The Point Arena Lighthouse is one of the most gorgeous places to visit on our coast! The California Coastal National Monument is the technical name of the area that we walked this morning, but I call it the Point Arena Lighthouse Walk. This walk is easy to access and level the whole way but be sure to wear hiking boots or shoes that you don't care too much about, as you will be walking through a cow pasture!
For this trail, we park right at the entrance to the lighthouse and take the trail just to the right of the lighthouse sign through the gate.
It can get pretty windy out on the bluffs, but this morning was warm and barely breezy. It gets bright out here in the sun, so wear a hat or sunglasses. You don't want to miss these views because you were too busy squinting the whole time!
Once through the gate, you have a choice of three different trails to take across the field; we chose the first one and followed it parallel to the lighthouse and out to the bluff.
There is a large sinkhole that you will walk around to continue along the bluff trail, and you can hear the waves crashing from inside it!
Just on the other side of that huge sinkhole, is my favorite view of the whole walk- looking down on Manchester State Beach
Something about the expanse of that beach- the sand goes on for as far as the eye can see- takes my breath away every time. This beach is so different from the small rockier beaches in Sea Ranch.
As we continued, we could see Canada Geese walking amongst the cows grazing in the field.
The trail led us right through where the cows were and I got nervous about walking so close to the moms and babies, so I chose to head back at this point, but there was farther to go on the trail.
By the time we got back to the truck, lots of other people had shown up to go enjoy the trails. I recommend getting there early in the morning if you like to enjoy your walks with less people!
Pros: Easy access, easy to walk. Lots of animals to see.
Cons: Can be really windy- plan accordingly.
Sometimes there are cows blocking the path!