Whale Watching along the North Coast
By Andrew Pridgen
From the grassy hills around Valley Ford and Bodega Bay to the forested bluffs north of Jenner, Sonoma County’s coastline provides travelers with some of the most spectacular ocean vistas in California.
Winding along 76 miles of largely unspoiled coastline, Highway 1 takes travelers through pastures of sheep and dairy cows, past the fishing docks of Bodega Bay, and through redwood groves, and coastal villages. These historic towns typically offer bed-and-breakfast inns for travelers plus restaurants that depend on repeat business, which they lure with first-rate fare and atmosphere.
With the crowds of fall and summer gone, the North Coast can be ideal for tranquil hiking at any of parks that include 20 state beaches and the land around them.
The small city of Sebastopol
Northbound travelers who want to enjoy a detour inland can leave Highway 1 just north of Valley Ford and head for Freestone. At Freestone, with its historic downtown, travelers are only a short distance west of the small city of Sebastopol (once famous for its Gravenstein apple orchards).
These days, part of Sebastopol’s North Main Street – an area dominated by Copperfield’s bookstore – also has all sorts of pleasant coffee houses, eateries, saloons, and music stores. An unusual shop worth visiting is Fancy That Gallery, which specializes in Japanese art and gifts.
Occidental
Some 3.5 miles west of Sebastopol on the Bohemian Highway lies Occidental, a onetime logging and railroad town set amid towering redwoods. Four decades ago, the town was primarily known for three restaurants specializing in gourmand Italian dinners, now it too has become dominated by small shops and cafés.
One such shop, Natural Connections, sells blown glass and garden statuary, while Hand Goods offers locally made pottery, furniture, jewelry, and crafts.
Traditionally known for its Italian restaurants serving huge portions, Occidental’s restaurants these days serve European or California cuisine, seafood or steak, but it’s still a gourmand’s paradise.
Whale migration
For those travelers who don’t head east to Sebastopol or Occidental but continue driving north on Highway 1, they will soon find themselves at some of the better vantage points along the North Coast for watching the southbound migration of California gray whales.
Beginning around the first of December, the whale’s can be spotted from such sites as Bodega Head outside the town of Bodega Bay, from Fort Ross State Park, and from Timber Cove Lodge and the land around it. The whales are en route from the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea to the Gulf of Cortez, where they will calve. Beginning around the end of March, adults and calves will begin heading north back up the Sonoma County coast.
Valley Ford
Sonoma County’s southernmost town on Highway 1 is the historic town of Valley Ford. It is named for a ford on the Estero de Americano, that was used by Miwok Indians and Spanish colonizers. The estuary now forms the Sonoma-Marin county line in this region.
A potato-farming community in the 19th century, Valley Ford has changed little since then although dairy and sheep ranching replaced farming in the 1920s.
In 1976, Valley Ford became famous when conceptual artist Christo Javacheff strung a 22-mile-long "Running Fence" of white fabric from the Highway 101 freeway across the coastal hills, through the town, and into the Pacific Ocean.
For such a tiny town, Valley Ford has an unusual amount of services: a market, bank, several galleries, historic Dinucci’s Italian Restaurant, the Valley Ford Hotel, and The Inn at Valley Ford (a Victorian bed-and-breakfast inn).
The Valley Ford Hotel also boasts an excellent restaurant featuring European cuisine and a wide selection of locally-grown oysters and produce. The restaurant offers live music every Friday and Saturday night. For reservations, call 707 876-3604.
The town of Bodega
A few miles north and a half mile east of Highway 1 is the 19th-century town of Bodega, which was the setting (along with the town of Bodega Bay) for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds. Forty years later visitors can still recognize Potter School (1863), which is now an inn, and St. Theresa’s Church (1860), which still holds mass; both were featured in the film.
Because of the 40th anniversary celebration for The Birds, Bodega Landmark Studio Gallery is showing a display related to the filming done in town. Visitors can see old movie props, magazines with photos from the movie, pictures of the sets, and autographs from cast members including leading actress Tippy Hedron, who recently revisited Bodega.
