South of Jenner and the Russian River, Hwy-1 hugs the coast along 10 miles of rocky coves and sandy beaches, collectively protected as Sonoma Coast Beaches State Park (707/875-3483). Starting with Goat Rock at the southern lip of the Russian River mouth, a bluff-top trail leads south past intriguingly named and usually unpopulated pocket strands like Blind Beach, Schoolhouse Beach, Shell Beach, Wright’s Beach (site of the park’s main beachfront campground; 800/444-7275), and Salmon Creek Beach.
At the southernmost end, Sonoma Coast Beaches State Park broadens to include the wildflower-covered granite promontory of Bodega Head, which juts into the Pacific and provides a great vantage point for watching the gray whale migrations in winter.
