Point Arena Stornetta Coastal Trail

The Point Arena-Stornetta Unit is the first mainland (onshore) portion of the California Coastal National Monument, added by presidential proclamation on March 11, 2014 after a sustained local campaign. The roughly 1,665-1,700 acres were once part of the Stornetta family dairy ranch, donated to the Bureau of Land Management in 2005; cattle grazing still continues today, alongside hikers and wildlife watchers. BLM's Ukiah Field Office manages the unit.

The landscape is windswept coastal prairie sitting atop dramatic bluffs, cut through by sea arches, blowholes, and sinkholes, and bordered by the Garcia River estuary. It contains the southernmost natural stand of shore pine in California and sits directly beside the historic Point Arena Lighthouse (built 1870, rebuilt 1908, 115 feet tall — the tallest on the Pacific Coast), just north of the town of Point Arena.

Best season is November through May, when gray, humpback, and occasionally blue whales pass offshore on their migration and hiking temperatures are cooler — though the bluffs are exposed and can be windy at any time of year.

Sources describe the trail network two ways: BLM's own page cites "eight miles of marked paths" across the whole unit, while the most detailed trail account (Anne's Travels) documents a single coastal out-and-back of 3.4 miles one-way (6.8 miles round trip) with about 425 feet of total elevation change — mostly flat clifftop walking with only a few short climbs.

Starting from the northern Lighthouse Road trailhead ("Bend in the Road" footpath access), the path crosses active grazing pasture and reaches a sinkhole around 0.6 miles in — a hole that drops toward a sea cave, audible but not visible at the bottom. Near mile 1.1 it skirts an old Coast Guard station (now Mendocino College's Coastal Field Station), then returns to the cliff edge for the best scenery: by 1.7 miles there are seven or more sea arches visible from a headland viewpoint, and by roughly mile 2 a rocky bar below the bluffs is a reliable spot to see harbor seals hauled out and sunning — as many as 15 at a time. The trail continues to a third trailhead near Point Arena's City Hall at about 3.4 miles.

The surface is unpaved dirt, mostly flat with a few rutted spots to step over. There are no guardrails anywhere along the cliff edge. Wildlife along the way includes black oystercatchers foraging the shoreline, peregrine falcons overhead, and brown pelicans; the unit is also habitat for several protected species, including the western snowy plover, coho salmon, California red-legged frog, Point Arena mountain beaver, and Behren's silver spot butterfly. The overall feel is exposed, quiet, and often windy, with near-constant views back toward the lighthouse.

The unit is free to enter, day-use only, with no motorized vehicles or hang gliding allowed; dogs are permitted on leash. There is no single "front gate" — three main access points serve the trail: the Lighthouse Road/Bend in the Road lot at the north end, a mid-trail lot near the old Coast Guard station road, and a southern lot by Point Arena's City Hall and Justice Court in town. Hikers can walk any stretch as an out-and-back from a single trailhead or arrange a one-way shuttle between two.

Facilities are minimal: port-a-potties at the trailheads, no drinking water anywhere on site. By car, the northern trailhead is on CA-1 via Lighthouse Road, about 1.7 miles north of the town of Point Arena; it's roughly a two-hour drive from Santa Rosa, best done sticking to CA-1/US-101 rather than curvier inland roads like Skaggs Springs or Fish Rock Road. Weekday mornings are the quietest time to visit; November through May adds a good chance of spotting migrating whales.

The volunteer nonprofit Friends of Point Arena-Stornetta Lands organizes "Get Out on the Land" guided walks, Docent Days, and the annual "Celebrate the Coast" event on the unit — check pointarenastornetta.org for current dates. BLM has in the past run its own free ranger-guided hikes here ("Coastal Explorers," a 2-mile easy walk, and "Hike the Coast," a moderate 8-mile hike); it's worth calling the Ukiah Field Office to ask whether that program is still active. Pair a visit with the neighboring Point Arena Lighthouse (separate admission fee) for a full half-day on the headlands.