Some visitors say it is a bit like Ireland, others like a part of Portugal, others say it is much like Scotland.  But anyone visiting Mendonoma for the first time will find that it has charms of its own.  Mendonoma begins on the north coast of Sonoma County and includes the south coast of Mendocino County.  Hence the name we have adopted for the coastal area, "Mendo" for one county and "Noma" for the other; they meet at the Gualala River in between.  Take time to discover these for yourself, with a little help from our guided tour.
 

Jenner

   Mendonoma begins at the tiny village of Jenner, at the mouth of the Russian River, on Highway 1, where the river meets the sea.  Just north of Jenner is a small beach at Russian Gulch (not to be confused with another Russian Gulch near Mendocino), the the base of a climb with some of the famous switchbacks on Highway 1.
   A Vista Trail is at the top of that hill, just south of  the point where Meyers Grade Road joins Highway 1.  It was designed specifically to be accessible to disabled people, and provides an easy wheelchair accessible one mile loop trail on the bluff overlooking the ocean.  Picnic tables and restrooms are available, and the view is spectacular in all directions.
   Driving north along the Shoreline Highway, the traveler rounds the impressive cliffs on a road first built in 1874-75, and, after a dramatic drive with breathtaking views of the ocean as seen from stark heights, breaks out of a deep wooded switchback and comes upon the first sight of Fort Ross, glimpsed across pasture land and rolling terrain.

Fort Ross

   Fort Ross State Historic Park is the tourist's next port of call.  Here rising from the ashes of its 1970 fiery destruction is the reconstructed Russian Chapel, originally built in 1825 as part of the Russian colony during its days of sealing, fur trading, and shipping.
   The history of Fort Ross from before the time of the Russian occupation, when Indians fished and gathered sea grasses in the cove, through the Russian colonization and the period when it was an early American shipping port for produce and lumber can be learned at the State Historic Park.  Plan to take at least an hour or so to explore the fort and to walk down to the cove and beach.
   The restored fort includes the original stockade and blockhouse (favorites with kids), and also furnished replicas of Russian buildings to explore.  At the entrance to the park, the Visitors' Center presents a graphic interpretation of the history of the area.  It is well worth the time to wander through the display before taking the trail down to the fort itself.
   Continuing restorations of the historic area includes the old Call Ranch House and gardens.  Volunteers of the Fort Ross Interpretive Association are restoring the gardens as they were planted by Mercedes Leiva Call, who planted exotic varieties from her native Chile, to combine with native North American flowers around her home.  The orchard next to the house is a favorite picnic ground, protected from the wind, where you can enjoy a pleasant lunch (bring your own) before continuing your tour.

Timber Cove

   North of Fort Ross, Timber Cove, once a busy shipping port for wood products from the mills thereabouts, is now a second home and resort community.  Be sure to note the Benny Bufano statue to Peace, a tall, slender monument to an ideal adjoining the Timber Cove Lodge.  The entire coast community contributed funds and materials for the statue, which as erected in 1969 and completed shortly before Bufano's death.
   Leaving Timber Cove, the tourist will pass through Stillwater Cove County Park, which is the home of the historic little Fort Ross Schoolhouse, and then Salt Point State Park, with its miles of shoreline for exploring and fishing.  Part of Salt Point Park is recovering from a major wildfire, and is an interesting study in how nature heals herself.  The bluff top visitors' center at Salt Point is a sheltered spot from which to view the dramatic ocean cove.

Rhododendron Reserve

   At Kruse Rhododendron Reserve just a mile off the highway, a short loop trail leads the hiker (in April and May) to view the magnificent blossoms which grow so luxuriantly in our coastal hills.  Additional trails lace the coastal forest for the more ambitious hiker.
   Following the  winding shoreline highway, the traveler is constantly exposed to unexpected vistas of surf and waves, rugged coastline, and the craggy off-shore rocks called "sea pipes."

Stewarts Point

   Stewarts Point at Fisherman's Bay is the site of a formerly busy shipping port in the day of the "doghole schooners" (as called because they would anchor in little bays "only a dog could fit into").  Now the old Stewarts Point Store, still very much in business, and the old stage stop hotel (now retired) at the corner of Highway 1 and Skaggs Springs Road, and the little white Stewarts Point Post Office comprise most of the visible community.

