Gerstle Cove

Along the Northern California Coast lies Gerstle Cove, which is a part of Salt Point State Park. We stumbled upon it on accident, and until last summer we had no knowledge that it existed. We found out about it late in the day so we didn't have time to fully explore. What I saw pleased me - panoramic views, rugged coastline, dramatic sounds of surf. In this part of the state, even in the summer time fog could roll in anytime. You can see that my photos are overcast and you can tell it was cold - in August!

An interesting tidbit I found when I was researching this place prior to posting is that this was where San Francisco got the the sandstone that was used for construction of its streets and buildings in the mid 1800s. How about that.

The tide pools are really such fun also. You can see sea lions not far from us - wish it was low tide. I found a crab hiding under the rocks and some clams too. Would really love to return one day and hike some more.

On your online research do you use Yelp? I do and I found one that on Gerstle Cove that was pretty helpful. Of course this time, I went there before I Yelped. But one was extremely helpful.

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Amy from Sacramento Yelped: I loved Gerstle Cove. The first time we went tidepooling and were just feet away from sea lions. It's slippery, but so much fun.

The second time I went camping at Gerstle Cove itself with some friends. There are bathrooms, and you can have a camping stove and bring wood for firerings. It was super crowded, I think we had the overflow campground because I really don't remember a firepit.

It was a quick walk down to the shore, but when we got there, we realized you can't bring dogs to the water. This was after I was climbing around on the rocks with Seamas, my trusty standard schnauzer mix. I promptly got out of the tidepools, as it makes sense there are no dogs allowed, and trekked back up to the campsite. So my first time was much better than my second time.

If you go for tidepooling, leave really early in the morning and go through Bodega Bay. Pick up some coffee and some early morning chowder. Skip bringing your K9.

There is also a rhododendron park to hike around there, which would be amazing in the blooming season.


...........aaah the simple joys of living in Northern California!!!

Comments

  1. Interesting place. Looks like you can do a lot of things there. A perfect place for landscape photography.

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  2. Great cliffs ! Would love to live in a house with view of the sea !

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  3. Nice! It's good you discovered it by accident :D

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  4. reminds me so much of kapurpurawan in ilocos. beautiful!

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  5. the place looks as gorgeous as the name sounds! and wow, that crab is unlike any i've ever seen!

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  6. After having lived in CA for 12 years, I've never heard of the place, Maria! Things like that still amaze me. I can see why people want to go there. I've never heard of Yelp, either. I'll have to check that out. :)

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  7. Very beautiful wild and "natural" place!

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  8. Very rugged yet beautiful Maria! To think that there's a major highway right next to it. I must say California's coastline must be the country's most scenic!

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  9. i love the rock formation there. i'm imagining the sound of waves crashing unto those rocks.

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  10. a great place to take photos.

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  11. Amazing rock formations and colour! Truly beautiful.

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  12. wow, the cove looks amazing, it can easily be mistaken as somewhere in the outskirts of europe.
    ^0^

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  13. very beautiful images!
    Hugs from Brasil!

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