with the exception of the beach trails, allow for equestrian use. There are 35 miles of bicycle trails. There are many options for trails, so I have only posted a couple.

Old Landing Cove Trail: This trail is the most popular by far for the Wilder Ranch State Park. It is rated as an easy trail and is 2.4 miles long. It is kid friendly, stroller friendly and bike friendly. There are no dogs allowed on this trail. This trail takes you down to the ocean, with a good possibility of seeing some seals!

Wilder Ridge, Baldwin, Ohlone Bluff to Old Cove Landing Trail: Next up for a really great trail is this one at 10.1 mile loop. Rated at moderate, I assume due to the time it takes to distance. For the entire length, it gains an elevation of about 902 feet. This trail is also a no dogs allowed trail.

Helpful Resources:

My information came mostly from historical accounts in newspapers and a visit to the Wilder Ranch.

• California State Parks
• Historical Newspapers
  

A Very Brief History on Santa Cruz Mission:

The Mission movement started in 1529 with the arrival of the Catholic Church of Rome. Even though they were met with fierce opposition, they persisted. From Florida onward. They managed to build a total of 407 missions over the course of time, from 1529 up until around 1833. 21 of those missions are in California.

The Santa Cruz Mission was "founded" on August 28th 1791 by Father Fermin Lasurn. Eventually known as "The Hard Luck Mission", it was destroyed by flood, moved to higher ground, then plagued by disease, loss of the slave labor as they fled from terrible conditions and hard labor.

Then the governor of what was the Alta California decided to build a secular pueblo built by convicts from Guadalajara. They took many provisions from the Mission. In1818, a "pirate" by the name of Hipolito de Bouchard headed up the coast, hitting Monterey first. When word spread that he was heading towards Santa Cruz, the residents fled. While away, the Santa Cruz Mission was robbed by the men from the pueblo across the way. 

Numerous earthquakes only allowed this Mission to exist for about 130 years. Eventually the area went secular and all was lost at that point.

Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park; Map:

What's there to do at the Santa Cruz Mission SHP?

We were lucky to have been in the area on a Thursday. This park is open 5 days a week, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 10AM till 4PM. When we went, there was a group of school children there.

There was only 1 person working at the Mission, so we weren't able to go into the gift shop as she was busy with their tour. They got to make candles and mud bricks. I believe that every hour a tour is conducted for anyone there visiting the Mission who would like a tour.

It seems that even before the Mission was built, there was life in the now Santa Cruz area. You can see below the floor, ruins from a time even further in history still exists.

My Conclusion:

This park may be small, but it is a part of the building of California history. What is still there is well-preserved, and worth the time to visit. If you like history then this place, in the heart of Santa Cruz is something to see.

What's Nearby?

• Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
• Wilder Ranch State Historic Park
  
• Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
  
• Monterey Bay Aquarium
  

Who was Henry Cowell?:

The name behind this amazing park.

Henry Cowell was one of the Pioneers who could see that California is going to develop into one of the great states of the nation. Through their hard work, capitalist mindset and entrepreneurial spirit, they became one of the largest landowners of California at that time. Mr. Cowell started with ships, bringing cement from Belgium and fire brick from England which was put to use in the building of our largest cites from San Diego to San Francisco, Sacramento to Los Angeles. 

He acquired land with limestone deposits in the Santa Cruz mountains so that he could produce his own cement. Those limestone queries you can still see on the trails in Henry Cowell State Park today. 

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park Information:

Let's Visit Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park!

If you are camping in the state park, then you will have access to not only Henry Cowell's locations, but you will also have access to any of the other parks in the Santa Cruz area owned by the state.

I will start with the campground info, then we can see what's going on at the Fall Creek location, where the big redwoods are!

Campground:

A really great campground, you have 107 (though the numbers go up to 113) sites to chose from. All can accommodate tents of various sizes (which I will touch on shortly). And nearly all the pads can handle vehicles with travel trailers or motor homes of up to 35' in total length.

Be sure to get the pad size from reservecalifornia. The campground is consisting of 2 figure 8 loops divided between section 0-51 and 52-113.  

Campground Map:

Campsites:

We are partnering with California Campground Authority on YouTube for an in depth view on nearly all the campsites at this State Park. 

Handicap Sites:

Henry Cowell State Park has some excellent options for ADA compliant campsites. All have large paved pads and the water spigot right next to the sites. They are also located directly by the restroom/showers.

Unique Sites:

From camping beneath the canopy of some fantastically humungous trees, or waking up to a canyon view. There are many choices in the way of diversity in this State Park.

Group Camping:

If you are looking for a getaway for a large or extended family or a reunion or even a large group of friend, then check out these campsites: 

They are sites 85, 81 and directly across from them is 108, 105 and 103. The first two are on the upper loop and the others on the loop below. But they are connected in between by a beautiful, open, but treed setting. Basically, if you wanted sites with privacy, these aren't them. But for an awesome get together, this would be a place to make memories.

Camping With A View:

As I stated before, some of these sites have very cool views. When we walked over to that side of the campground, I was stunned to see it. I have included a few sites and some photos for your viewing pleasure.

There are a few more than what I have posted here, but you can see more at the link for California Campground Authority.

Below you can see sites, 76, 78 and 80.

Note:

Campsite Features:

These campsites are really nice and, as is standard, they all have a nice picnic table, fire pit and a "bear box". Though there are no bears in this area, there are other critters just waiting for you to leave some tasty morsels. This campground has a "Crumb Clean Campaign". Leave no food out unless you are with said food. So it's convenient to store your food in the food storage bin.

Bathrooms/Showers:

One thing about this campground, not enough restrooms/showers. There is only one set of showers for the 2 sections. That is basically 8 showers for 107 campsites. Though when we were there, even though the sign said full, there were maybe 30-40 campsites with occupants. And now that so many people travel with trailers or in motorhomes, the showers aren't very busy. 

One night when I had gone alone to shower, I forgot my flashlight and I didn't realize until I had finished up and was headed back to camp. It was a long walk in the pitch black and a little unnerving. I lucked out when someone had turned on the marker lights on their vehicle. So even though I never had to wait for a shower, it was a long dark walk back to our site.

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

This area of the park which is attached to the campground section is located 101 Big Trees Park Rd. Felton CA. It is located about 10 minutes down the road from the campground location. Unless, of course, you are hiking there, then you are able to access the rest of the park via the trails located within the campground.

This is the main area for traveling tourists, it's a great day trip if you are staying elsewhere on the coast between Monterey and Santa Cruz.

How to get there:

A Great Place For Families

With 3 younger children, we can appreciate the importance of kid friendly activities. Henry Cowell Redwoods really delivered to us and the kids. Humongous trees, stroller friendly trails, trees with awesome hidy-holes, a little creek, bee flies warming themselves in the sunlight and brightly colored banana slugs. We really recommend this park to families.

Trails:

Henry Cowell offers a variety of trails inside the park as well as the Fall Creek location. Below the photos, I have listed just a few of the various hikes within the main area of the State Park.

Day Use Area Hikes

Redwood Grove Loop Trail: 0.8 miles

Less than a mile long, this trail is stroller friendly and ADA compliant. This trail starts at the visitor's center. I believe that you can purchase the self-guided pamphlets in the store for .25 cents, or you can click this link to download the PDF from home.

We really loved this trail for the kids, it is ADA accessible, which makes it very stroller friendly. Our children really had a wonderful time exploring. Even with a full parking lot, the trails are so large that you can still be alone. When we went there were some local schools on field trips really enjoying themselves. We encountered them briefly then had the park to, what felt like, ourselves.

Meadow Trail: 0.8 Miles one way

This trail starts at the day use entrance bridge, carries on behind picnic lots 2 and 4, then goes on to the main parking lot. Basically, once you come into the park and past the giants logs with the park name, you will cross a bridge. Or, I reckon, you would be better to start at the main parking lot and get to the trail, that way you have a place to park. 

River Trail: 1.6 miles one way

Fall Creek Unit

After doing my due diligence, I found that it wasn't all that easy to locate the Fall Creek Unit on the maps. At least not in perspective to the other areas of Henry Cowell State Park. I was finally able to find the park lot for this location and a bit of information on it. There are a few trails you can wander on in the Fall Creek Unit, however I have listed only 1 below, which is the most popular. 

This area of the Henry Cowell State Park isn't like the main area. As, the main area is a very family friendly destination, where young and old alike can enjoy the redwoods. The Fall Creek Unit is more of a hikers' destination, very beautiful, but it's definitely a journey for those seeking some exercise in the great outdoors.

How To Get There:

From HWY 9, turn left at the Chevron at the corner of HWY 9 and Felton Empire Rd. From there you will travel a short distance, you will see the sign for the Fall Creek Unit. It is a smaller dirt parking lot, so be sure that you don't leave any valuable in your vehicle, as it is a bit secluded.

This portion of the park is 2,930 additional acres on top of the 4,650 acres of the main area. This part of the park is centered around the Fall Creek, which happens to be the tributary for the San Lorenzo River. 

Fall Creek to Lime Kilns: 3.3 Mile Loop

This trail starts out at about 400 ft elevation and climbs to about 800 feet over the course of 2 miles. Passing through redwoods, giant cedars and eucalyptus, this trail takes you to the once active lime kilns.

What's Nearby?

If you have some time to spend in the Santa Cruz area here are a few other parks to check out:

• Wilder Ranch; step back in time to a 1800s dairy ranch.
  
• Santa Cruz Mission; dating back to the 1700s.
  
• Monterey Bay Aquarium
  
• Countless beaches
  

A Very Brief History, Gold and the Empire Mine

Back in the year 1850 as the story goes, a gentleman by the name of George McKnight and two associates found rock with gold in it, though this was the 3rd location to find gold in Grass Valley, this was the first one to draw the attention of the placer miners. 

It was at that moment the "Gold Rush" began in Grass Valley. This was just 2 years after gold was first discovered by James Marshall in Coloma, California. Known as Placer Mining or mining in stream beds. But this was the first hard rock gold found in California. 

In the same area where McKnight first found gold, many a miner dug what was called a "coyote hole", all with the thirst for gold. Because no one had mined for gold like this before, there was a lot of trial and error, and many miners lost everything they had and moved back to placer mining. Though money had been made by some, it wasn't easy, and it cost a lot of money to extract the gold from the quartz.

In 1869 the claim and land had been sold to William Bowers Bourn, Sr.. At that time the Empire really prospered. They held onto the mine until 1929. After that it was sold to the Newmont Mining Corporation, who happens to still own the underground portion of the mine to this day. During its time span, it and was one of the most profitable mines in the state of California and in the United States. It was mined for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Operations ceased in 1956.

Empire Mine State Historic Park Map:

NOTE: The Dirty Business; 

If you need to use the restroom, there are 2 areas available in this park. One being in the parking lot and the second being some very, very clean portables down below the tennis courts.

What is there to see at the Empire Mine State Park?

From the pathway in, you are greeted with the Assay office.

Here is where the day's gold was weighed and given a dollar amount. During its time, the Empire Mines assay office would have been an incredibly busy place. When you go inside, you can get a glimpse of what it was like to work inside.

Step Inside and Step Back Into The Past;

Inside the visitor's center you will find terrific information on the Empire Mine's history, its miners and what their life was like for them, the owners of the mine. Plus, you will get an excellent course in history when it comes to the actual mine when you enter the once secret area that holds the scale model of the inner workings of the Empire.

Below are some photos from inside the Visitors Center. The Gold Room holds some incredibly beautiful minerals and some very large pieces of gold.

*If your day is just for hiking, then here are a few of the trails available at the mine.*

These trails are free to access and parking is free also.

Hiking Trails at the Empire Mine

If your trip to Grass Valley includes your doggo, then this place has trails for you. One of the very few California State Parks that allows dogs on the trails, it can also be used for equestrian riders as well. There is a staging area for horses at the lower "Penn Gate". This is located on Empire Street, about 1/2 mile from the park's main entrance.

Hardrock Trail Loop; 2.4 mile loop

(Listed as easy, but I think that should be based on a person to person basis)

This trail is by far the most popular of all the trails, and you will encounter walkers, runners, horses and dogs. It starts out pretty flat but after a small downhill, it goes up for a bit. It will get your heart rate up. Furthermore, it's good for strollers until you get to the creek and head up the gnarly hill towards the main area of the State Park. 

If you are sans children, then this one should be a fine workout. It takes you though the parking lot and along the road back towards Penn Gate. It gets very narrow just after you pass the Bourn Cottage along Highway 174.

Conlon Mine Loop Trail; 2.8 mile loop

This trail starts out at the visitor center parking lot, heading to your left and going past the mine buildings and machinery. Head down the hill and across the creek. Once there, stay to the left in order to do this trail (if you go to the right, then you will end up at Penn Gate).

Osborne Hill Loop Trail; 2.4 miles but noted as a moderate hike

This hike is a lot like the Conlon Mine hike, but it takes the outer perimeter, basically paralleling it. However, it omits the area known as Ophir Hill Acres, making this one a bit more difficult but a little shorter in distance.

Ophir Hill and Historic Mines; 5.7 miles

This trail begins at the Penn Gate and takes you up towards the main Empire Mine parking lot, this portion of the trail is the Hardrock Trail. But it shoots off to the right as you ascend the hill taking you towards the Orleans Hill. The trail will wind up through the woods towards HWY 174 where you will cross it. From here the trail is a bit less traveled than the others inside the main portion of the park.

Once across the highway the trail then becomes the Lower Union Hill Trail. Stay on this trail and to the left, it then becomes Upper Union Hill Trail before becoming Indian Ridge Trail and down to Pipeline. This will loop you back to the Lower Union Trail and back to HWY 174.

Be sure to map it before you go as there are a few offshoots from this trail. I'm not sure how good the cell service is there, I know that cell service is spotty by Union Hill School.

What's Nearby?

