Sunday, September 2, 2012

MacKerricher State Park


View MacKerricher State Park - September 2012 in a larger map

What
  • Hiking
  • Fishing
  • Ten Mile Beach
  • Sandhill Lake
  • Lake Cleone
  • Laguna Point
  • Seals
  • Whales
  • Ducks, Pelicans, Seagulls
  • Tidepools
  • View of Pacific Ocean
  • Skeleton of a gray whale

More Info
  • $8/car parking fee 
  • Several parking lots in the park
  • Restrooms nears Laguna Point

Lake Cleone

There are several parking lots in this huge state park; we parked the car near Lake Cleone, a very small freshwater lake popular for fishing. We walked to the beach, climbed on the rocks nearby and saw the beautiful sight of the waves crashing against the rocks. At a distance there were lots of birds sitting on the rocks off the shore. To our right was the Ten Mile Beach and to our left, the Laguna Point.

Birds near the Ten Mile Beach

Laguna Point Trail

Length: ~0.6 miles; Elevation: Insignificant; Time: 1 hour; Difficulty: Easy

We started walking on the beach towards the trailhead to the Laguna Point. From the trailhead, there is a paved boardwalk that takes you along the coastline and forms a loop. Along the trail, there were several scenic viewpoints to see the beautiful and vast ocean. A couple of detours from the trail took us to the tidepools, where we saw tidepool sculpins, starfish, mussels, hermit crabs, etc. The water was so clear that we could see the ocean bed from parts of the trail.
View of Laguna Point to the left, from North Overlook

We soon reached the Laguna Point, which is a prime vantage point to see the migrating gray whales and humpback whales between November and March. Harbor seals can be seen throughout the year on the rocks nearby. California sea lions can be usually seen from here from fall through mid-spring. We even noticed several birds such as black oystercatchers, pelagic cormorants, western gulls, surf scoters, pelicans, herons, black turnstones. We continued on the trail that soon took us back to the parking lot.

Don’t miss out the skeleton of a gray whale at the park entrance.

Gray Whale Skeleton

Tips
  • Gray whale skeleton is at the park entrance
  • Check out the time of low tides and come here during low tides to see the rich tidepools
  • Excellent vantage point to see seals, sea lions and whales (between November and March)

Useful Resources

Nearby Locations

1 comment:

  1. I'm a single woman, retired teacher, 61, planning a coastal route for next summer to visit a high school friend near Portland, OR. Very glad to have stumbled upon your blog, it's helping me plan!

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