One of the most beautiful drives along California’s iconic Highway 1 can be enjoyed on the Sonoma Coast, especially as you head North up Highway 1 from Bodega Bay to Kortum Trail, Pomo Canyon, and the Jenner Headlands. Regional and state parks abound with beach after beach offering the opportunity to stop and enjoy the salty breeze, a picnic or a view, and hiking trails stretching along the coastline and across into the headlands.
Two of my favorite places for views and trails have to be Shell Beach, where there are trailheads for the Kortum trail and Pomo Canyon trail and the Jenner Headlands Preserve, a bit further North. I can’t count how many times I’ve driven up the coast just to go for a morning hike at one or both of these destinations. The views never get old.
Whenever I leave California for any extended period of time and come back, it is this little piece of Northern California paradise I head to first.
Kortum Trail and Pomo Canyon Trail
If you are looking for both a gorgeous vista point and a few miles of trails next to the ocean, Shell Beach and Kortum trail are just the ticket. The Kortum trailhead is located at the parking area at Shell Beach and will take you down a route that runs alongside the cliffs and offers spectacular views. All in all the trail is a little over four miles if you take it all the way around and back.
If you’re looking for a slightly longer (but still mellow) route, you can start from Wright’s Beach instead of Shell Beach, and do a fifteen-minute portion along the beach before linking back up with the trail that will lead you back up to the Kortum trailhead at Shell Beach. Then take the trail to Goat Rock Beach and back.
Or, you can do the shorter portion of Kortum Trail from Shell Beach and then head across the road from the Shell Beach parking lot where you will find the trailhead for the Pomo Canyon trail.
Pomo Canyon trail is a six-and-a-half-mile loop trail (easy to moderate in difficulty) that winds through headlands and forested areas and offers a small climb in elevation.
Jenner Headlands Preserve
From Shell Beach, drive approximately five miles north to the Jenner Headlands Preserve. Here, you will find stunning views and a lookout point before you’ve gone even a full mile on the Sea-to-Sky Trail. The Sea-to-Sky trail is a steep fifteen-mile round-trip hike (seven and a half miles each way) that offers stunning views (from coast to headlands and forest and then back again), a steep ascent, and a stunning array of wildlife.
Parking at Jenner Headlands Preserve is free of charge.