Depending on the time of year when you visit, there are many things to do and see. During the summer months, downtown Grass Valley has a Farmers Market on Thursday evenings. Depending on the year, either Grass Valley or Nevada City hold a 4th of July Parade. In the winter, just after Thanksgiving, you can enjoy Cornish Christmas in Grass Valley or Victorian Christmas in Nevada City.

About an hour away, you can go over the Donner Summit to see Donner Historical State Park and check out Alder Creek, or head over to Truckee for lunch before going to Lake Tahoe for the night.

Helpful Resources:

The Empire Mine is a favorite of mine, and I have been many times in my life. It's a great place to take folks who may be visiting from out of town. 

• California State Parks
• Historical Newspapers
  

A Brief History on Historic Sacramento

Prior to the arrival of immigrants, the area that is now Sacramento was inhabited by the Nisenan and Maidu tribes. Then came trappers and fur traders with the likes of Kit Carson and Jedediah Smith.

In 1839, a man by the name of John Sutter sailed to California. An immigrant from Germany with a desire to really make something of himself, by himself, after leaving his family, debt and life in Switzerland. Knowing how to wheel and deal, he acquired nearly 50,000 acres of land from the then Mexican Governor Alvarado as did many of California's early pioneers. This land ran from Sacramento all the way up past Marysville.

In the early days of the building of Sacramento, places of business consisted of canvas covered structures. Then eventually wood and brick buildings were built. There were 3 major floods during the mid 1800's that all but wiped out every building in its vicinity. It was voted upon to raise the level of the town.

And so it was done, wagon load by wagon load. The city was raised up 10 feet+ to the level you see it at and walk on today. The photo below is a painting from 1847. Notice how the city was at the same level as the river. Wagon load by wagon load, can you imagine?!

Hidden Gems of Old Town Sacramento

In such a well-preserved gold rush town, there are bound to be hidden gems that many folks don't see. They come to see the buildings, the Sacramento River, Sacramento Train Museum and to taste the food from places like Rio City Cafe or Joes Crab Shack. Some gems are in places many tourists don't look. 

Here are a few of them to keep an eye out for or to seek out (I will post a link to websites in the resources at the bottom of the post):

• Take an underground tour. Head over to the Sacramento History Museum. Not only can you learn a lot about the beginnings of California's State Capital City, but you can also get tickets to tour the underground of Sacramento. In its early years, the Sacramento River would rise and flood the town. So to eliminate the risk of losing everything time and time again, the town was built up. They also offer Paranormal Tours if that's something that might tickle your fancy.
• If you are in front of the Train Museum, look straight across. You will see a little food joint by the name of Dannys. Its excellent, hot and fresh, but that's not what I'm pointing to. Just to the right of Dannys you will see a set of stairs leading to some dining or shops below. Well that down there, is how far below the current street level, the original street level used to be! This town has really been built up!
  
• Pioneer Park. When you find this little park, be sure to stop for a moment and take in what used to be. Once the city market and butcher shop. In its beginning, it was made of wood and brick. Then it turned from 1 story to 4. You can see the columns that many businesses would have used to add elegance, it is reminiscent of ancient Rome. 

Old Sacramento Historic State Park Map:

Famous Historical Events in Sacramento

From its beginning to even now, California has been a place where things happen. Here are some folks and events that have either come from here or made their name into the history books in our Golden State.

• Leland Stanford 1846: Originally from New York, Leland made his way and his fortune in California. One of the "Big Four", he was a railroad tycoon. Being a major player in the Transcontinental Rail road. Which, in fact, started its line in Old Town Sacramento. He also became the 8th Governor of California.
  
• John Sutter: Though John Sutter may have been the first Caucasian to settle into Sacramento, he is ultimately known for "Sutters Fort" built beginning in 1841. This fort would eventually be a waypoint for pioneers after they made their way over the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
  
• Transcontinental Railroad: The Southern Pacific line and the beginning of the first train line to cross the western half of the United States had its beginning in Old Town Sacramento.
  
• The Pony Express, 1861: In the early days of mail service, men would ride horseback across the America. Service from the state capitol of California began in Sacramento and ran to Missouri. The first journey was done in 10 days! That is an amazing feat!.
  
• The First Transcontinental Telegraph was transmitted to the Pioneer Telegraph Building at 1015 2nd Street. At this moment in time, the Pony Express became a thing of the past.
  
• Fire of 1852: This fire consumed nearly 80% of the town, which at that time was mostly wood timbers and linseed oil covered canvas. One of the now historic survivor is The Lady Adams Building. It not only survived the fire, but also the flood of 1861. You can see it at 119 K St. Sacramento
  

What's there to do at Old Sacramento SHP?

Easily, you could spend half a day wandering Old Town Sac. We always start our visit with a stroll down the old wooden boardwalks. Checking out what's new in the way of businesses or restaurants. Some businesses have been there for decades and many come and go. So you never know what may be there. Here is a list of some of the old faithfuls, the businesses that have made it through the ups and downs.

• Evangeline's Costume Mansion; if you visit Old Town Sacramento, then you must visit Evangeline's. From quirky tees, handbags, buttons, keychains to some very cool and very eclectic clothing. If you want a novelty item or something just different, then this if your kind of store. Located at 113 K St, Sacramento, CA 95814
  
• Sacramento History Museum; this place is a must not miss. It's a true gem of old time Sacramento. They have really been able to preserve many items and display them for everyone to see.
  
• California State Railroad Museum; we adore this place and became members on our first visit. If you live close to Sacramento and enjoy history and or trains, then this is the place for you. Very cool trains to see, and the volunteers are always very friendly.
  
• Ride the train on the Sacramento River; if you are visiting on Friday through Sunday, then you can catch a ride on the rails. Get your tickets in advance to guarantee that you get a set. They also offer a few themed train rides during the holiday seasons. (NOTE: The bathrooms right by the train station are really unfit for families. So be sure to use the one near the ticket booth before you go to the line for the train.)
  
• Eat! There are some great options to chose from, if you are looking for a meal or a snack.
  

What's Nearby?

If you want to continue with your historical tour of Sacramento, then you have many places to pick from.

• California State Capitol
  
• Governors Mansion
  
• Leland Stanford Mansion
• Sutters Fort State Historic Park
  
• Historic Old City Cemetery
  
• Walk to Downtown under I5. From this walkway you can walk over to the California State Capitol and to many other eating options.
  

Helpful Resources:

From our numerous visits, I have been able to get much of my information. But I did obtain a bit of the historical info from the Sacramento History Museum. 

NOTE: You will need to pay to park in Old Town, you can do it via an app ParkMobile. This was feels a bit more secure than putting your card into the meter.

• California State Parks
• Historical Newspapers
  

MacKerricher History:

Originally the land, now known as MacKerricher State Park, was known as El Rancho De La Laguna. It was purchased by Duncan MacKericher and his wife Jessie in 1868. Though Duncan and his wife died in the mid 1920's, the land was run by the MacKerricher family until it was deeded to the state of California for use as a park in 1949.

Laguna Point is still there, and it may be possible today to still see anchor pins and holes that once held pier pilings used for loading ships with lumber. Now, Laguna Point is a place to watch whales from during the winter months. 

Day Use at MacKerricher State Park:

If you decide to visit the actual MacKerricher portion of the park, there is parking for day use. When we went there in December, it was closed as storms in late October had taken out a portion of the haul road. But previously you could, and probably can now, drive over to Laguna Point which is the day use area.

We did see a 40ft motor home headed out to park at Laguna Point, but honestly I was unsure if they would be able to navigate the turns. Its a bit narrow. Call over to the visitor center to ask them if there is parking for large rigs.

When we were there while the road out to Laguna Point was closed, we parked over in the Cleone Campground and walked the trail over to the beach. It basically put you on the same road to Laguna Point, but at the time it was closed to vehicles.

Campgrounds: 

MacKerricher offers a multitude of different sites for your choosing, with a total of 153 sites over 4 different camping areas.

Cleone: Sites 1-20

This area is the group area and consists of 20 sites, cabins as well as some sites have tent platforms.

East Pine: 21-59: PHOTOS COMING SOON

The East Pine Campground is for tents only and no generators are allowed.

West Pine: 60-107

West Pine Campground can accommodate RVs, trailers and motor homes. This area is open year round and fills up quickly as many folks come through Fort Bragg in their rigs. There are trails located in each of the beachside campgrounds that can take you to the ocean. Some of the sites on the West Pine are located just a dune away from the ocean.

Surfwood: 108-143: COMING SOON PHOTOS

Surfwood: 1-10 for Walk-in only

What is there to do in MacKerricher?

Glass Beach:

Between 1906 and 1967, the area now known as Glass Beach, was once the tow dump site. As shocking as that would be, especially in today's time..what we have been left with is some of an amazing seaside attraction.

As the ocean waves crashed into what was the town dump, the glass that was thrown up was smashed and rounded and softened over many decades.

Pudding Creek Trestle:

The Union Lumber Company built the 10-mile-long train trestle in 1916, When Mendocino County was in its height of its lumber industry. The train replaced the old ways of hauling the logs out to ships via horsepower. Between Fort Bragg and 10-Mile River were 42 logging camps. In fact, these camps were around dating back to the mid 1800's and ran from Navarro River and on up to Westport Union Landing. 

The railroad ran from 1916 until 1949, when it was replaced by a haul road which ran for 8 miles along the coast. This was the main transportation for logging trucks until 1983.

Today the old train trestle, turned haul road, turned walking path is a wonderful place to get a birds eye view of Pudding Creek and the Pacific Ocean. Just down the street from Glass Beach you can park right at the beginning of the bridge, many folks enjoy watching the unobstructed sunset view from this location.

Inglenook Fen-Ten Mile Dune Natural Preserve:

This area located in the MacKerricher State Park has been set aside as to preserve these last remaining ecosystems located in the state of California. The dunes, which happen to be one of the last remaining pristine dunes in our state. Though the train trestle turned haul road did pass through there. Plans are in order to continue to remove the haul road and any non-native species.

The fen that is located in Inglenook is the last remaining fen in the state. A fen is a peat forming ecosystem, also known as a mire. This area along with the dunes is home to migratory birds that are listed as declining, the Western Snowy Plover. If you are a bird watcher, then this is the place to go during your stay at MacKerricher.

Lake Cleone:

Before the haul road was built to replace the train trestle, Lake Cleone was fed by the ocean, forming a tidal lagoon. Once the haul road was installed, Lake Cleone became a 30 acre fresh water lake. Today, you can go out on the lake in a non motorized vessel, like kayak or canoe.

The lake does have a 1.3-mile trail that can take you completely around it. And if you are licensed or under 16, you can fish for bass in Lake Cleone.

There are a few hikes in the MacKerricher State Park worth doing. Check out below the few I have listed.

Haul Road Hike:

Walk the old haul road; Glass Beach to MacKerricher

5.5 miles round trip. From Glass Beach to Laguna Point in MacKerricher this trail takes you along the original path that once hauled some of the largest redwood trees as they headed to Fort Bragg Mill. This road is washed out in a few places, but it is still navigable. 

Ka Kahleh Trail: 4.9 miles round trip; easy and paved.

From Glass Beach and south to nearly Noyo inlet. So technically, this one begins in MacKerricher. It is nearly 5 miles total and paved. This one is great for strollers!

MacKerricher Beach:

The hike from MacKerricher will take you a bit under 8 miles round trip. Hiking the California coast through Inglenook Fen 10 Mile Dunes over to 10 Mile River. The trail isn't super well-marked and there is potential to damage one of the last remaining untouched dunes in California. It may be best to try staying along the beach for this hike. You may get to view the Snowy Plovers or seals.

Helpful Resources:

If you would like to view more information on MacKerricher, check out some of these resources.

• MendoParks
  
• Glass Beach History
  

Van Damme State Park Campground:

This state park offers a few different options in camping. There are three different camping areas, pretty much something for everyone. There are three different areas to camp in. The campground is open year round except for the Upper Loop Sites, they are closed during the winter season. 

During the summer time, this campground is pretty busy, so you will want to make reservations in advance. That can be done through reservecalifornia.com.

Campsites:

Handicap Sites:

Though I believe that there are ADA sites, I do not recall which ones they are. But in the lower loop, many of the sites are paved. 

Unique Sites:

Along the road to the right of the visitor's center, you will see some really beautiful campsites. Sites 14-30 all have their own unique set up. Some are small and wouldn't be able to accommodate much more than a small tent (sites 26-30 are for tents only). But they are within the lushness of the fern canyon. It's a bit cooler and damp back in there. 

There is also hike and bike in camping as well as primitive sites located way out back in Fern Canyon, or about 2 miles from the trailhead. Though as of right now, the environmental (primitive) sites are closed until further notice.

Campground Features:

As with most of our beautiful state parks, this one offers the same amenities at the campsites. A picnic table, a food box and a fire pit. Surprisingly, during the fire season, the campgrounds on the coast still allowed their campers to have campfires. Which if you have ever been camping, you know how important it is to be able to have a campfire to cook on and for heating. Not to say that will always be the case, but it was during the camping season of 2021.

If you are using the group campsites, and you need to use a Campfire Center, then this is the place to do it. Their campfire center is incredibly stunning. Moss covered and nestled in the hillside. This campfire center is found very near the trailhead to Fern Canyon.

Bathrooms/Showers:

In and around the campground you can find 3 different places to shower. They are all pay and will run $1 for  minutes. There are also 7 different restroom locations including the one located at the beach area. 

Van Damme State Park Map

Day Use Area:

Van Damme State Park offers a couple options for day use. The beach is one of the best and is free, but you can also day use at this state park and enjoy a hike through the lush fern canyon.

There is also another area that was more recently acquired by the State for inclusion in Van Damme State Park. It is the Spring Ranch Property, located just north of the beach on highway 1.

Van Damme Beach:

Little River runs into the Pacific Ocean at Van Damme State Beach. It varies from season to season, but Little River can at times reach into the ocean. It's pretty cold in the winter time but incredibly refreshing in the summer. You may also spot many birds enjoying the crisp water as it travels into the ocean.

