While traveling throughout the western United States this past summer, we had the opportunity to stay at a wonderful coastal state park. MacKerricher State Park is located a few miles north of Fort Bragg, California (roughly 3.5 hours north of San Francisco). Finding a campsite along the coast of California during the summer can be difficult, especially on the weekends. A Thursday afternoon arrival helped us secure a site for the weekend. Our particular campsite was a walk in site approximately 50 yards from the parking area. A cart left for general use proved it’s usefulness by saving us several trips of hand carrying our supplies. After setting up camp it was time to explore the park. Although there were other campers, plenty of coastline awaited for your own slice of beach area. Beautiful and secluded are great descriptors of this park.
View of the Pacific from Laguna Point.
Shoreline view with plenty of wave action.
Beautiful vegetation covered the dune areas of the beach.
While exploring the beach we found many tidal pool organisms thriving on rocky areas. We spent a couple of hours simply admiring the life filled rocks.
Rock covered with many different organisms. We even found little crabs living within the water puddles. They were quick, so no photo evidence.
Wild harbor seals sun themselves in their protected rocky area. As not to disturb them I kept my distance and used my zoom lens to capture what I could.
As this stop was a part of our 6 week tour of the west we had to take care of items such as laundry and grocery shopping. With the park’s close proximity to Fort Bragg, shopping, restaurants, and laundry facilities were readily available. After an afternoon spent in town enjoying a few beers, meeting the locals, doing laundry and stocking up, it was time to head back to the beach to enjoy a bottle of wine while watching the sunset.
Enjoying a bottle of Merlot from our good friend Deano at Cairdean Vineyards.
Taking in the breathtaking views while sipping on wine = bliss!
Ahh sunset along the coast. There is truly nothing better.
The park is also home to Lake Cleone. There is no shortage of natural beauty at this California state park.
The stunning view of the Pacific from Glass Beach, located at the south end of the park.
Our three night stay was filled with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, cool nights, relaxing sunsets and dinner over our campfire. Unexpected visitors to our campsite every night added to the experience. We named our little nightly visitor Rocky the Raccoon and his sidekick Skippy the Skunk. They were not afraid to come close to camp in search of our human food. Never a dull moment while camping.
Up next on Travel Thursday’s: The Redwoods and the Oregon coast!
Ralphie Rough Road 
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