The Sea Ranch

   Three miles beyond, the traveler enters The Sea Ranch, quite a change of pace from the quiet "olden days" appearance of Stewarts Point.  Here is the Sea Ranch Lodge and contemporary homes, designed to blend into the environment, with planned open space, a country home community for folks who choose to move away, for a weekend or a lifetime, for the city.
   The traveler might wish to stop at one of the clearly-marked coastal access points along the Sea Ranch for a walk to the beach.
   As one drives north through the Sea Ranch, one will notice on the east side of the highway, a tiny jewel of a chapel, built with private funds, which is open daily to the "weary traveler" for a few moments of quiet meditation.
   The beautiful Scottish style Sea Ranch Golf Links, and 18-hole course which has become famous as a challenge comparable to those on the Monterey Peninsula, is open to the public.
   At the north end of the Sea Ranch is Sonoma County's Gualala Point Regional Park, which borders on the ocean and the Gualala River.  The long beach at the river's mouth is a good spot to find driftwood, or to watch the crash of waves on Gualala Point.  The Gualala River is a favorite among steelhead fisher folk.
   Crossing the river, the traveler leaves the North Sonoma County Coast to enter the South Coast of Mendocino County.

Gualala

   The next stop is Gualala, which by now will look like a big town to the traveler after driving miles of comparatively lonely coast.  Once a thriving milltown, Gualala is now a major business and commercial center for Mendonoma.  It has a famous turn-of-the-century hotel, modern inns, camping, two supermarkets, a medical clinic, chiropractor, dentist office and pharmacy, shops and restaurants, the weekly newspaper, a bank, automotive and other necessary services.
   A few miles north of Gualala, the tourist passes a striking landmark along the coast highway: a restaurant and hotel with two Russian-inspired towers topped with onion-shaped domes.

Anchor Bay

   Around the bend is Anchor Bay, with village shops, a small anchorage for yachts and fishing boats, and one of the coast's most sheltered sandy beaches.  Also in Anchor Bay are vacation cottages and a luxurious bluff top inn.
   Anchor Bay Beach is the site of the annual Gualala Lions Club Sandcastle Contest, this year set for July 21, 2002.
   On the road to Point Arena the tourist passes Saunders Reef with its light buoy, and a vista point well worth the stop.  Just beyond is Schooner Gulch State Beach, and adjoining Bowling Ball Beach.  North of Schooner Gulch is Mote Creek ocean access, a popular surfing spot.

Point Arena

   In a few miles the road dips down into Point Arena, the only official city in Mendonoma, incorporated in 1908.  After its years of activity as a busy shipping port, Point Arena subsided into a sleepy little town, but is now experiencing a revival.  Victorian homes have been restored, and the Point Arena Pier and boat launching facility serves Arena Cove, a popular spot for fishermen.
   The historic Arena Theatre was beautifully restored by a non-profit volunteer organization, and shows two films each night, plus occasional live presentations.
   Point Arena, with its population a modest 526, provides restaurants, motels, a bank, a doctor, groceries, shops and other services.  The town also hosts a great Independence Day parade down Main Street, and a spectacular fireworks display at the Cove.  This year the parade is Saturday, July 6, 2002, and the fireworks will be launched Saturday night.

Point Arena Lighthouse

   North of the city is the historic Point Arena Lighthouse, out on Lighthouse Road, now owned and operated by a local nonprofit community organization.  The facility is open to the public daily with a museum and marine aquarium in the Fog Signal Building, a dramatic view from the top of the lighthouse, and a few vacation homes on the site available for rent to visitors.

Manchester

   Passing the Lighthouse Road, the highway dips into the wide Garcia River plains, where the tundra swans winter every year, and the hamlet of Manchester and nearby Manchester State Park.  Manchester Beach is a driftwood hunter's paradise, and well known for its fishing in the surf and in the two streams which cross it.  The mouth of Alder Creek, at the north end of Manchester Beach, is the point where the San Andreas Fault leaves the land to go out to sea.  (The fault comes ashore on the coast just south of Fort Ross).
   Also at Manchester is the eastern link for undersea telephone service to Hawaii and the Far East.  This is the west coast's closest point to Hawaii, linked by cable in the 1950's, with a high capacity fiber-optic cable installed in 1989 to add data, voice and video links.  In the last few years, more fiber-optic connections have made Manchester a crossroads of our digital world.
   Three miles north of Manchester is Irish Beach, a community of private homes, and another spectacular vista point is just up the road.

Elk

   Past ranchland and across small streams, the road winds its way to Elk (formerly Greenwood), another tiny hamlet which used to be a roaring milltown, now home to several bed and breakfast lodges.  The visitor might wish to view the local history exhibits at the visitors' center before walking down to sheltered Greenwood Creek State Beach for a picnic.
   After a few more scenic miles the highway sweeps down to the Navarro River, where State Route 1, the Shoreline Highway, connects with State Route 128 and leaves Mendonoma.  Here the traveler can take the easy drive along the Navarro River southeast to Highway 101, or continue north on Highway 1 to Mendocino and Fort Bragg.