Van Damme Beach is by far one of, if not the easiest beach to access off of Highway 1. This makes it a pretty popular place, especially during the summer season, but even in the off season people still drop in for a nice photo opportunity.

Kayaking Van Damme:

The cove at Van Damme Beach is a perfect opportunity to set out in a kayak. You can always bring your own and venture out to the sea cave, or you can go with a tour. Those trips run $80 per person and last for about an hour and a half. Check out Kayak Mendocino for more information. 

Trails in Van Damme State Park:

This park offers hikes for everyone, though most of it is very shaded and can be muddy at times. But do not let that detour you, many of the hikes are easy and are stroller accessible.

Fern Canyon - 8 miles - Moderate

Though this trail is listed as a moderate level hike, but most folks said that it was only for one hill in. The entire trail for the 8 miles has an elevation gain of about 700 feet. There are multiple bridges to cross, and the river follows a good stretch of the trail. This trail is accessed through Van Damme State Park all the way to the back. To park in the park, it is $8 (which isn't much for what you get to experience)

Old Logging Road-Fern Canyon Loop - 4.4 miles - Moderate

Located off of Little River Airport Road, this hike starts you at the Pygmy Forest and takes you into the Fern Canyon.

Pygmy Forest Discovery Trail - .02 miles

Also located off of Little River Airport Road, the Pygmy Forest Discovery Trail is an interpretive trail. It is wheelchair and stroller accessible and very easy. If you have school age children, this could be a great opportunity for them to do a little learning while on a short walk through the Pygmy Forest.

Spring Ranch - 4.2 miles

This hike, through a newer portion of Van Damme State Park, offers some great oceans views. To access the trail, park just past the Inn at Cobblers Walk on Peterson Lane. This is just north of Van Damme State Park and Beach. There can be coyotes in the area, so be sure to keep your kids close and your dog on a leash. If you are lucky you may get to see some seals on the beach below. 

Scuba Diving Van Damme:

Van Damme cove is a favorite for scuba divers as it is a more gentle area of the California coast. Easy in and easy out. Though there is no further abalone season until 2026, it is still a great way to spend a day.

A Little Nod to Charles Van Damme:

Without the forethought and generosity of Charles Van Damme, we would not have this stunning park to visit.

Helpful Resources:

After visiting Van Damme State Park a number of times this year, I gathered quite a bit of info on my own research. But I will include a few links for further information.

• Abalone Information
  
• Historical Newspapers
  
• Trails
  

When Jack London purchased the seven first parcels that would be Beauty Ranch, he vowed to make better use of them than the men who had come before him. Ranch of Good Intentions or Beauty Ranch was the only place that Jack placed his roots down. He  came from modest roots, he had been a factory worker, seal hunter, a prospector. He was also a world traveler, a self-taught sailor, an author, a journalist, and an agriculturist. 

When you visit Jack London State Historic Park, you can get a good glimpse of what he envisioned for his land and for agriculture. This park, though it's not the largest of our state parks, it has a lot to see. There is so much California history here.

Jack London State Historic Park: 

Jack London Cottage:

 Jack and Charmian lived in the cottage while the Wolf House was being built. The cottage was originally built in the 1860's and was purchased by the couple along with more land and with Kohler and Frohling Winery buildings. When the Wolf House was destroyed by fire in 1913 the couple expanded the cottage to accommodate them on a permanent basis. 

The photo below is Jack London's office of sorts. Located inside the cottage, this is where Jack spent time writing, not just his stories, but he also spent time in here doing his farm managerial duties. 

The winery ruins are now available to rent for events. They were setting up for a concert when we were there. The Valley of the Moon (now Jack London Park Partners) receive a portion of the fees, this goes into preserving the park. Since they took over the park in 2012 under the California State Park system, they have been in charge of raising funds to make this park what it is today.

Jack Londons Dream Home: Wolf House 1910-1913

This was to be Jack dream home. It would have 15,000 square feet with 26 rooms and 9 fire places. On August 22nd, 1913 there was a fire, the entire home was lost except for the stone walls. This broke the author, it was said that he never really got over the loss, though he and Charmian did move on and added onto the cottage.

House of Happy Walls Museum 1919

The House of Happy Walls was built for Charmian London and Eliza Shepard, Jacks half sister. Both women continued to maintain and grow the ranch. Plus their duties included the continued legacy of Jack London and his writings. Eliza passed away in 1939 while Charmian continued on until her death in 1955. The House of Happy Walls in now an interactive museum.

The Death of Jack London and Grave Sites:

In 1907 Jack London and Charmian set off on what was to be a 2-year sailing voyage. It would be one to take them around the world. Setting off from the San Francisco Bay, they headed to Hawaii, where they spent five months before heading out to the South Pacific. They spent nearly the whole two years traveling, living and enjoying life and new adventures.  

However, it wasn't all roses. Jack ended up with malaria, psoriasis, a fistula in his rectum, severe inflammation on his hands, and he and the crew ended up with a kind of flesh eating ulcer disease called Yaws. For this, he was treated using mercury chloride as antibiotics were not a thing at that time (1908). 

The mercury chloride use for his skin ulcers (yaws) would prove to be his demise. As the mercury would go straight to his blood stream from his open ulcers. From there it would settle in his kidneys.

He would be sick from that time until his death November 22nd 1916 at the age of 40. Jack London died in the cottage in the closed in porch. His life, though short, had been lived to the fullest.

Jack London had known from the beginning of his life on the ranch that he would be buried on the property. The same year London was born, 1876, 2 pioneer children were buried there on the land that would eventually become his Beauty Ranch. He felt a closeness to them and knew he would be buried near to them. His ashes are buried there under a large rock that was taken from the Wolf House.

The Many Ventures and Legacy of Jack London

During his life on Beauty Ranch, Jack London pursued many methods of agriculture as well as animal husbandry. From eucalyptus to cactus. From breeding pigs and cattle to breeding Shire Horses. 

I couldn't post all the buildings and things to see on the property as there are so many. Jack London lake and dam, Fern Lake, the orchard and many others. During the spring time this part is bright with wildflowers and deserves a good days worth of time to be able to explore everything there is to see. 

Helpful Resources:

Visiting the Jack London State Park was my main resource. I also spoke with people who worked there, as well as the historical library and newspapers. 

• California State Parks
• Historical Newspapers
• Library of Congress
  

Camping:

Westport-Union Landing consists of 3 separate primitive campgrounds. You have the first one at the top, Howard Creek in the northernmost, Abalone Point southernmost and Westport Union Landing right in the middle.

There are a total of 86 campsites for you to chose from and these are on a first come, first served basis, so no reservation are available. All camping fees are $35 per night, even in the off season. And there are discounts for disabled folks as well as some senior discounts, but I wasn't sure on the particulars about that. 

All the campsites are very open and visible to everyone in the campground, and they are also a bit close together. But what it lacks in privacy, it more than makes up in the scenery. From December through February, you have a good chance of spotting migrating gray whales.

Plus, the off season has relatively very few folks camping. When we went at the end of November, there was maybe 1 campsite taken at the Westport location, 2 at the Howard Creek location and the Abalone Point is closed for winter season.

When we were there in July it was very busy with most sites taken, but on a first come, first served basis it's probably easier to find a spot there than down the coast closer to Fort Bragg and Mendocino. 

Facilities:

Dogs:

Dogs are allowed on leash at all times. And be sure to bring doggy cleanup baggies, so you can leave it clean for the next campers.

Campgrounds:

Howard Creek, as the name implies, has Howard Creek running into the ocean at the location. This is the furthest north location and has a lookout point and picnic tables on the bluff overlooking where Howard Creek and the Pacific Ocean meet. If you want to get down to the ocean from here, then you will have to wade through Howard Creek. It's not deep, but it's definitely chilly. 

The beach at Howard Creek also shares the exact same location as the portion of beach for the Westport Union Landing campground location. The trails basically face each other.

This would have been an awesome place to view the sites from. Unfortunately, when we were there, the handrail had fallen off. I'm unsure as to how long this has been like that for. There is a single stall pit toilet restroom at this location, and no showers or running water.

The view of the Westport Union Landing Beach and campground. You can just see Howard Creek in the lower portion of the photo. And across the way on the hill, that trail is the trail from the other campground. This beach was absolutely amazing. It was seriously our favorite location so far on the California coast. 

The beach was the beautiful black sand. And the creek would disappear under the sand and pop up elsewhere before heading into the ocean. The tide pool had loads of sea anemones, mussels, larger and smaller crabs and some rock fish.

In the off season, you won't find more than a handful of people, if that. We had the entire beach to ourselves. It was such a wonderful time.

Abalone Point is the first campground that you will come to if heading up from Fort Bragg. It does close in the off season, but there are plenty of camping spots at the other two locations.

The road below used to take you to the day use area for Abalone Point beach access. But the road has apparently dropped off to the sand below it. So as of November 2021, there is no beach access from this location.

There is a State Parks road closure notice at the beginning of the road. However, I did see a few people parked there who had hiked down to the ocean. I'm not sure what the trail was like, though.

Westport Union Landing State Beach and Campground. This was the current day use parking for Abalone Point since there was no real beach access available. This is also the middle campground when heading from either direction.

Just like the other two sites, it only has a pit toilet, barbecue pits and picnic tables. I did see a camp host at this location, so I am not sure if there was also one at Howard Creek. They were not at their camper when we visited. 

Here are the campsites at Westport Union Landing location. They look very much like Abalone Point but less grass overall. Still the same stunning views. In the right-hand photo, you can see the Howard Creek access point and just out of view is the really easy trail down to the sand.

What's Nearby?

Depending on your direction, you can get to Fort Bragg and Mendocino if you head down Highway 1. If you head north, then you will go through some redwoods before hitting Leggitt and Highway 101. There is a small store in Westport where you can grab something to drink and a bit of food.

Helpful Resources:

I got all of my information from my visit to Westport Union Landing. So no links will be provided for this one. 

About Montgomery Woods:

The written history of the area is as old as the state of California, if not older. The land is named for Andrew and Elizabeth Montgomery. The property they owned consisted of 647 acres, though they didn't personally have much interest in the way of preserving the redwoods. From what is recalled from descendants of Mr. Montgomery, he sold most of his portion of the land in 1865 for a mere $500 and a "span of mules".  The first parcel of land given to the state parks was 9 acres from Robert Orr in 1944 as a memorial to his mother. Another portion of land was donated by E.A. Sinclair, though the records of exactly where and how much was given is lost to time. 

Montgomery Creek runs along Orr road and feeds Orr Hot Springs on your left (if you're coming from Ukiah). The hot springs have been in use by pioneers dating back to at least the mid 1800s due to the healing properties. Plus, who doesn't love a dip in naturally hot water out in nature. With a story from 1899 about a get together where one woman caught a 15 pound steel head.

Facilities at Montgomery Woods:

Dogs:

As with many of our state parks, this one is no exception. No dogs are allowed in this nature preserve as to protect any flora and fauna. However, I did see people there with dogs on leash walking the trail.

What Can I Do At Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve?

Though the park isn't tiny, being it's over 2,700 acres, there is only 1 main trail inside the park and 1 other just outside the main area of the park. In order to preserve the old growth redwoods, this has to be the way. Redwoods are susceptible to major damage should the dirt around their base become compacted. In 1996 a tree was located within the park that was declared to be the tallest tree in the world. Given the name of Mendocino Tree, it measured 367.6 feet tall, or five stories taller than the Statue of Liberty.  

Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve Map:

Trails:

Montgomery Grove Trail: There are only 2 trails for Montgomery Woods. The main trail and the most known is in the park. The Montgomery Grove Loop Tail is just under 2 miles. As it heads away from the road the trail can be a little steep but levels out, and you get to enjoy multiple redwood groves in the park with detailed signs.

Montgomery Woods North Side Trail: This trail below is lesser known and is a newer trail acquired by the Save-The-Redwoods-League. This trail is 1 mile in and out, ending at private property, so care needs to be taken to not trespass. Though a bit overgrown, it gives us another area to encounter some large first growth redwoods. 

What's Nearby?

This park is located about 12 miles from Ukiah and about 17 miles from Fort Bragg. Though those 17 miles take an hour to drive. Orr's Hot Springs are still in use and are the only other attraction nearby.

Helpful Resources:

I found a majority of my research via historical newspapers and my visit there with my family. The information is hard to come by for some of these State Parks, I would like to keep some of their history alive.

• Historical Newspapers
  

Robert Louis Stevenson in Calistoga:

After spending time meeting and getting to know the locals, the couple made their way over to the Schramberg estate. Enjoying the wine cave and the many, many variety of wine offered by their friend Jacob Schram. You can see the California State Historical Marker #561 located at the Schramberg Winery.

As their funds began to wind down, Robert and his new wife Fanny relocated to an abandoned mining camp on the side of Mount Saint Helena called Silverado, per the recommendations of locals. At the time when he was there though the mine was no longer in operation but it hadn't been long before 1880 (when he and Fanny were there) there had been a town of roughly 1,000 people. It had a Main St., homes and businesses just like any other mining town.

At about 1 mile in on the trail, you will come across what is left of the ruins of the "cabin" where he and his bride set up camp. In the year 1911 the Club Women of Napa County erected a marker in the shape of a book in order to preserve the location. The basics were all they could get up there, so they made due with a cabin of sorts and a bed of straw. For the outside they created a place to relax out of mine tailings.

What Can I Do At Robert Louis Stevenson State Park?

Mount Maint Helena is located in the Mayacama Mountain range which is in total 52 miles long. The total height of this mountain 4,342 above sea level, so there is occasionally snow during the winter months. Most of the trails in the Robert Louis Stevenson State Park are listed as moderate to hard in their difficulty. But if you have the ability to hike to the summit, the views are breathtaking.

There are multiple miles of trails within the state park, ranging from 3 miles to nearly 20. Nearly all trails are designated for foot traffic only but there is another trail designated as bike that begin outside the park boundaries. 