History buffs will be intrigued by the ancient cemetery along the short road between Highway 1 and town. Many of the graves go back to the Irish immigration of the mid-1850s.
The town of Bodega Bay
Five miles north of Bodega on Highway 1 is the largest
community on the Sonoma County coast, Bodega Bay. This fishing port is named
after a Spanish sea captain, Juan Francisco de la Bodega, who dropped anchor
here in 1775.
From within two of the better-known bayside restaurants, The Tides and Lucas Wharf, diners can feast on fresh seafood while watching fishing-boat traffic on Bodega Bay. Indeed, from their tables, they can watch fishermen unload their catches at nearby docks.
Photo: Bodega Bay
For those who want to try their own luck at deep-sea fishing, sport fishing boats operate year-round from Porto Bodega Marina. Fresh fish such as salmon and halibut are periodically sold dockside.
Beaches
Doran Beach, a mile south of downtown, is within a county park and popular for windsurfing, strolling, and seaside camping. Call ahead for information and camping reservations, 707 875-3540.
A series of scenic beaches in a 17-mile stretch north of Bodega Bay along Highway 1 together make up Sonoma Coast State Beach. Highlights include Salmon Creek Beach, Portuguese Beach, Wright Beach, and Shell Beach, all of which are accessible from more than a dozen points along the route.
Continuing north on Highway 1, just before motorists reach the Russian River, they pass Goat Rock Beach, a park where a colony of harbor seals can regularly be found warming themselves on a sandbar. While the seals are on view to see and photograph, beachgoers should know that it’s illegal to approach the animals so closely that they move positions.
Jenner at the river mouth
Just north of the Russian River Bridge is the hillside town of Jenner overlooking the river’s mouth. A resort community of weekend homes, B&Bs, and restaurants, the town is perched above the waves of winter storms. The beach at Jenner is large and good for picnicking while just offshore stacks of rock tower above the surf.
Like Bodega Bay, Jenner is a good place to fill up on gasoline because few gas stations remain along the coast.
The town of Duncans Mills
Just inland from Jenner on Highway 116 is the former logging town of Duncans Mills. A Depot Museum recalls the narrow-gauge North Pacific Coast railroad, which once hauled away Russian River lumber.
Buildings on both sides of the highway have been restored, including a general store dating back to the beginning of the last century plus several galleries and shops.
Fort Ross
North of Jenner, Highway 1 winds along steep ocean bluffs – a spectacular drive that climbs more than 700-feet above the Pacific before dropping down to historic Fort Ross. In the early 19th-century, Fort Ross was the easternmost outpost of tsarist Russia.
With labor provided by Indians brought from Alaska, where Russia had a colony, the fort was used as a base for growing produce for the colonies, as well as hunting otters and seals. In addition, the fort was intended to keep Spanish forces to the south from moving up the coast.
Now a state park, Fort Ross’ distinctive wooden structures have been fully restored. Among its structures are a stockade, a commandant’s house, and a Russian Orthodox chapel, notable for its rustic cupolas. A visitor center provides historical information on Fort Ross, using slide displays and artifacts.
Lodging near Fort Ross
There are numerous places to dine and stay north of Fort Ross: the rustic Timber Cove Inn with its fireplaces, hot tubs, ocean views, and fine restaurant; Stillwater Cove Ranch, a smaller inn tucked in the redwoods; Fort Ross Lodge which offers both oceanview and forest-sheltered rooms, most with hot tubs and fireplaces.
Those interested in camping can find many overnight sites available in Salt Point State Park, a 6,000-acre sanctuary of coastal forest, rocky promontories, and pristine coves. The park offers 109 drive-in and 20 walk-in campsites.
Further north is Sea Ranch, originally developed as a 5,200-acre subdivision famous for its coastal saltbox architecture. Although Sea Ranch stretches for 10 miles along Highway 1, the public can use any of seven public trails to reach the community’s beaches and bluffs. Also open to the public at Sea Ranch are a restaurant, lodge, and an 18-hole golf course.