Address
42401 Coast
CA-1, Gualala
Experience Type
Nature & Wildlife
EXPERIENCE DESCRIPTION
The Gualala River forms a protected estuary before entering the Pacific, and the sandbar and shallows exposed at low tide draw harbor seals and a consistent cast of wading birds — great blue herons, great egrets, and a rotating roster of shorebirds depending on the season. Gualala Point Regional Park’s river trail loops through riparian woodland before reaching the beach at the river mouth. The morning light on the estuary, with the coastal fog still sitting on the surrounding ridgeline, is genuinely beautiful and genuinely unhurried.
OPERATOR STORY
Gualala Point Regional Park is managed by Sonoma County Regional Parks on land that straddles the Mendocino-Sonoma county line. The park protects the river's lower reach and the estuary's ecological function as nursery habitat for steelhead and coho salmon. The harbor seal colony at the river mouth is one of the most accessible on the Northern California coast.