Keep in mind that this in an "unimproved" state park. As in there are no restrooms, no water on site and no trash service. Also, dogs are not allowed in this park.

Robert Louis Stevenson State Park Map:

Oat Hill Mine Trail:

The trailhead is located on HWY 29 just past Silverado Tail and Lake street if you are heading North. It's approximately 14 miles out and back and has an elevation gain of 2,417 feet. It's rated as moderate but from the reviews many folks thought it was a moderate+.

Even though the State Park says no dogs, it appears that loads of folks do indeed bring their 4-legged friend along. Just be sure to pick up after your pet if you decide to bring them.

From this trail you can see what is left of a homestead that belonged to Karl Gustav Holm during the late 1800's. There is so much history in Napa and Lake Counties.

Mount Saint Helena Trail:

The trailhead for this hike is on the top of HWY 29 heading out of Calistoga, just past the switchbacks. The trail is 9.3 miles out and back, and most people said this one would be a moderate hike. After you get through the forest and the single track trail, it opens up to a fire road all the way to the summit. 

Table Rock:

The trailhead is located on the other side of HWY 29, across from the trailhead to Mt. St. Helena peak. It is 4.4 miles out and back and most considered this one a difficult trail, with little maintenance a little ways in. 

Table Rock to Palisade to Oat Hill Mine Trail:

A distance of roughly 20 miles out and back, this trail has the notoriety of being a difficult trail to hike but totally worth the scenery. The trail head begins at the top of 29 just the same as the Table Rock Trail, but it continues onto the Palasades and down to Oat Hill Mine...then back if you are up to it.

A few folks noted that the trail can be a bit confusing, so be sure to upload a map of the hike through Alltrails before going. If you do the return hike, be prepared for an intense gain in elevation as you are going from the bottom of the mountain all the way back up to the top. Bring loads of water!

Bay Area Ridge Trail/Robert Louis Stevenson/Lower Oat Hill Mine:

This trail begins at the bottom of the mountain in the same spot as the Oat Hill Mine trail. It is considered a difficult and technical trail for mountain bikes. It is about 8.6 miles and has an elevation gain of 1,925

Stevenson Memorial Trail:

The Stevens Memorial Trail is a short jaunt from the trail head at the parking lot on HWY 29 in the Robert Louis Stevenson SP. It's approximately 3 miles in total, and it takes you to the memorial that was dedicated in 1911 and on past the remains of the Silverado Mine. It is a high trafficked trail, and it's listed as moderate. 

What's Nearby?

This park lies on Mount Saint Helena, just above Calistoga, the town of St. Helena and its neighboring town of Napa. It is also in proximity to Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, which has a campground with cabins and yurts and the historic Bale Gristmill. There are plenty of Bed and Breakfast, Inns and Wineries that offer a great place to stay and just enjoy yourself after a nice day hike.

Helpful Resources:

Though we didn't hike Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, we have passed by it numerous times on our way over HWY 29. I learned a lot about it during my research, and I found it quite interesting in its history. Plus the photos I saw were stunning, it looks like a hike that is worth the view alone. 

• Historical Newspapers
  
• Napa Outdoors
  
• AllTrails
  

What is a Grist Mill?

A grist mill grinds grains into flour. Back in the mid to late 1800s and before Napa was known for being the wine region of America, it was the second-largest producer of wheat and grain for our state. Wheat, corn oats and barley were all ground into flour to make breads of some sort.

The grist mill was also, in many towns, the main place to gather, and it would be been considered the town square. A miller would grind the grains brought in by individuals or farms. They would then either sell them, use them or store them. 

In many cases a creek would have been dammed to create a pond or sort of water holding tank. This would then be controlled as to be able to turn a water wheel that would rotate to crush the grains. At the Bale Grist Mill there was a water pond known as Mill Pond, it is now dry, and you can see it when you take the hike from Bale Grist Mill  to Bothe-Napa Valley SP.

Back in the day, in order to break the wheat from the chaff they would lay down the harvest in a round pen. Then they would drive wild horses in, causing them into a circular frenzy, all the while crushing the wheat and breaking it loose from the straw plant.

A Brief History on Bale Grist Mill

After Dr. Bale passed away in 1849 the mill was passed onto his wife Maria. With mounting debt left by her husband, of the 17,000 acres granted to him by the governor of Mexico only 1,550 was left as Maria had to make good on many a debt incurred by her late husband. Maria sold the mill their eldest daughter and by 1860 she had sold the grist mill to Ralph Ellis. 

Mr. Ellis made upgrades not only to the mill, but to the buildings as well. He upgraded to a steam driven engine for use when the creek was low, and he added a hall to the mill warehouse. This became a sort of epicenter for local pioneers during its time. Used by the Good Templar and other ventures of entertainment. This was said to have been a place where the younger folk would meet, and they say that many a romance may have begun there.

After the property passed from Ellis, it had 2 additional owners, Captain W Sayward and then Mr. Lyman. Mr. Lyamn upgraded the mill with water powered turbine. The last time the mill was used was in 1879.

"Great praise is due to Mr. Lyman for his efforts to preserve the almost solitary relic of Napa Valley pioneer days. The old mill is silent now; its sound is forever hushed. For a third of a century, the wheel has not turned on its axis. The men who furnished the grist have nearly all passed over to the Great Beyond, and the old mill wheel is overgrown with ivy, and crumbling to decay, a mute but eloquent reminder of a historic bygone period, the likes of which the American continent will never witness again." This quote comes from 1907 from the son of Mr. Kellog.

After Mr.Lyman passed away, his widow donated the property and the mill to the Native Sons of Napa County on September 27th 1923. In 1941 the Native Sons deeded the land to the county. Then in the early 1970's the state acquired the mill with the hopes to restore it. In 1972 the site had become listed on the National Registrar of Historic Places. By 1974 it had officially become a California State Park and restoration work began to take shape by the complete dismantling of the mill. By 1988 the Mill was grinding again. Over the next couple of decades, the state has painstakingly restored every part of the grist mill. And every year they still celebrate Milling Day with activities.

Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park Map:

What's there to do at Bale Grist Mill SHP?

This small but historically significant park hosts tours every Saturday and Sunday for a well worth it $5. If a private tour is your thing, one can be arranged with the Napa Outdoor District for $100, they are really friendly so give them a call. There is also the hike from the grist mill over to Bothe-Napa Valley SP, which is about 2 miles in total. This trail is not suitable for strollers.

What's Nearby?

The Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park in basically a park within a park as it is located in the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park system. Nearby, you can go wine tasting or take a hike in the Robert Lewis Stevenson State Park. Take a drive over to the town of Bodega or visit the coast.

Helpful Resources:

My information came mostly from historical accounts in newspapers and a little from the California State Park website.

• Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District
  
• California State Parks
• Historical Newspapers
• Library of Congress
  

Bathrooms:

Dogs:

As with all or most California State Parks, dogs are allowed in the campground and in the day use area, but they are not allowed on the trails.

Water:

There is drinking water available at the restrooms as well as at spigots throughout the campground and park. Also at the restrooms, there are outdoor sinks with great water pressure.

What Can I Do At Bothe-Napa Valley State Park?

With this State park being so close to not only the wineries of Napa and St. Helena but to the Pacific Ocean, there are a great many varieties of things to do. But for this portion we will look at what is in the park itself. 

This park has about 10 miles of trails, with a few of them taking you along historical routes. There are also trails for which you can bring your horses on as well as mountain bikes. During the summer months after a nice hike you can use the historical swimming pool to cool down in as it can get very warm, into the upper 90s to low 100's.

There are 45 tent and RV sites, 1 group site (which was closed at the time of writing this), 10 yurts and 3 cabins.  There are no hookups at this campground.

Bothe-Napa Valley SP Map:

Bothe-Napa Valley SP Yurts:

This is the only state park to offer yurts. We stayed in the one below. It was an excellent alternative to setting up a tent. There are 10 yurts in total to chose from. In the first loop of the state park is where you will find the larger of the yurts. These can accommodate 6 people. These are numbers 22, 24 and 26. They come with a queen size bed and 3 cots. The other yurts are available in the second area of the park and can only hold 4 people as they are quite a bit smaller.

This one we stayed in would have been handicapped accessible, as it didn't have any stairs leading to it. However, it was a bit uphill getting to it, but no big deal at all. It was pretty hot when we went, so it was necessary to open up the windows, and it can get pretty hot in the yurt during the daytime. We spent our days exploring, so it wasn't an issue for us.

Bothe-Napa Valley SP Cabins:

Another really cool alternative to tent or even RV camping is the cabins. There are 3 cabins, and they are located in the second loop of the campground. These are fully furnished, aside from bringing your own linens and cooking supplies.

Bothe-Napa Valley SP Campsites:

The campground is divided up into two loops. The first loop is more of a chaparral, madrone and manzanita in the landscape. The second loop is a bit more hilly and has some redwoods and sequoias. The campsites are really spaced apart well enough that you get a feeling of privacy. They all have fire pits, pantry storage and picnic tables.

When we were there, there was a ban on fires. We were allowed to have our propane BBQ as well as a propane fire ring pit. So that was great for us, as a lot of campgrounds don't allow any sort of heat or flames when they ban fires.

Bothe-Napa Valley SP Walk-in Campsites:

The walk-in sites were very nice and off the main campground loop. They were pretty large and a couple of them could accommodate a very large tent.

Bothe-Napa Valley SP Trails:

There are 10 trails in total within the park. Most are offshoots from main trails, giving you options on creating lengths and loops. I have included maps for the trails that are used more frequently.

Redwood Trail

is 3.0 miles out and back with a 419ft elevation gain.

Coyote Peak

4.7 miles and its considered a more difficult trail as it has about a 1000 ft elevation gain. 

South Fork and Spring Fork:

These trails both connect to Coyote Peak via the Upper Ritchey Canyon Trail. 

Pioneer Cemetery/History Loop

This very easy loop trail takes you to the Pioneer Cemetery where once stood the White Church built by Asa White. Headstones still stand, but the church has been lost to time. I didn't include a map as it's a very easily identified loop.

Bothe-Napa Valley State Park Visitor Center

This historical building was built in the 1850's by George Tucker. You will see many of the Tuckers buried in the Pioneer Cemetery. When we were there in September 2021 it was unfortunately closed. But I have been told that it will reopen to the public again. I hope that when we go back we will be able to see the inside of this piece of California history.

What's Nearby?

This state park is in the heart of the Napa Valley. You can even catch a shuttle bus from the park to the city of St Helena for dinner and a stroll through town. Within a 45-minute drive, you can be at the Pacific Ocean on the Russian River. Jack London State Park is also about 45 scenic minutes from Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. If you're up for something on the wild side, you can have an animal encounter at Safari West, about 25-minute drive.

Helpful Resources:

I gathered the information for this article from a couple of different sources, as well as visiting it with my family. The Bothe Napa Valley State Park is managed by Napa County Regional Park, they have been a great resource, and I was able to find some valuable information from them. They do a noteworthy job of taking care of this historical park.

• Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District
  
• California State Parks
• Historical Newspapers
  

Day Use Area:

All the Jug Handle State Reserve is a day use area only, there is no camping at this park. But even though there is no camping, there is plenty to see here. The highlight of the park is the 2.5 miles (one way) Ecological Staircase Trail. The park is open for visitors from sun up till sun down.

Vehicles and Bathroom: 

The parking lot located right off of Highway 1 in the town of Caspar. This parking lot does tend to get fairly full, so I would recommend coming earlier in the day. It is a free to use park. Located in the parking lot is the portable toilet, it is handicapped accessible and when we went it was very clean.

Dogs:

There are dogs allowed in the park on a leash, down to the beach and on the coastal trails. Dogs however are not allowed on the Ecological Staircase Trail. Per the state parks site, basically dogs are allowed on the trail to the west of HWY 1 and not on the trail that goes under HWY 1 to the east and along the Jug Handle Creek.

What Can I Do At Jug Handle State Natural Reserve?

Though it's not a large park, you can spend an easy 30 minutes here to half a day hiking or at the beach. Walk to the seashore bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean or hike into the reserve along the Ecological Staircase. You will see forests that do not exist anywhere else in the world.

Trails:

There are a couple of different trails located at this park, but they are not very well-marked. The photo below shows the main trail sign, but beyond that with meandering off shoots it's not always clear which path to take. If you take the path towards the Pygmy Forest with the Ecological Staircase, that one is only slightly marked better. Once you reach the head of the stairs, it's easy after that.

Headlands Loop Trail:

The trail does become pretty visible, but there are some side shoots and I was unsure as to where these went to. There are no signs beyond the main trail sign. I did take the stroller, but it was quite narrow. If I had known, I would have brought the baby carrier.

Beach or Stairs:

This clearly worn trail can either take you on a steep ascent to the beach or on the main trail to the ecological staircase. Heading to the right or (east) will take you through this dark tunnel and towards the highway 1. The trail goes through the dark overgrowth of trees and heads under highway 1. It's a bit narrow trail and I wouldn't recommend taking a stroller on it.

Before you get to the highway under crossing, there is a trail that leads down to the beach. I would recommend this one if you have kids. Though it's not the easiest to get kids down, it's better in my opinion than the first beach trail. The beach here is great for kids as it's not busy, so you may have the whole place to yourself or just a few other people.

Jug Handle Creek, seen below the Highway 1 bridge. This is the creek that runs into the Pacific Ocean at the beach.

Top of the Ecological Staircase, this is the beginning of the ascent into a beautifully preserved nature trail. The stairs are steep, so I don't recommend trying to take smaller children, though it was done by our 4 and 6-year-olds. This trail in total if you take the entire length there and out will be a bit over 5 miles. Its shaded most of the time and its flat once you get down the stairs. 

