The Hard Way At Salt Point

One of our favorite hikes on the Sonoma Coast. We started from a pull-out along Coastal Highway 1 near Horseshoe Cove and hiked to the Sentinel Rock Overlook at Fisk Mill Cove. It's an interesting hike that takes one through coastal prairies, over forested knolls, along the rocky bluff, and finally through a overgrown forest area where the trail is hard to follow, there are two creek crossings that require a down-climb, and a lot of downed trees. 

An out-and-back hike of 5 miles, but feels like 8 or 10.

The perfect hike would be a thru hike from Horseshoe Cove to Gristle Cove with a shuttle car at the Gristle Cove parking lot at Salt Point State Park. That would be a hard 6 mile hike because of the overgrown trail between Fisk Mill and Stump Beach Cove, but would allow you to hike almost the entire coastal portion of Salt Point State Park.

 

More Info: https://www.sonomacounty.com/outdoor-activities/salt-point-state-park

Salt Point Hike

With Meet In The Middle hikers. 10 miles at the lovely Salt Point State Park.

This was a new trail for me. We hike along the bluff north of Gerstle Cove, then crossed Highway 1 to the east side and climbed up to and hiked on a ridge road for about a mile. Got back on trails and looped back down to the campgrounds and back to the start, where we enjoyed snacks and a little wine on the bluff.

Mostly forest hiking so we didn't have the classic Salt Point bluff views, but this was a great workout with a group of hikers that like the 3 mph+ pace. Two thumbs up!

(I had the settings on my Lumix LX10 messed up, so image quality isn't up to par)