Bodega Head

EXPERIENCE DESCRIPTION

Bodega Head is a rocky volcanic promontory that juts into the Pacific just south of the Lodge, accessible via a short drive and a 1.5-mile trail that circles the headland completely. At dawn it is essentially unvisited — the parking area is empty, the light is low and direct from the east, and the cliffs below the trail edge host nesting Brandt's cormorants and pigeon guillemots through spring and summer. Harbor seals haul out on the rocks below year-round. Gray whales pass within a few hundred meters of the point during spring and fall migration. The trail is flat, requires no equipment, and returns in under an hour.

OPERATOR STORY

Bodega Head is managed by California State Parks as part of Sonoma Coast State Park. The headland was the proposed site of a nuclear power plant in the 1960s, construction stopped when the fault system was discovered running directly beneath the site, preserving one of the Sonoma Coast's most ecologically significant landmarks as public open space.