In 1998 the State Parks made a printable PDF as a self-guided nature trail experience. The #1-7 of the interpretive information is for the Headlands Loop. #8-40 are for the Ecological Staircase Trail. If you are looking to learn more about the trail and what you are observing, then I recommend that you print this up before heading out. Its also a great resource for school age kids learning about the flora and fauna in the Jug Handle Reserve. Some plants or trees that you will see only exist here and nowhere else in the world.

What's Nearby?

This park is in proximity to many of the northern coasts state parks. Within the Mendocino coast you will find parks with the redwood of the Navarro River Redwoods Staet Park just south to the wind swept beaches of MacKerricher State Park about 20 minutes north up highway 1. Stop in at Mendocino or head up to Fort Bragg. The Noyo Harbor has some delightful eateries there.

Helpful Resources:

COMING SOON

• Link 1
  
• Link 2
  
• Link 3
  
• Link 4
  
• Link 5
  

Day Use Areas (Upper & Lower):

Trails:

There are 2 ways down to the light station. When facing the ocean, you can walk the paved path down to the left of the parking lot. This path is paved all the way down and is approximately 1/2 mile each way. There is a bit of a hill on the way back up, but its a really enjoyable walk.

If you go to the right side of the parking lot there is an "unimproved" trail, but it is used a lot so no worries that you are heading out on an unbeaten path. It is approximately 3/4 mile. Both trails are stroller accessible with a jogging stroller for the unimproved trail.

Vehicles:

All vehicles will be parking in the day use area in the upper lot. But if you carry a disabled placard, then you have the option to drive all the way down to the light station. There are 4 or so spots available in the lower lot across from the East Lightkeepers house which is also the vintage era museum.

Bathrooms:

Dogs:

The Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park is unique in the fact that dogs on leash are allowed in the park. Keep in mind that they are allowed on trails and not in the historical structures, except for the Second Assistant Light Keeper's Home, which is a pet friendly vacation rental.

Water:

I did not notice any drinking fountains or areas that sold water, so if you are planning a trip to the lighthouse, I recommend bringing your own water as it is quite a long walk and a slight incline on the way back. The town of Mendocino is close by, and you could grab water there or head up to Fort Bragg, which is a little further but a lot more shopping options are available.

What's There To See At Point Cabrillo Lighthouse?

This State Park was such a surprising and enjoyable place to visit. There is a lot to see in the preserved history of the light station and the buildings but also in the nature preserve surrounding the entire area. 

The Early Days of Point Cabrillo:

The area of Point Cabrillo sits just on the north end of the town of Caspar and a few miles even further north of the town of Mendocino. Named Point Cabrillo for Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who was said to be one of the first explorers of the California coast.

The area had always been seen as a potential site for a light station going back to 1873, but it was a contender with the area of Caspar as another potential place for the very much needed station. 

After the earthquake of 1906 that hit the Bay Area, the final approval for the light station was approved on June 20th 1906. Once the approval came, the land was purchased from local rancher David Gordon for a sum of $3,195 which today would be roughly $90,000.

The original land amount that was purchased was only 30 acres. Construction began on the light station, the three light keepers homes and a barn (the barn no longer stands and was used as a fire exercise building by the local fire department due to its state of deterioration).

Historical Buildings:

There are a number of historic buildings still standing on this property, though I am not exactly sure of how many. It seems that about 10 of the 15 of the buildings had been built in the early 1900s.

The Light Station:

The shining gem of the property is the light station. The building itself took about 1 year to build and was completed in 1909. During that same time, the "Third Order Fresnel" lens was built out of Birmingham, England and traveled around the "horn" to its current location in Mendocino. Prior to the invention of the Fresnel lamp, lighthouses used reflector lamps which were far less powerful. The total weight of the lens is 6,800 lbs and from its location at 81 feet above the Pacific Ocean, it can be seen 14 miles away!

The Point Cabrillo Light Station is not to be confused with a "Lighthouse", as a lighthouse actually houses the Light keeper. Point Cabrillo Light Station actually used to house huge oil engines and compressors that ran the fog signal. It was actually known as the Fog Signal Building in its early stages of life.

Electricity came to the area in 1935 and at that point the oil ran engine for the fog signal was replaced by one that was electric. Today, the light station no longer houses the fog signal, as it was replaced by "whistle buoys" in and around the area.

The light station was in use and monitored by Light Keepers from 1908 till 1963. At that time, the Air Force honor guard took over duty. It was that way until 1972 when the Fresnel lens was no longer in need and was decommissioned. It was covered up and left to sit, and was even abandoned for some time before the Coast Guard began using the houses for staff. 

After nearly 20 years, the Coastal Commission began negotiations to take over the Light Station in order to preserve its historical significance. The light station had seen better days and was in need of some major restoration to bring it back to its former glory.

By 1996, work began on Blacksmith (Smithy) and the Oil house. By 1998 the Fresnel lens and Lantern Room began their restoration, followed by the actual light station in 2000. Other buildings (including the light keeper's homes) were completed 2014.

The Head Lightkeeper's Home:

This beautiful 1909 Head Light Keepers House was lovingly restored in 2006. It is a 2-story home with 4 bedrooms, with each bedroom having its own private bathroom. When this home was restored, it was refurnished with circa 1909 furnishings, yet it still has all the modern amenities.

The first person to stay in this home would have been the Head Light keeper, Wilhelm Baumgartner who was the first Head Light Keeper in charge of Point Cabrillo. This home is available for rent as a vacation rental, for those of you out there that want a really unique experience.

The First Assistant Lightkeeper's Home and Museum:

This home was the First Assistant Light Keepers home and was restored to the 1935 era, as that was when electricity was introduced. This home is now a period piece museum with some very interesting historical displays. 

The Second Assistant Lightkeepers Home:

Also circa 1909, the second assistant light keeper's home was restored in 2014 and is to its original time period. This home is 2-stories tall and has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and is also available as a vacation rental.

West and East Cottage:

Both of these structures were restored and transformed into bungalows that are available for rent. They were previously used as storage sheds and workshops for the Head Light Keeper and the Second Assistant Light Keeper. Both units have 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom.

Smithy (Blacksmith Shop):

This original building has been transformed from a blacksmith building into the Marine Science Exhibit and Aquarium. In there, you will see a very happy tank full of sea critters, plus a board with an up-to-date list of recently spotted animals from the area, which includes whales, deer, birds and more.

Kearn Farmhouse/Visitors Center:

The visitor's center is located at the entrance to the park and used to be the site of the Kearn Family Farm, which was sadly burned down by arsonists in 2002. However, it has been rebuilt to look like it once did, except for the added restroom facilities on the left side of the building.

What's Nearby?

There is a lot of amenities nearby due to the fact that you have Mendocino on one side and further up Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg provides all the modern amenities like groceries, restaurants, hotels, etc. while Mendocino is a smaller town but has a lot of the same conveniences just not as many options.

Helpful Resources:

There we're a ton of helpful websites out there that I used to gather my information for this article and I listed 4 of the best websites where I gathered the majority of my information from in case any of you out there want to do further research or just get a little more information on Point Cabrillo light station for yourself.

• CA State Parks Website
• Park Brochure
• PointCabrillo.org
• Mendocinovacations.com

Quick, But Important Info:

I wanted to go over some boring but essential information that goes along with any State Park and these are things like parking, bathroom facilities, rules regarding pets and whether you can have food and drink on the premises.

Bathrooms:

Dogs:

There are no dogs allowed on the grounds or in the mansion itself. The only exception to this rule is if it is a certified service dog.

Food & Water:

No food or drink are allowed inside the mansion. I did see a few people taking their lunch break in the garden area, though, where the atmosphere is nice, and the surrounding area is quite peaceful. Since you are at downtown, there are plenty of places around that you can grab something to eat or drink quite easily.

Leland Stanford Mansion Map:

What's There To See At The Leland Stanford Mansion?

This California State Park is a hidden gem right in the heart of Sacramento. Until we went to the California State Railroad Museum, I didn't know that Leland Stanford existed nor his mansion. With about 75,000 visitors a year, it isn't usually busy with the exceptions of the weekends. 

When you drive up to the home on N Street you will see just how impressive the architecture is of this 1856 stately home. When it was originally built for Mr. Sheldon Fogus who sold the home to the Stanfords in 1861 the same year that Leland was elected to the position of Governor of California. 

The mansion is a mix of architectural styles, with its beginnings as a 2-story brick house. It originally had four rooms separated by a hallway on each floor also known as a four-over-four. Once the major renovation began in 1871 the styles of Renaissance Revival and Second Empire architecture were integrated.

No Photography Allowed:

As there is no photography allowed, the only real way to see the splendor of the mansion is by visiting it. The 3 photos below are courtesy of lesperancedesign.com they are top-notch at what they do and are responsible for the interior design. You can view their entire photo gallery on their website. I may be purchasing some cool pics from the archive, so this will be updated, but you will still need to talk about the no pic rule.

Ballroom: 

The ballroom was used for entertaining and still is to this day! The mansion has been used by all the governors of California, even for more recent occasions. On our tour of the house, our tour guide stated that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger used the mansion often and knew how to throw a party, which was done regularly. 

Billiards Room:

Back in a time before the game of pool, billiards has been around since the 15th century and began as an outdoor game. Mrs. Jane Stanford would often have ladies over for a game of billiards. In the photo above you see Leland Stanford Jr, Jane Stanford and her sister.

Entryway:

After coming up the double grand staircase, you would have entered in though these massive doors. This would have originally been the first floor, but Leland had the house raised, making the first floor the second. The river used to flood, and most homes would be filled with water and sediment and mud.

Receiving Parlor:

The room to awe your guests with, and it does the job. When you enter this room you will be in awe of the details of this room. As the home had been transformed during its days as an orphanage, it was again transformed back when lesperancedesign took the photographs taken for Leland and transformed this once orphanage back to its original grandeur.

Leland and Jane Stanford

Amasa Leland Stanford was born in March the 9th of 1824 in Watervliet, New York to Josiah and Elizabeth Phillips Stanford. He was 1 of 8 children and raised on farms in and around the Albany, New York area. He attended public school then was homeschooled for 3 more years. After basic schooling he studied law at Cazenovia Seminary, whereupon completion he apprenticed for 3 years before becoming a lawyer.

In September 1850 he married Jane Elizabeth Lathrop, who was also from the Albany area. After an unfortunate event and the loss of his law practice and law library to a fire, he left for California in the year 1852, following 5 of his brothers out here. Jane stayed in New York to take care of her father and once he passed away in 1855, he came back to New York to get Jane and they moved the following year to Sacramento.

Here he dabbled in small business ventures until he found a niche worth investing into, what would become the Transcontinental Railroad. Leland Stanford was elected the president of the Central Pacific Railroad in 1861 and that same year he was also elected as the 8th governor of California as a Republican. During his time as governor he managed to cut the state's debt in half, and he advocated for the conservation of forests.

In May of 1868 he joined again with some investors of the Central Pacific Railroad to form the Pacific Union Express Company. This company merged in 1870 with Wells Fargo and Leland sat as director for many years. Also that same year at the age of 44 became a father when Jane gave birth to the one and only child Leland Dewitt Stanford. He was the joy of their life and when he passed away at the age of 15 they were devastated, the Stanfords created Stanford University in his honor. 

He wore many hats in his lifetime and dabbled in many business ventures, many times was most always either president or board chair of any company that he was a part of. From railroads, vineyards, mining, racehorses, banking, schools and charity.  Leland Stanford passed away of heart failure at home in Palo Alto, California, on June 21, 1893.

What's Nearby?

Since the tour of the mansion will usually only take 1-2 hours, you will probably want to check out some other cool places in the area. Old Sacramento State Historic Park is just a 10-minute walk down the road, with buildings dating back to the late 1840s. Gift shops and restaurants fill these historic buildings. Also in the Old Town Sac area is the California State Railroad Museum, which is a not to be missed state park highlighting the history of the locomotive. This is one if not the best locomotive museum in all the United States.

If you head 4 minutes walk in the opposite direction of Old Sacramento, you will find the California State Capitol Museum as well as California State Capitol Park and gardens. By car, you can be at Sutters Fort State Historic Park in 7 minutes and learn about California history dating back to when California still belonged to Mexico and the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846. There is so much history in the Sacramento area that it may take more than one day trip to visit, but its time well spent. 

Helpful Resources:

Here is a short list of some of the resources I used to gather the information for this article, that mean we came from the state parks website and a lot of the historical information we gathered came from the Library of Congress' archives.

• CA State Parks Page
• Park Brochure
• Library of Congress

The Useful, But Boring Info:

Before we get into the awesome museum pictures and what's actually inside, we should mention some of the basics like parking, bathrooms and all of the other important information that is part of the journey.

Bathrooms:

NOTE: There is one bathroom located in the Central Pacific Railroad Freight Depot, that I highly recommend not to use! When we went in, there were people using it to wash themselves and their laundry.

Dogs:

Dogs are not allowed inside the museum unless they are certified service dogs. If this is the case, then they may accompany you throughout the museum with the exception of going inside any railcars and exhibits. 

Food & Water:

As per most museums, there is no food or drink allowed while inside the museum area. But outside the museum, there is a plethora of places to quench your thirst and to fill your belly with tasty food, within short walking distance too.

What's There To See?

Once you enter the museum, you will see the immense size of this place. You will see the "First" locomotive that was purchased by the Central Pacific Railroad. Golden Era passenger cars and a train depot complete with a cat on the roof. Further in, there will be cold storage trains and mail transporters. 

Upstairs there is a theater that plays a movie on the history of the locomotive, and up on the 3rd floor is where you will find a plethora of "Toy" trains. I wouldn't consider them toys, but more of miniatures or small replicas.

There are elevators that you can use for each section if you don't want to or cannot take the stairs. We used them with our stroller instead of lugging it up.

Railroad Museum Map:

The Museum's Sections:

The museum is designed to take you through the history of the locomotive. From the locomotive beginnings of the Transcontinental Railroad, the first train, steam driven to diesel trains, passenger trains and trains that  carry commodities. The museum walks you through the history of the railroad and trains and is a well-thought-out layout overall. 

