Manchester State Park

Beautiful beach. We were spending a long weekend in the elk/​mendocino area and wanted to spend a day relaxing on the beach. Accessing the beach is a little tricky but doable (in case you’re traveling with kids or older folks). Pretty long beach that’s not overpopulated at all. You can see the point arena lighthouse towards the south while you’re at the beach. Lots of kelp and driftwood here. Definitely one of my favorite beaches in NorCal. I’m used to golden sand and warm east coast beaches so I’m quite picky about liking beaches here! This one has soft sand and pretty views. Reminds me a little bit of half moon bay beach (which is my favorite beach in NorCal)!

I have been trying to finish this review since we visited. There’s so much I want to cover, but words won’t do it justice. Manchester State Park is one of those places that you must experience yourself in order to really understand.
One word I could use to describe it is «serene». You look out on the horizon and get a sense of calmness, watching the water glimmer. The sand goes on and on, seems endless. The driftwood scattered around have their own story to tell. Look closely and you’ll see.
If you want to spend the entire day here, the best place to be is at the nearby KOA. A very short hike leads you to this wonderous place. Take the family. Take friends. It’s a guaranteed memorable time.

They have one less star cause it was so confusing trying to find the path that led to the beach. All the dunes and the foliage around it made it hard to find their moveable signs. And I suppose the signs are moveable since the path down to the beach is not man made but nature made. Meaning whenever mother nature wants to blow all the sand into a slope that’s good enough for people to walk is where is where entrance to the beach is.
The beach was for the most part nice, sandy and clean with a great distant view of the Point Arena Lighthouse. There are signs that say no dogs but yet there were still people walking their dogs as if the sign did not exisit. :(Budget cuts for this beach meant no real supervision most of the time.

It would be more accurate to refer to Manchester State Park as Manchester State Beach — the beach is the thing here, 5 miles of wild Northern California ocean front. It does have a decent size campground, but mostly this park features a wonderful 18 000 sq ft beach, wide, pristine sand, often sparsely populated — the perfect place to roam and beachwalk. I’ve been coming to this park for 20+ years, and the nice thing is that it’s always the same experience.
There is a park entrance sign right on Hwy 1, just a few minutes North of the town of Manchester. Going west on the entrance road you’ll pass a KOA campground on your right, and the entrance road then proceeds for about .5 miles, coming to what looks like a dead end. A small road splits off to the right, which leads to the beach parking in about 100 yards.
Parking is a dirt lot with room for a couple dozen cars, A serviceable pit toilet is adjacent to the parking.
Apart from the beach there is also a trail that goes north through the beach grass, and is another pretty diversion to add to the itinerary. Tip: the beach grass overlaps the trail and is rough and leather-​like; your legs will get a whipping if you are in shorts!
Walk far enough north on the beach (about .5 mile) and turn landward at a break in the dune grass and you come to a different ecosystem altoghether, the river mouth of Alder Creek I believe.
Wild and crazy beach life this is not — but if you love to quietly commune by the ocean this is for you.