Location: County: Sonoma. Nearest City: Bodega Bay. See map 5.

Campsites, facilities: Bodega Dunes: There are 98 sites for tents or RVs up to 31 feet long, with a limit of eight people per site. Picnic tables, fire grills, and piped water are provided. Flush toilets, showers, and a sanitary disposal station are available. Laundry facilities, supplies, and horse rentals are available within one mile. Leashed pets are permitted, except on the trails. Pomo Canyon: There are 21 walk-in tent sites. Picnic tables and fire grills are provided. Piped water and pit toilets are available. No pets are permitted. Wrights Beach: There are 30 sites for tents or RVs up to 27 feet long, with a limit of eight people per site. Picnic tables, fire grills, piped water, and flush toilets are provided. Pets are permitted.

Reservations, fees: Bodega Dunes: Reserve by phoning 1-800-444-PARK/7275 ($7.50 reservation fee); $14-$16 per night, $5 for each additional car, $1 pet fee. Pomo Canyon: No reservations; $10 per night, $5 per night for each additional vehicle. Wrights Beach: Reserve by phoning 1-800-444-PARK/7275 ($7.50 reservation fee); $18-$20 per night, $5 for each additional vehicle, $1 pet fee.

Contact: Phone the beach at 1-707-875-3483 or 1-707-865-2391 or fax 1-707-865-0147.

Sonoma Coast SB
3095 Highway 1
Bodega Bay CA 94923

Operating hours, seasons: Call the park for information; open all year round.

Directions: Bodega Dunes: From Petaluma on U.S. 101, take the East Washington exit, drive west through Petaluma (it becomes Bodega Avenue), and continue to Highway 1. Turn north on Highway 1 and drive to Bodega Bay. In Bodega Bay, drive one mile north to the campground entrance. Pomo Canyon: From San Francisco, drive north on U.S. 101 to Petaluma. In Petaluma, take the East Washington exit and turn left (west). (This street becomes Bodega Avenue.) Drive through Petaluma for 26 miles to Bodega Bay, where the road merges with Highway 1. Continue north on Highway 1 past Bodega Bay for about 10 miles. Turn right (east) on Willow Creek Road and drive about three miles to the campground. Reaching the campsites requires a one- to five-minute walk. Wrights Beach: From Petaluma on U.S. 101, take the East Washington exit and drive west through Petaluma (it becomes Bodega Avenue) and continue to Highway 1. Turn north on Highway 1 and drive to Bodega Bay. In Bodega Bay, drive six miles north to the campground entrance.

Weather, clothing: The weather can be changeable; layered clothing is recommended.

Trip notes: Sonoma State Beach features coastland with beaches, reefs, coves, tidepools, headlands, and natural arches. With more than ten miles of shoreline 5,000 acres, this state beach is one of the largest in the state. The park stretches from Bodega Head to the Russian River. There is a five-mile trail system in the dunes. The beach is home to one of California's largest seal rookeries. In the winter, Bodega Head is one of the finest whale-watching site on the North Coast. The park is also home to many kinds of seabirds. The ocean bay and river frontage offers perch, salmon, steelhead and smelt fishing. The beach features several great campgrounds, and, if you like the beach, this one rates high. It is set at the end of a beach that stretches for miles, providing stellar beach walks and excellent beachcombing during low tides. To the nearby south is Bodega Bay, including a major deep-sea sportfishing operation with excellent salmon fishing in June and July, and outstanding prospects for rockfish and lingcod from August through November.

Where to go Camping

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Miwok Lodge 439