The Transcontinental Railroad:

Spanning a whopping 1,912 the Transcontinental Railroad took 6 years to complete. Uniting the West and the East via one train track. This part in our nations history is unparalleled, making commerce and travel not just easier but truly allowing our nation to flourish and grow. From it's beginnings many peoples lives were dedicated to making it a reality.

Chinese and Irish immigrants, Native Indians and Americans all worked to make this dream a reality. It wasn't all pretty, and many men sacrificed everything in the building of our nation. By completing the TCRR, it opened the door to moving agriculture from the west coast to the east coast and moving products from east to west.

It also moved people further out west because they could access more of America, much easier and within a fraction of the time it took to travel by horse.

Working & Living On A RR:

Passenger Trains:

As soon as the "last spike" was set, people were traveling from coast to coast. By the 1940s, many trains had luxury areas where folks with money could ride. On a busy train, the chefs could serve up to 300 meals in a single day with just a tiny kitchen area that had less than capable appliances, compared to modern day appliances.

The Sacramento Railroad Museum features a few of these trains where you can view some of the amazing details that went into these trains during the Golden Era.

Historic Trains:

This Railroad Museum is stunning, not in just how they display these trains, but the trains themselves. Some dating back to the mid to late 1800s, these locomotives are an amazing display of craftsmanship. The sheer size of many of them will blow your mind, and to be able to stand next to them is exhilarating.

Train Models:

On the 3rd floor of this massive museum (over 100,000 square feet) you will find model trains. Ranging from very small to massive, and all in varying degrees of intricacy and difficulty.

The picture above shows one of these model towns that were on display, and if you didn't know better, you would think it was a picture of a real town.

Other Cool Stuff Outside The Museum:

The RR museum was incredible to visit and see all of the trains, memorabilia and other staging areas, but there is more to see outside that still maintains the look and feel of the historic train depots. Here are some of the highlights...

Catch an Excursion with the Southern Pacific Railroad

If you have about an hour of time on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday then I highly recommend that you catch the Southern Pacific Railroad excursion train. You can reserve your tickets online and pick them up at will call. It was a super fun experience and the entire family enjoyed our trip down the Sacramento River. 

Historical Train Station

Located down the boardwalk to the left of Railroad Museum is where you will find historical buildings. This one houses the Central Pacific Railroad Passenger Station and is where you will get your excursion tickets for riding the train.

Trains Not On Display

Located behind the Central Pacific passenger building, you will find the locomotives that are currently stored. I assume that these are stored here when not on display inside the museum, but I am not sure. 

What's Nearby?

There is a ton of things nearby because the CA train museum is in old town Sacramento, which is right in downtown. There are tons of restaurants withing walking distance, "tourist shops" and everything in between

Helpful Resources:

There were many resources for the CA Railroad Museum and I listed some of the most helpful down below, just in case you wanted to check them out for yourself.

• State Parks Webpage
• Train Museum Brochure
• Railroad Museum Website
• Historic Sites Brochure

South Yuba River State Park Area:

The South Yuba River State Park is comprised of 7 different locations along the Southern portion of the Yuba River. It encompasses 11,000 acres in total with 2,000 of those acres being managed by California State Parks.

State Park Maps:

Missouri Bar:

Missouri Bar is probably one of the least favorite areas when we talked about the South Yuba River State Park because there is really only hiking trails around the area and a lot of the trails are very difficult for most people to do because they are steep, narrow, not very well maintained and have a lot of other challenging aspects to them like massive amounts of poison oak, gnats, mosquitoes Etc.

Bridgeport:

Bridgeport is probably the most visited and popular area in the South Yuba River State Park that people visit because of the covered bridge, all of the other historical buildings in the area and because the river access is very easy and convenient for most people, even if you have young children.

 The river in this area is wider and more slow flowing in the summer months, making it an ideal place to go swimming with the family.

Historical Aspects:

Bridgeport has many historical aspects to the area, mainly from the time frame of around the 1860s to the 1930s, and has many of the structures that were around in those days still standing on their own or with the help of a little bit of rehabilitation.

The Covered Bridge:

The bridge is truly one of a kind as it is the longest spanning covered bridge in the world. Built in mid 1861 the Bridgeport Bridge was originally a toll bridge for commodities carried to mines as far a Nevada. Toll prices ranged from $.05 cents to $6. At that time the $1 would be worth at least $30 in todays time. 

Over the years the bridge has seen damage from major rain storms which rose the Yuba River to bridge deck to neglect and nearly being condemned. Thanks to places like the Nevada County Historical Society among others, this bridge was saved for us to enjoy today.

At the time of this writing the Bridge has been closed to the public since 2011 as it was deemed unsafe. We are hoping that this year after the extensive restoration 10 years later that it will be open again.

The Barn:

The barn you see today was built right about the same time as the covered bridge, right about 1861. Its was used as a lay over of sorts. Teamsters and their animals could stay over before carrying on, getting food, water and rest. 

The barn is situated perfectly so that the teams of horse, mule or ox would not need to turn around. The barn is lined up just so that it faces the bridge entrance perfectly which would make it simple for the teams to pull through after their resting and filling up.

Gas Station:

Kneebone Cemetery:

The Kneebone Cemetery is the family cemetery for the first settlers of the Bridgeport area. With burials ranging from 1853 to 1991 there are only  9 plots with 11 burials.

Visitor Center:

The Bridgeport Visitors Center was built in 1997 as a place to give visitors an overview of the historical grounds they were spending time on. There you can find books, maps and fascinating information. This place is generally run by volunteers who have a love for this historic park.

During the summer, volunteer docents hold gold panning demonstrations, flower walks and other enjoyable group activities.

Bathrooms:

Dogs:

Dogs are allowed at most areas within the South Yuba River State Park area as a whole, with a few exceptions that really affect the Bridgeport area. Dogs are not allowed on the "family beach" area or 200 feet down stream of that area.

To sum that up, no dogs are allowed at the beach area that is right by the covered bridge or 200 feet down stream, but are allowed everywhere else. It didn't say anything about a leash on the state park website, but I would bring one, just in case.

Trails:

There are five main trails in the Bridgeport area of the SYRSP and 4 out of the 5 are relatively easy for most people of all fitness levels. The defiance loop trail is the hardest trail by-far and is a more strenuous trail for more serious hikers.

Buttermilk Bend Trail:

The Buttermilk Bend Trail is a really easy 2.4 mile trail out and back. Located out of the farther parking lot, it's great for families too and its pretty stroller friendly with plenty of turn outs so people can pass you. There are a couple of uphill areas but they are really minimal.

This trail offers amazing views of the Yuba River. If you are sans kids or you have kids who can rock scramble, then this trail have some offshoots that can get you down to some nice swimming spots that aren't crowded.

During the early spring time there is an abundance of wildflowers and butterflies along this trail with plenty of benches along the way to take in the view. This is also a dog friendly trail as long as dogs are kept on leash and of course, you pick up after them.

Kneebone Beach Trail:

The Kneebone Beach Trail is the access trail down to one of the more popular swimming holes at Bridgeport. It is located on the south side of Pleasant Valley Road adjacent to the parking lot at the covered bridge and it runs paralelle to Pleasant Valley Road. This was originally where the Kneebones Bridgeport Pleasure Resort cabins were located. The trail is approximately 0.3 miles long, just a short jaunt.

Cemetery Loop Trail:

The Cemetery Loop Trail begins at the Kneebone's Gas Station on the now historical Virginia Turnpike, heading towards the cemetery. The loop then turns and heads towards the river and basically taking you to family beach and back out to the visitors center. It's a very easy hike as we did it with 3 little kids, its about .6 miles.

Visitor's Center Loop:

The Visitors Center Loop is pretty much the same as the Cemetery Loop except its shorter and takes an inner circle. It begins and ends at the Visitors Center with a walk through the Virginia Turnpike. This short trail is 0.2 miles.

Point Defiance Loop Trail:

This loop trail is approximately 2.9 miles and is considered a moderate hike due to the switchbacks. Most people recommend starting with the switchbacks instead of ending the trail with them.

This may not be the best trail for small children if you plan on making the loop. If you want to take an easy hike then it is recommended to hike from Bridgeport along the river to Lake Englebright and back the same way you came. It can be a bit narrow in places but its an overall really nice trail.

The trail is accessed on the far side of the covered bridge (opposite of the parking lot near the barn). This trail takes you down to where the South Fork of the Yuba and the Middle Fork meet at Lake Englebright.

Helpful Resources:

There we're quite a few resources I found along the way while doing research on the South Yuba River State Park and I listed some of the most helpful ones below, for those of you out there that may want to take a look at those resources too.

I also posted the maps I found and made below all in one area, so you can scan through them easily, instead of having to go back and read through the post in order to find the specific map you want to look at.

• State Parks Page
• Park Brochure
• SouthYubaRiverStatePark.org

Park Map:

Historical Town:

During the height of activity, the town had an estimated 1,500 residents and boasted over 200 buildings. There were 2 livery stables which kept the carriage horses for hire. At least 8 saloons, one of which you can see still the foundation for.

There were 2 dry goods stores which sold things like tobacco, sugar, flour, coffee and also textiles, ready-to-wear clothing. Basically nothing that contained liquid. A few breweries, boot makers and butchers. 2 churches and the school, plus a multitude of other buildings and businesses that made up the town of North Bloomfield.

The General Store and Post Office:

McKillican and Mobley dry goods store and general merchandise. This fascinating store which was built in 1956 holds relics of the past from a wedding gown, shoes, fabric by the yard, saddle supplies and soaps. 

They also supplied kerosene for lamps, ammunition, hardware, mining supplies, stationery, kitchen utensils, paint, some medications, eggs, oranges and bakery goods such as cookies, chocolate éclairs, fig bars, gingersnaps, etc. Canned meat, cured meats, deviled ham and dried foods.

Not only did they supply the town with goods, but they served as the local post office and also as the local gold exchange and a drop-off. There was a security guard who would sleep there overnight.

On the days that the park allows people into see it, I highly recommend that you visit it. It will take you back in time.

Blacksmith:

On the same side of the street as McKillicans is Glassons Blacksmithing. He would have made horseshoes as well as parts for the water monitors used in the mining operations.

Between the two buildings used to stand Edward's Hotel, O'Conners (residence) and Biven's Saloon. To the left of this building you would have seen Weise Brewery and the Berk Hotel plus a few homes mixed in.

Carter House:

Heading up the same side of the street but towards the central part of town stands the Carter House. This building is the oldest structure in town, this place was a hotel in the early 1850s.

You can still walk up on the front porch and peer into the windows. It's not in the best of shape but for over 170 years old, it's holding up well.

The Skidmore House:

Next home in the same direction is the home of Mr.Skidmore. It's incredibly well-preserved and is completely furnished. It also contains a full walk-out basement. 

Mr. Rush Skidmore was a well-to-do businessman with many ventures in the town. He and his wife Mary bore 5 children in that house. Mr. Skidmore died at his home on August 2, 1911

You will see the basement remains of the saloon that was owned by Rush Skidmore across the street from the McKillican and Mobley General Store. On that same lot as the house used to stand a hotel, now long forgotten. 

Knotwell's Drugstore:

Knotwell's Drugstore is located across from the Carter house. This place is pretty amazing to see. Originally owned and operated by Adrian A Smith, he purchased the lot in 1874 which at that time it had a small home on the property. He converted the home into a drug store but he also sold things like perfume, soap, cigars and fancy plates.

Just like the King's Saloon, this building is not an original but a replica of the original. The original was torn down as it was inhabitable and the new one was constructed in the early 70s.

The King's Saloon:

The King's Saloon also known as Jack Kings Saloon is located right next to Knotwells Drugstore. This particular building was originally built in 1860 and at that time it was an express office. When Jack acquired it, he remodeled it into a saloon. This was some time in the early to mid 1870's. Jack's saloon was one of many saloons in the North Bloomfield town.

The building where the "current" King's Saloon is, is in fact not the original building but one that was reconstructed in 1974 with the help of photographs and the local E. Clampus Vitus, Chapter 10 of NevadaCity. 

Sadly, it too is in disrepair. If you walk around back, you will see the back stairs falling off. 

St. Columncille’s Catholic Church:

The church was not originally here but actually located in the township of Birchville which was about 15 miles from North Bloomfield. The town of Birchville no longer exists. This structure which was built in 1865 was used by the Bridgport Union Guard, which was an armory where they recruited and trained men for the Civil War. This lasted until after the Civil War.

Eventually becoming St. Columncilles Catholic Church in 1869 when it was purchased by Father Dalton. It was actively used as a church until the 1955 then it was left to time and decay. Saved from demolition in 1969, when it was moved to its current location in 1971 as a gift to the State of California from Mr.Bart Pinaglia out of North San Juan.

North Bloomfield School:

Originally the North Bloomfield Schoolhouse was built in 1857 but was not at this location, instead you would have found it near the day use picnic area. The schoolhouse that you see today was built around 1874 and was sourced through the townspeople for a cost of $3,700. It was completely furnished and had a library. Classes were given to children from Kindergarten all the way to 8th grade by 2 teachers.

Currently the schoolhouse is boarded up and unfortunately vandals have been inside. It appears that there is some rehabilitation work going on. I will add an update once I get further information.

There's Even More To See:

The 5 places I mentioned above are not all to see. There are numerous other buildings still standing and in excellent state of historical preservation as well as other relics that are on their last leg before turning to dust.

Kallenburgers Barbershop, Ostrums Livery Stable, the Cummins Hall that has been converted into the main office and museum for the Malakoff Park Station and others. 

Blair Lake:

History Of The Lake:

The beginnings of Blair lake wasn't exactly what you see here today. Originally the lake started out its mining life as a hydraulic mine and then a holding pond for water used in hydraulic mining. As it stands today, it is a great feature to the Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park.

