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| It was a "thumbs up" kind of day at Fort Ross State Historic Park! |
The 22 miles of the Pacific Coast Highway between Bodega Bay and Fort Ross are absolutely stunning. Reaching the Pacific Coast Highway from Monte Rio is simple. Take State Route 116 west until it ends. If you turn left, it’s 11 miles southward to Bodega Bay. Turn right and it's 11 miles northward to Fort Ross State Park. There are rolling hills on one side of the highway and waves from the Pacific Ocean crashing along the rocky coast on the other. There will be times along the way when you're driving on the edge of a very steep drop off. Take a peak every now and then if you're the driver, but keep your eyes on the road and two hands on the steering wheel, it's a long way down!
There are numerous pull outs, beaches and hiking trails along the route, and you can't go wrong with any of them. Among our favorite beaches are Doran Beach, Shell Beach, Blind Beach and Goat Rock Beach. Goat Rock Beach is on the south shore where the Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean. So you have two options there, beachfront or riverfront.
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| From Goat Rock Beach |
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| Hole in the Rock just south of Goat Rock Beach |
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| Keeping a couple of folding chairs in the car is a good idea when exploring along the Pacific Coast Highway. You never know what the view is going to be around the next curve. |
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| From Jenner looking south. That's the mouth of the Russian River in the center and Goat Rock Beach on the other side. |
There are numerous trails of varying length and difficulty along the way. Our favorite is a section of the Kortum Trail between Shell Beach and Goat Rock Beach. That section is 2.3 miles, fairly flat and has amazing views all along the way. We took James and Emma on a hike of this section one day and they did great. Although we didn't cover the entire length of that section, we did cover close to two miles in total length. After the hike we enjoyed a fun but short picnic at one of the overlooks. The picnic was shortened by the cool breeze that was coming off the ocean.
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| Hitting the trail |
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| James and Emma leading the way |
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| The kids enjoyed exploring this part of the trail while MiMi and Pop rested a bit. |
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| Picnicking at one of many overlooks along the way. |
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| After the hike and picnic we enjoyed some time at Salmon Creek Beach |
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| Calling it a day! |
On a separate day when we were keeping James and Emma we drove north 11 miles from Jenner to Fort Ross State Historic Park. This was our first time visiting the park, which is one of the oldest in the California State Park system. The 3,386 acre park is home to what was North America's southernmost Russian Settlement. The settlement was founded in 1812 by members of the Russian-American Company which started in Alaska. The site was selected and built to serve as base for harvesting and trading the highly valued sea otter pelts. The colony expanded and flourished for more than a decade until over hunting reduced the profitability.
Fort Ross State Historic Park
In 1841 the Russian-American Company sold the land and fort to John Sutter. The property changed hands several times between 1841 and 1903 and was used primarily for logging and ranching. In 1903 the California Historical Landmarks Committee purchased it and it was acquired by the State of California in 1906. The state has done a nice job not only preserving but also restoring and reconstructing the fort to what it looked like back in its heyday.
There is an entrance fee of $10 per vehicle ($9 if you're old). Inside the park is a visitors center with numerous displays, an 18 minute movie that plays on a continuous loop and a small gift shop. After watching part of the movie we headed out to explore the fort and the beach area. Inside the walled fort were several restored buildings including a chapel, blacksmith shop, company store, two guard towers and the managers house (Rotchev House), which is the oldest home on the west coast from Monterey, California all the way up to Sitka, Alaska. The kids had a blast exploring the fort, climbing into the guard towers and pretending to fire the canons. James had several good questions that a friendly docent answered in a manner that an eight-year-old (and grandparents) could understand.
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| Inside the company store/trading post |
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| James taking aim |
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| Nobody is getting by Emma! |
After spending nearly an hour in the fort we took the trail down to one of the two beaches located in the park, and the kids enjoyed playing for another hour along the shoreline. As we made our way down to the beach several people were leaving. We were amazed that during the time we were on the beach we had it to ourselves. It's not often you'll have a beautiful beach in a California State Park on a sunny day to yourself, but that's exactly what we had! As we were leaving another family was heading down. It was as if we were turning it over to them to enjoy. Hopefully, they enjoyed their day at Fort Ross State Historic Park as much as we did.
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| A beautiful and peaceful beach cove |
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| From the beach looking up towards the fort |
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| A great beach is even better when you have it to yourself! |
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| In deep conversation about something |
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| James and Emma with Fort Ross in the background |