Activites On The Water:

Over the years there has been an annual kids fishing derby, where young anglers can try their hand at catching rainbow trout, bluegill and bass. If you want to spend an afternoon on the lake you can swim, kayak or raft out on it, maybe after having lunch at one of the picnic tables.

Safety Stuff:

Note, the water is tested annually for mercy to make sure it is safe. Also, last time we went up there we encountered a bear swimming in it. So just be aware that there is wildlife in the area.

Chute Hill Campground:

Chute Hill campground has a total of 30 tent sites and 1 large group camping area overall. It is located in Malakoff Diggins State Park and is really a campground that nobody really knows about but is a beautiful area with a lot of historical significance.

Campground Map:

Campsites:

All of the 30 campsites are mainly geared towards tent camping, but smaller RVs and camp trailers are welcome to stay here as well. The State Park's website states that trailers 18' and under are permitted, as well as campers and RVs that are under 24' in length.

There are a range of sites, some small and suitable for smaller tents and groups of people, while other sites are much larger and can accommodate larger tents with other accessories.

Handicap Sites:

There were no sites that were clearly marked as ADA approved and I am not sure if they just were not marked or if there weren't any available. I will update this post if I find out any more information or if someone chimes in and clarifies.

Unique Sites:

There were a few different unique sites in the Chute Hill Campground and I wanted to lay those out for those of you out there that may have never been here before and wanted to get one of the better sites.

Diggins Overlook Sites:

Sites 24, 25 and 27 have the best views of the Diggins Overlook point that you can make out through the trees. This is where you can see the cliffs that were washed away from hydraulic mining, with the different layers of the soil exposed.

As you can see from the image below, the trees do hinder the view quite a bit, but you can still get a good angle, if you walk closer and experience that one-of-a-kind view.

Group Camping Site:

The group camping site (area) is large and private with its own area set apart from the rest of the campground, in fact, it has its own gate and loop. This is a larger area that has its own bathroom, parking lot and tons of picnic tables, tent areas and bbqs.

This is ideal for larger groups and can accommodate up to 40 campers (9 minimum) and 10 vehicles. The rates per night are set at $165 for this area and can be made on reservecalifornia.com.

Sites 24, 25 and 26:

Sites 24, 25 and 26 are unique in the sense that they have their own separate little loop in the campground and are set apart from all of the other campsites in the area. They are smaller sites, geared mainly towards tent camping, but are much more private and have a partial view of the Diggins Overlook view.

Most Private Sites:

Sites 1, 2, 3, 8, 23, 24, 29 and 30: The listed sites are the most private sites we found in the campground and are probably the most popular because of that reason. These were set apart from other sites and had the most privacy, compared to the other sites.

Campsite Features:

The campsite features include all of the basics like a large picnic table, fire rings and bear boxes. These are present at every site and are nice  to have at your disposal when camping.

Bathrooms/Showers:

There are only three bathrooms in the entire campground plus one extra bathroom located in the group camping site, but it's not available to the other campsites, like the other three bathrooms are.

Vehicles:

Vehicles are the same here as they are for every other state park, where you're allowed one vehicle per camp site that is included in the $35 a night fee and additional vehicles will be charged $8 for each additional vehicle.

Most of the parking pads are pretty large and can accommodate additional vehicles, but some sites do not have such large areas, so you will have to check the reservecalifornia.com website or call the park to verify the parking areas size. 

Day Use Area:

There is no specified day use area in the campground at self or in the historical area of the town, but there is a picnic area located in the historical town of North Bloomfield that has picnic tables, barbecue areas and bathrooms nearby, so it is the closest thing to a day use area that you will probably see.

Cabins:

There are three different cabins you can rent out for a unique experience, going back in time a bit. These cabins are good for up to five people and they do not have any electricity and are equipped with bunk beds and a wood-burning stove to keep you warm. These can be reserved for $45 per night.

There are no bathrooms in these cabins either, you will have to use the bathrooms that are located nearby, in the day use area. These bathrooms do have flushing toilets and a sink.

Trails:

There are a few trails that you can take throughout the park. They meander in and around, so you can get a good feel for the area.

Keep in mind that there are bears up there and loads of poison oak to watchout for!

1. Blair Trail:

The loop around the lake starts at the parking lot, which is located just above the main street in town. This part of the loop if you are just looking for a little jaunt is approximately a little under half a mile (.5mile).

Optionally, if you are looking for a bit of a longer trail that includes the lake then you can start at the trailhead located in the campground right next to the campfire center. This trail is approximately 1.28 miles from the starting point to the loop around the lake.

2. Rim Trail:

The Rim Trail runs from just after you enter the park and goes the length all the way over to humbug creek above Blair lake. It is 3.2 miles one way. It does get super hot up there during summer, so be sure to wear a hat and bring water for drinking. If you bring your dog, be sure to not let them swim in the diggings water, wait till you get over to Blair lake or Humbug Creek.

4. Diggins Loop:

Though the trail is not well-marked, it is very easy to find your way through the area. Enter the trail on the North Bloomfield Grantieville Rd. It is near the old barn and the collapsed home.

4. Church Trail:

If you are looking to walk to the church and schoolhouse from the main historical area, then this is the trail you are looking for. The Church Trail is a little under .25 miles (one way) and takes you up near the cemetery and out to St. Columncille's Church and the North Bloomfield School.

The trailhead is just to the left of the day use BBQ, go past then and across the bridge. There you will see the trailhead sign.

As an option to this trail, then once you get to the cemetery you can hang a right and this is the "Slaughterhouse Trail". This trail takes you up to the campground. This section is approximately .61 miles, one way.

Helpful Resources:

In my research I came across many different resources, some better than others, and I wanted to list them here for you so you can check them out for yourself. These include the CA State Parks page, the brochure and the maps I found.

• State Parks Page
• Park Brochure
• Black Bear Brochure

Two Different Campgrounds:

Within the 660 acres of this state park lies 2 separate campgrounds. Both are completely unique, not just in themselves but to each other. One campground in located in the thick of the redwoods alongside the Navarro River and the other one is nestled against the coastal cliffs within 600 feet of the Pacific Ocean.

The much larger campground is the Paul Dimmick campground, which is in the redwoods and more of a forest setting, and the other is the Navarro Beach Campground, located on the coast, where the Navarro River meets the ocean.

Paul Dimmick Campground:

The Paul Dimmick was closed for many years, which most people weren't aware of and after 7 long years, the Paul Dimmick Campground is finally reopened for the 2021 summer season.

This campground is located on Highway 128, six miles east of the junction with State Highway 1 near Fort Bragg, California. If you are coming from Yreka then this campground is located 14.9 miles west from the town of Philo (Hendy Woods State Park).

Campground Map:

Campsites:

The Paul Dimmick campground offers 27 sites listed as both RV, camper and tent accessible. However, I contacted the Mendocino State Park office and I was told that all sites are "tent only". 

Handicap Sites:

According to the California State Parks website, there are two ADA accessible sites here, which are site number 6 and site 23. I didn't see any real distinguishing characteristics that would make these sites different from other sites, except for maybe a larger parking pad area.

 If I do find out more information on why these two specific sites are ADA compliant, then I will update this page as soon as I have that information.

UPDATE: The handicapped accessible sites are leveled out as well as the tent area. They also looked a bit larger than the other sites but I didn't measure them.

Unique Sites:

Campsites 1 through 5 and 25 are located right next to the North Fork Navarro River, so you get a nice view of the river itself and are probably some of the better spots in the campground.

Sites 15 through 18 are actually walk in sites, so there is no parking for your vehicle and these are intended for, you guessed it, people that walk into the campground and want to camp.

Campsite Features:

This is a pretty bare-bones campground, but it does have some expected features and amenities you would see at nearly all state park campgrounds, which was basically a picnic table, a fire pit and a storage cabinet.

There are wildlife in the area, like raccoons, that have a tendency to get into your food, so you will want to still store your food in a secure area.

Bathrooms/Showers:

Vehicles:

The camping fees per night do include one vehicle, and as I mentioned at the top of this post any extra Vehicles will cost an additional $8.

Some parking spots can accommodate two smaller vehicles, especially if you are tent camping but if you have a smaller camp trailer that your towing with your vehicle, you will more than likely be maxed out on space if you have an additional vehicle with you so you will have to park in the day use area.

Day Use Area:

Navarro Beach Campground:

The Navarro Beach Campground is located at the headwaters of the Navarro River. A truly primitive campground with an amazing location. This is a dry campground (no water) so be sure to come prepared. All sites are open to the world with the exception of sites 1 and 2 which have bushes for a bit of privacy. 

Campground Map:

Campsites:

All the campsites are basic, providing a picnic table and a fire ring with a grill attachment. These are no frills sites, but they make up for that in the stunning views of the ocean. There are 10 sites per the state park information, but we counted 11 on our visit.

Handicap Sites:

There were no sites at the campground indicated that they were ADA accessible or compliant and I found this to be true when I visited myself, as all the sites were sandy and no asphalt or concrete was present.

Unique Sites:

There are not really any unique sites here because they are really all the same layout except for the first two sites, which provide a little different experience. I have witnessed many times a large school bus conversion vehicle parked at site 1, due to the angle at which it can park, making for a nice windbreak as well.

Site 2 is a bit smaller than sites 3 through 11 and is cut out into the bushes a little and if you park your car across the front, you can make a nice windbreaker as well.

Campsite Features:

Bathrooms & Showers:

Vehicles:

When you pay the camping fee, one vehicle is included in that fee and if you have a small enough vehicle and trailer setup you will actually fit into your parking area in your campsite. I'm not sure about extra vehicles, regarding additional fees or where you would even park those vehicles but when I find out I will update this article.

Day Use Area:

The day use area at Navarro Beach is massive and consists of a lot of sandy areas, a ton of driftwood and approximately half a mile of shoreline. This is where most of the pictures you see online are taken and is a very beautiful place where the Navarro River and the Pacific Ocean meet.

Trail 1: Navarro Fire Access Trail

Navarro Fire Access Trail is a 4.7 out and back trail along the fire access road. Its wide and mostly flat, which makes it accessible for people of all levels to enjoy a stroll through the redwoods.

It has an elevation gain of about 337 feet for the entire length of the trail. It is stroller accessible, so this is a place that the kids can enjoy too.

Trail 2: Mustard Gulch Trail

Mustard Gulch Trail is a short jaunt down an old logging road with just 2 miles out and back. This trail is easy and wide, so taking a stroller shouldn't be an issue. 

Trail 3: Dimmick Memorial Grove

This little stroll takes you on a paved loop directly through and around the Paul Dimmick Campground. Its only 0.6 miles but all of it in the redwoods and on the river. Easy jaunt and good for families with kids. You can park in the day use area of Paul Dimmick Campground to access it.

Trail 4: Navarro Point Preserve and Scenic Trail

This easily accessible trail is a 1.5 mile loop on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It's appropriate for the whole family, having a wide path and is a relatively easy hike. During the spring you will find wildflowers abloom and if you are lucky, you may spot seals down below among the surf or on the sand.

Getting there: 

The trail is on the ocean side of highway 1. You will travel down a well marked driveway to a small parking lot.

Historic Town of Navarro:

The history of Navarro River and the surrounding areas begins in the mid 1840's, around the time of the gold rush in the Sierra Nevada. Settlements had been made along the Navarro River and local estuaries to accommodate timber and the tradesmen who worked and lived near the mill in the 1860's.

These mills loaded their lumber onto schooners that were built locally for the growing lumber industry. A couple of the buildings that are still standing today at Navarro Beach are thankfully preserved to share this part of California history.

Natural and unnatural Disasters In The Area:

The financial "crash" of 1893 closed the second Navarro mill.  Because of this, the owner was no longer able to pay his 250 employees. Many people who had set up home in the area left at that time.

When the 1906 earthquake hit San Francisco, it was not the only town to feel destruction. Apparently the earthquake was felt all along the coast. The Navarro Inn By The Sea felt some major damage.

In 1907 there was a great flood of the Navarro River during which the old wooden bridge that spanned the Navarro River was completely wiped out.

1913 what was left of the town of Navarro was burnt to the ground on a windy night. Sparks ignited and nearly everything was lost to history.

Then in 1921 the home of Captain Fletcher (Builder of the Navarro By The Sea Hotel) was burnt, with nothing left but memories. It is believed that since it was left open to fishermen and travelers that someone may have let the fire get too hot and that was all it took to destroy the wood timbered structure.

The Inn By The Ocean:

In 1865 the now historical Inn was built by Captain Fletcher. This building was to serve as a lay-over for men awaiting their loads of lumber on schooners. Originally it was said to have at least 12 small rooms located on the second floor of the home.

The Inn stayed in the family for many years. Always purchased for a mere $10 as was tradition.

Eventually the Inn was purchased and changed hands over the next century. Always maintaining itself as an Inn and a place for people to get away. Eventually a bar and restaurant were added. It was a popular place during its heyday.

As time passed, the Inn was not up-kept. The cottages that had been built were demolished in the 1960s. It's said that it was still a popular place to stop in the 1970s, but issues with keeping help at the bar ended up causing the Inn to be boarded up and abandoned.

In 1990 the Inn was purchased with the hopes of reopening it to the public, unfortunately there were too many issues. It was sold to the State of California Department of Parks and recreation for $300,000 in 1996. The building had sat for so long that it was greatly in disrepair. But people took notice and through donations and with the help of "Save America's Treasures" program funds have been secured to restore the Inn to its former glory. 

As of the writing of this, the Inn though currently closed to the public is being renovated. You can peer inside to see what's happening.

Other Buildings:

There are a few other buildings still standing on the property. The home to the left of the Inn was the "Company House" or rather it was originally occupied by the lumber mill manager. This home has also been standing since about 1865.

Helpful Resources:

I have listed the different resources I found along the way when writing this article on the Navarro River Redwoods State Park and even though there aren't many links, I'm sure they'll still be helpful to most people, but the maps will definitely be a huge help!

• State Park's Page
• Park Brochure
• Navarro-by-the-sea-center.org
• Kelleyhousemuseum.org

Campground:

Wrights Beach Campground consists of 27 sites, sites 1-10 being the closest proximity to the beach and sites 21-27 offering the most privacy. There are 2 sets of restrooms with hot water, but there are no showers on the premises. 

There is potable water on site with many "community spigots" located in many areas of the campsites. There is a camp host onsite, and you are able to purchase firewood bundles from them for $8 a bundle. 

Campground Map:

Campsites:

Of the 27 sites, sites 1-10 are considered "Premium" sites and cost $45 per night. These sites all have direct ocean access. All the rest of the locations are $35 per night.

Sites 11-18 are located in the same loop as 1-10 but are not directly on the beach. Sites 19-27 are located in the adjacent loop, and although they are not on the beach they are all pretty private with shrubbery dividing the campsites.

Handicap Sites:

There are 3 sites that are designated as ADA approved. They are site numbers 2, 26 and 27. I honestly couldn't find anything differentiating these specific campsites from the others. As all the sites have pavement pads, my guess is their proximity to the restrooms.

Overflow Sites:

The overflow sites for this campground are located before and after the guard entry gate and are on a first come first served basis. There is no tent camping allowed in the overflow area. Self-contained units and trailers are allowed. The overflow area does have fire pits, bbq capabilities and picnic tables available. 

Unique Sites:

In their own right, many of the sites at this campground are unique. The sites at 1-10 all are directly on the beach. Wrights beach has amazing sunsets that can be viewed directly from your chair while sitting next to your campfire.

Sites 20-25, although not directly on the beach, are a very short walk to the beach. These sites offer some excellent privacy as there are no spaces directly across from them. Plus with the bushes in between you can get some get windbreak when the wind picks up.

Campsite Features:

Wrights Beach Campground has the basic amenities that you would expect from any campground, with just the basics included, for the most part. All campsites have a large fire pit, picnic table and a dry food storage cabinet.

There are no hook-ups or dump stations for your RV at Wrights Beach, so be aware of that before planning your trip and prepare accordingly. On a side note, most people stop by Bodega Dunes for certain RV necessities, as it is set up to be a more RV accommodating campground.

Dogs:

Dogs are allowed at Wrights Beach Campground but like the other state parks they aren't really allowed in many of the areas around the campsite area. If you do bring your dog, they must be on a leash at all times and that leash cannot be longer than 6 feet and length. They also require that the dog be attended at all times, so this means you can't leave your dog alone in your campsite while you go out.

They are not allowed on the beach or on any of the trails surrounding the area, so really it is not the best idea to take your dog with you on the trip, especially if you want to explore.

Bathrooms/Showers:

There are 2 bathroom location, one is right between both loops and the other is located at the end of site 20. There are no showers here but you can use the showers 5.5 miles away at Bodega Dunes. These take tokens which can be purchased at the park ranger station. 

Vehicles:

One vehicle is included with your purchase of an overnight stay as well as a trailer if you are towing. Any additional vehicles may stay for an additional $8. Senior citizens get a slightly discounted rate of $7.

Wrights Beach Shoreline:

With the Sonoma Coast State Park system stretching 21 miles in total, Wrights Beach being the longest shoreline in all of the Sonoma Coast State Park system. This beach stretches approximately .6 of a mile from end to end and is a fantastic walk to take when visiting.

Day Use Area:

Wrights Beach does offer a day use area that is pretty large, compared to some other state parks. The day use area at Wrights Beach is a fee use park, which means it costs $8 per car ($7 for seniors). 

The day use area does have picnic tables and plenty of space to fly a kite or toss a ball around. 

There are no bathrooms available in day use, so you will need to access the bathrooms in the campground. There are no dogs or fires allowed on the beach, now you can use the provided fire rings for fires but no open fires on the beach.

Nearby Amenities:

Bodega Bay: The town of Bodega Bay is only 12 minutes or 6.3 miles away. What is lacks in amenities, it makes up for in fresh fish and crab. You can visit the wharf area where the boats bring in fresh catches of the day. This town has one gas station and they do not offer propane.

There is 1 laundromat if you need to wash your clothing. There is also one smaller grocery store when heading into town on the left, if you blink you may miss it. They have about a dozen restaurants, with many featuring the local fish and shellfish.

Sebastapol & Santa Rosa: Sebastapol offers propane, fuel and grocery stores. It is located 34 minutes away or 21.9 miles. But if you need more than just the basics or you want more options then head to Santa Rosa. It's only an additional 12 minutes and 7.5 miles further. They have a Trader Joes, multiple Safeway stores and a Food Maxx. 

Bodega (Historic): Although it does not have what I would call amenities, it does make up for it in local history. They do have a coffee shop and a couple of eateries but what brings in visitors is the Potter Schoolhouse circa 1856 and the Saint Teresa of Avela Church circa 1859. This town is the site of the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds.

Trails:

There weren't many trails at Wrights Beach that you could hike on, in fact there was only one trail within the vicinity, but it does start from the campground itself and there are three main stops along the way at different beaches, if you choose to walk the entire stretch.

Overall, this is a fairly easy walk and is a clearly marked trail that spans roughly 4.7 miles one way, if you were to walk the entire trail.

The Kortum Trail:

The Kortum Trail begins or ends at Wrights Beach Campground, depending on which way you start, but the beginning point is located toward the end of the loop of near campsites 20-25, adjacent to the bathroom. The trail is in total (approximately) 9.4 miles long (there and back) with multiple stopping points along the way. 

First Beach:

Once you leave the campground and head north, the next stop is approximately 1.8 miles to Shell Beach. Shell Beach and the parking lot for the Kortum Trail has vault toilets.

Second Beach:

The next stop is Blind Beach, and it is approximately another 1.8 miles or an additional 35 minutes down the trail. There are other restrooms located at Blind Beach, so another stopping point to take a bathroom break.

Third Beach:

The final leg is onward to Goat Rock Beach, this is about an additional 1.1 miles down the trail from Blind Beach. On days when the sea is rough, you will not be able to access Goat Rock State Park by vehicle, due to the nature of the parking lot area itself, but you are still allowed to walk in if you choose to do so.

All of the reviews on this trail stated that this is an easy to medium trail and fairly well trafficked. It can be pretty windy on the bluffs overlooking the beaches, so just bear that in mind.

Fishing:

Coming Soon!

Helpful Resources:

• CA State Parks Site
• Sonoma Coast Park Brochure
• Campground Rules (pdf)

Day Use Area:

The day use area at the park is really just the parking lot and is the first thing you will see when driving in to Anderson Marsh, along with some of the historical buildings, a few picnic tables and portable toilets.

Will have to pay a day-use fee of around $4 to park if you plan on visiting the park for any amount of time. When we went, it was a self registration system where you put the money into the envelope and leave the other part of the envelope that you tear off on the — of your vehicle.

There were Park Rangers that came into the park and verified that people paid the day use fee, so be sure to submit the payment or have your state park annual pass displayed.

Vehicles:

The self registration fee of $4 is for one vehicle, so if you have more vehicles in that you will have to pay an additional $4 per vehicle. I could not find any information this stated how many people maximum per vehicle we're allowed but if I do I will update this page with the new information as soon as possible.

Dogs:

Dogs are welcome in the parking lot area only and you're not allowed on any of the trails in the park due to the park being a natural preserve. If your dog is in the parking lot, they also require that you have a leash that is no longer than 6 feet in length on your dog at all times and the dog must be attended at all times.

To sum things up, dogs are allowed in certain areas, but it's probably not a good idea to bring your dog, even though people have left reviews online stating that they did bring their dogs on the trails, so I know it does happen but like many other state parks, it isn't really a dog friendly place.

What Can I Do At Anderson Marsh?

Anderson Marsh is a very large area but to be quite honest there's not a whole lot to do outside hiking and visiting the historic buildings that are on the grounds. Regardless, it is a beautiful place that has different scenery to view, depending on the season with lots of wildlife and plenty of trails.

Anderson Marsh SP Map:

The Old Ranch:

A big part of Anderson Marsh State Park is the ranch area, which is where all of the historical buildings are found. This is where the majority of the pictures will be taken by most people and located right by the parking lot, making it conveniently located and all of the paths are pretty wide and level, so you can take a stroller or the kids with you, if you want to.

Historical Buildings:

As I mentioned before, there are several historical buildings on site and some have more significance than others but all the buildings (I thought) were really neat to look at, and I love history anyways, so it really is a two-in-one for me.

The Barns:

There are two barns on the property, when we went and one of them was all locked up, but the other barn was open and we could walk through and get a close-up view of the hand milled lumber from the 1800s.

Between the two barns was the Corral, which is another building that was used on the ranch for the animals.

The Outhouse:

There was also an outhouse on the grounds that is blocked off from entering inside, but still cool to look at and takes you back to how people used to go to the bathroom, and it was not as convenient as what we have nowadays.

The Stalls:

Like I mentioned earlier, there were also the Stalls in between the two barns or the corral, as the signs refer to it, which is yet another old building that was essential to the ranch's livelihood.

Trails:

When you look at the map for Anderson Marsh and study the trails, you can see that there are no real loops to the trails and one trail usually just turns into another trail, making it somewhat confusing, especially if you're out there with no map whatsoever!

I wanted to go over a few of the trails in Anderson Marsh, so you have a better understanding of how long they are, what routes they take and what other trails they turn into, so you have a much better understanding about how to navigate the trails.

The Ridge Trail:

The Ridge Trail is a nice, fairly flat trail that is approximately one mile in length (one way) and starts and stops off of the Anderson Flats Trail. If you started off in the day-use parking lot of the park, you would head West along the cattle fence.

It is possible to access the Ridge Trail from two separate points on the Anderson Flats Trail. If you started in the day-use parking lot and headed west along the fence line, you would come to a fork in the trail, in which case you would head South.

The other way to access the Ridge Trail from the Anderson Flats Trail would be to stay on the Anderson Flats Trail at the first fork, and at the second Fork stay right, and then at the third Fork stay left, and you would eventually make a hard left onto the Ridge Trail.

Cache Creek Nature Trail:

The Cache Creek Nature Trail is one of the prettiest Trail in Anderson Marsh State Park and is approximately 1.1 miles in length and the starting point is right from the parking area, also where all of the historical buildings are located.

You could also access the Cache Creek Nature Trail by heading west from the parking area and walking along the cattle fence on Anderson Flats Trail and you will eventually turn off on to the Cache Creek Trail, if you choose to go that way.

This trail has a very nice wooden boardwalk that runs along a short section of the trail, taking you along Cache Creek itself and then ends up taking you through some of the marsh areas, so you get to see a lot of the area's Natural Resources by taking this trail.

Anderson Flats Trail:

The Anderson Flats Trail is really the main trail that connects all of the other trails in the park. It starts off at the parking area and has West along the cattle fence and then veers Slightly North and from that point you have the options of cutting off on to any of the other trails in the park.

The Anderson Flats Trail is approximately .8 miles in length, so just under a mile one way and is fairly level and is also a stroller accessible if you have a jogging stroller that uses larger air filled tires.

The Marsh Trail:

The Marsh Trail is one of the shortest trails in the park, having a range of only half a mile, but provides one of the best views of Anderson Marsh State Historic Park that you can't get from any other Trail.

In order to access the Marsh Trail, you will have to come in on either the Cache Creek Nature Trail, the Anderson Flats Trail or the McVicar Trail, which ultimately you will have to add additional mileage to your journey in order to get there.

The McVicar Trail:

The McVicar Trail is the longest trail in the park, by far, stretching three and a half miles from start to finish, so if you are going to walk this trail, you will have to make your way back, making the walk more than 7 miles in total!

You can access the McVicar Trail from the Anderson Flats Trail or the Ridge Trail and if you do decide to walk this trail and go all the way to the end, you will be rewarded by having a view of Clear Lake.

Helpful Resources:

• Park Brochure
• CA State Parks Page
• Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association

Campground:

The campground itself has a total of 76 sites, which are mixed between RV sites and tent sites. It is geared more towards tent camping, but you can also bring a small camp trailer, as they have just enough room to fit more compact setups.

There are two different loops in this Campground and the first loop contains sites 1 through 36, while the second loop holds the remaining sites 37 through 76, which you can see on the map below.

Campground Map:

Campsites:

Most of the campsites at Grover Hot Springs State Park are pretty spacious, and you could fit several tents and pop-up shelters easily in most of the sites, due to the wide open area of each individual site. This is true for sites that are located on the outer perimeter of the road and is also true for some sites that are located within the inner circle areas as well.

On a side note though, not all sites are large enough to accommodate multiple tents and other shelters, so keep that in mind before booking your site and be sure you do your research to get a site that has plenty of room for all of your camp equipment.

One thing I did notice about the RV accessible sites was that the parking layout seem to be switched around from other campgrounds I have visited and could have been better thought out.

Most trailers and RV's have their door located on the passenger side of your vehicle and a lot of the pads seem to be set up for the doors being on the opposite side (driver's side), which usually required you walking out your camper, around your camper in order to access your campsite.

I really just wanted to point this out as it was not really a dealbreaker, just something I noticed when walking around.

There were some instances where some of the campsites were closer to your parking area, like the image above shows with site number 66. These might be desirable for some people out there and I wanted to point out that there are some sites within the campground that are laid out like this.

I also noticed that most of the tent sites had the campground area (where the fire pit, bear box and picnic table were located) a little ways away from where you would park your vehicle. The above image is a good example of the distance between where you park your vehicle and the actual campsites are located, which is seen here on site 54.

Unique Sites:

There were a lot of unique sites in the campground that had cool elements integrated either within the site itself or another natural aspect nearby that made it stand out from the other sites.

Campsite Features:

A lot of the features that you would find at other campsites were also available here at Grover Hot Springs State Park like a picnic table, a fire pit and a dry storage pantry area where you usually keep your food. Since there are a lot of bears around they actually provide an additional bear locker that is used to store all of your food in, day and night.